Homeschool Archives - Page 5 of 56

HelpTeaching.com Review

September 16, 2016 by Emilee Evans

As a busy homeschool family, it’s always nice to be able to access a variety of resources in one place. HelpTeaching.com offers a variety of homeschool resources from tests, worksheets, lessons, games and more for PreK-12th Grade. For our Help Teaching review we received the Help Teaching Pro Subscription for one-year.

We have been using HelpTeaching.com Elementary ages resources to supplement our homeschool with all three kids – ages 6, 8, and 10. All of the resources on HelpTeaching.com can be accessed online through a user’s account. This includes the printable resources as well as the online/digital resources. With a Pro Subscription members have access to all of the resources for the duration of the subscription. Other subscription options are available which includes a Free Member and Group Pro Subscription for schools and businesses.
The differences between the memberships includes:

Help Teaching Pro Subscription members have unlimited access to using the Test Maker to create custom tests and worksheets. They have access to unlimited online tests and lessons for up to 500 students as well as up to 100 questions in the custom tests and worksheets which can also have images. They are able to save their tests as PDFs, have access to the Test Room to administer online tests and lessons, have access to pre-made premium content, and they can browse and search CCSS-aligned questions by standard.
Group Pro Subscription members have the same resources available, but they get up to 500 students per teacher. Group Pro Subscription Members also have the ability to share tests with their group.
Free Members also have unlimited access to using the Test Maker to create custom tests and worksheets. They only have the ability to have up to 10 questions without images.

Help Teaching Review

Printable Resources

For our Help Teaching Review I have been using a variety of resources. One of my favorite resources is the Game Generator – particularly the Word Search. Our kids love Word Searches, and I love that it helps them recognize words. Plus, I was surprised at the options available. I have the ability to choose the title, place words backwards (or not), create the word list, and show the answer key. I can even quickly generate a new puzzle.
Something I really appreciate about this feature on HelpTeaching.com is that not only can I generate games, but I can then also download them to the computer in PDF format, save them to “My Content” within my account, or print.

Additionally, we have been using HelpTeaching.com to generate a variety of worksheets to supplement our curriculum. This has been the bulk of our use. We’ve been using a variety of worksheets from Kindergarten to 3rd Grade. Worksheets are easy to access searching by either grade or subject. They really do cover all grades and subjects! There are also Seasonal worksheets! I simply print them out and add them to the kids’ folder for the day!

Online Resources

Additionally, we have been trying out the Online Self-Paced Lessons. The subjects included are Language Arts, Math, and Science. The lessons include text and pictures, a video and practice questions. They are short lessons, and the kids seem to enjoy them. I do have the option to “assign” lessons, but I have opted to just open the lessons I want them to do at that time. It’s definitely been a nice supplement to our homeschool!

Although I think the Test Generator can be a valuable resource for many homeschoolers, I really don’t focus on or stress testing in these early years. So, although I took a look at the “Test Maker,” it’s not a resource I am interested in using in our homeschool. It also has many great features including generating your own completely from scratch, using questions from the Help Teaching Library, or just by specify keywords, grade level and number of questions. It definitely seems handy!

Overall, I do think HelpTeaching.com offers a variety of helpful resources. I, personally, have stuck to the resources mentioned. Many of the resources are aligned to Common Core, so I look over them carefully before choosing. We try to avoid Common Core, so not all of the resources were a good fit for our homeschool. Of course, we also found many that were. I do think it is a helpful resource for homeschoolers with a variety of styles and children of multiple ages.

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Christian HomeSchool Hub Review

September 9, 2016 by Emilee Evans

What if you could find a variety of Christian homeschool resources all in one place? There are so many resources out there it’s easy to lose track! CHSH-Teach.com offers a variety of homeschool resources including freebies, devotionals, helpful homeschool information and even a forum to connect with other homeschool families. We have recently been using a variety of resources from the CHSH Download Club.

CHSH-Teach.com offers over 50,000 downloadable educational and Christian homeschool resources. The Download Club is a subscription based resource within CHSH-Teach.com. There are two subscription options available – the Annual Subscription (which we received for our review) and the Lifetime Subscription. With the Annual Subscription members receive unlimited access to the subscriber only downloads for a full year whereas Lifetime Subscription members will always have access as long as its available.

Resources to Print or Save

The Download Club can be accessed directly through your CHSH-Teach.com account online. Simply sign in, and you can access all of the downloads! From there you can download them to your computer, save them on your tablet, etc. There are so many ways you can use the downloadable resources. A variety of worksheets can be printed out to be used and solved as well as helpful posters for the wall. There are also resources that are just handy to have on hand like book lists, reading charts and logs, etc. If you lack wall space, saving those resources for easy access for viewing when needed!
There are also books for reading as well as books for reference which may not be ideal for printing out given the number of pages. For those type of books, I save them to our iPad to easily access them when we need to look at or read them. Files can also be downloaded and used later when needed!

The CHSH-Teach.com Download Club covers all grades (Pre-K – 12th) and subjects. There are Christian homeschool resources including Bible verse memorization, Bible Flashcards, Bible Notebooking and Games, Sermon Notes, Copywork and more. These, alone, I found to be such a valuable resources as we incorporate Bible into every homeschool day. Of course, all kinds of subjects are covered like Language Arts, Foreign Language, Arts & Crafts, Music, Math, Science, Social Studies, Electives, and Health.
Phew! That’s a lot, right?
I was definitely impressed. I admit, at first, I was also overwhelmed. Where to start? I was glad to discover the downloads are sorted to be able to access just what you need. They are sorted based on a subject or by grade level. It even has resources sorted by seasons and organization as well as a “Miscellaneous” category, which I haven’t yet explored.
My personal preference was to search by grade level. Although we don’t necessarily focus on grade levels in our homeschool, I knew it would give me a good starting point to look at the resources to see if they would be a good fit. You can search for resources by typing a key word into one of the search boxes, which is great when you know exactly what you are looking for.
I thought I would focus mostly on the Kindergarten resources for our youngest, but I’ve been using a little bit of everything for all three kids. I found resources that filled holes I wasn’t aware we had. The resource books are wonderful. Plus, I printed out a few coloring pages and games. We have been sprinkling these resources into each homeschool week.

Christian Homeschool Resources

I think Christian HomeSchool Hub is great Christian homeschool resources. The Download Club offers so much plus there is a community. It’s more than just the worksheets, books, and posters. It’s an opportunity to connect with other homeschoolers. If you have resources to share with the community, you can add them to the Download Club for others to access as well!
Plus, I love that within the Download Club there are resources particularly for the parents as well. I am not only able to print out and save things to supplement our homeschool, but I have found the parent resources helpful as well. They offer “How To” resources, forms for planning and record keeping and calendars. It covers a little bit of everything! They even have helpful groups on social media to further connect with others!

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Exploring Creation with Astronomy {Apologia Review}

September 8, 2016 by Emilee Evans

Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links. Please refer to my Disclosure Policy for more information.
We have really enjoyed the Young Explorer Series for Elementary Science from Apologia Educational Ministries. Recently we’ve been working through Exploring Creation with Astronomy, 2nd Edition. We have really been enjoying this elementary Astronomy curriculum.
For our review we received the Student Text, Notebooking Journal, Jr. Notebooking Journal and an Audio CD.

Exploring Creation with Astronomy has been walking us through a variety of topics. We have been learning more about the stars, astronomers, space, the sun, planets, and so much more. What I love (and appreciate) is that it includes God and The Bible all throughout the curriculum. Through learning about the wonders of space, we are learning the wonders of God. He created it!
When using this elementary astronomy curriculum, all the parts of the curriculum work together.

Student Text

The Student Text is a hardback book noted to be “written directly to the student in a highly readable conversational tone.” The way we, personally, use the Student Text is that I read the recommended text for the daily assignment while stopping to ask them questions. It would definitely be possible for solid readers to read the text on their own. The other option would be to use the Audio CD. I have found it’s also nice to take it on the road for listening in the car!
The Student Text is broken up into elementary astronomy lessons covering a wide variety of topics (sometimes all in one lesson)! It offers an Introduction, additional resources, activities and more. Each lesson has stopping points. In fact, the Notebooking Journals have a “Suggestive Daily Schedule,” which breaks the lesson into multiple, smaller parts. With our kids’ special needs, it is definitely ideal to follow this schedule, and it works out nicely! When there is an activity, though, sometimes we do the activity by itself on another depending on the length and requirements of the activity.
Throughout the Student Text there are also questions periodically so they can sum up what they’ve been learning. Additionally, there is a Wrap-Up called “What Do You Remember?” asking multiple questions to help reinforce what they’ve been learning. Plus, it encourages them to point out what their favorite part was. I think it’s so important because kids will often be able to recall more when they are enjoying it. Our kids that are working on this do sometimes have challenges summing things up or answering open-ended questions, but they can always talk about their favorite part!

Notebooking Journals

In the past, we have only used Junior Notebooking Journals, which is designed for younger learners. As our oldest son is still a delayed reader and writer, the Junior Notebooking Journal was still a great fit for him. Our daughter (age 8), though, needed more of a challenge, so I love that we had the opportunity to review both Notebooking Journals.
In addition to the Suggested Daily Schedule, the Notebooking Journals are spiral bound books that offer a variety of great activities. They offer plenty of writing spaces and opportunities for the kids to share what they are learning. Our daughter often just writes in her journal as we go when she feels it is something she needs to write down. For our son, I ask him if there is anything he’d like to include in his journal, and I then write it on the white board for him to copy down.
Even the lined notebooking pages aren’t limited to just basic pages. Each lesson does start with blank pages with lines as well as areas to draw. I love that the area to draw is included because our daughter, in particular, learns and remembers things through her drawings. The notebooking, though, is broken down into even smaller parts within a lesson. They will be presented in the form as a Matchbook, bookmark, minibook, etc. It really helps to break things down further and offers a neat touch to the Notebooking Journals!

There are a variety of hands-on activities which helps to further reinforce what they’re learning in the text. I have found the activities so far do require some time, but not terribly long. Plus, they are fun, so that always helps! Some activities are basic activities that are included within the Notebooking Journals while others require some material that we already had or could easily run to the store to pick up. There is also an optional Science Kit that can be purchased for more hands-on learning.
In both the Student Text and the Notebooking Journals there is a page for “Instructional Support.” It mentions and provides details about the Textbook, Notebooking Journals, Audio Book, Science Kit and even the Field Trip Journal we reviewed last year.
So What is the Difference?
The Junior Notebooking Journal and Notebooking Journal have a lot of similarities. They are similar enough that we could still do the lessons together. Yet, they do have differences as well. Some of the most prominent differences include:

The lines. The Junior Notebooking Journal includes wider writing for both journaling as well as the Copywork. Though both manuscript and cursive are offered for Copywork choices.
Activity differences. Certain activities are made a little easier for the Junior Notebooking Journal. The crossword for example has no letters already filled in for the Notebooking Journal but does have a few in the Junior Notebooking Journal.
Coloring Pages. The Junior Notebooking Journal also includes coloring pages. Since Aurora loves to color, she just borrowed Brayden’s Junior Notebooking Journal for some of the coloring!

Elementary Astronomy

Overall, I think the Apologia Exploring Creation with Astronomy is a great elementary astronomy curriculum. It covers a variety of topics, includes Biblical references throughout, offers a variety of great hands-on activities, and is presented in a way that is easy to follow. It has been a great fit for our family!

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Can Do Cubes Review

August 26, 2016 by Emilee Evans

A couple days ago I shared my Jolly Grammar and Jolly Phonics Review. We have had also had the opportunity to review another great product from jollyliteracy.com – Can Do Cubes. This great resource from just2ducks LLC is a great companion to Jolly Phonics, and we’ve been using them well together!

The Can Do Cubes are a great hands-on supplement for phonics. They work particularly well with Jolly Phonics because the letter sounds are presented in the same order. They would definitely work as a resource for any synthetic phonics program, though. They were created based on many factors including various research on reading instruction, activities which are commonly used in successful programs, and teaching experience.

What is Synthetic Phonics?

To be honest, this is the first time I’ve heard the term “synthetic phonics,” so I, for one, was curious what it means. I know now Jolly Phonics is one, but when it mentioned it can be used with any synthetic phonics program I wanted to know what that meant.
On jollyliteracy.com Synthetic Phonics teaching is defined as “a simple to complex program where learners are taught the alphabetic code.” So they first learn the basic alphabetic code (one spelling for the basic sounds) and progress to the more complex alphabetic code (multiple spelling variations for these sounds).

Can Do Cube Review

The Can Do Cubes Starter Set Includes:

1 Tray of Stage 1 Cubes
1 Tray of Stage 2 Cubes
Handbook for Stage 1
Handbook for Stage 2
DVD
Phonics Chart
Word Chart

Amazing, right? Honestly, I would have been thrilled just to have the hands-on cubes, but I was impressed with all it includes. I love all the additional, helpful resources. As we progress I plan on adding the charts to our wall.
Because Chaz started Jolly Phonics at the beginning we have been using the Stage 1 cubes. The Stage 1 cubes are further broken down into groups called Cubes. So we started with Cube 1 which included the first 6 letter sounds “s, a, t, i, p, n.”

Chaz has been doing well and having fun building words. What I find so fascinating is he was already familiar with many of the letter sounds, and he could sometimes read the short words but struggled putting them together himself. Since using this hands-on approach with the Can Do Cubes, he’s been putting together many different words! Plus he’s having fun doing it!
With the Can Do Cubes they will naturally progress to building longer words and working with more letter sounds at a time. The Stage 2 Cubes even include capital letters and basic punctuation.
Overall, Can Do Cubes has been a great resource for our son! In fact, our oldest son is a delayed reader due to his special needs, and I’m going to start using them for his phonics as well!

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