For our review we received Classical Conversations PreScripts Cursive Letters and Coloring for ages 3 – 7. I was excited for the chance to use it with all three children, but I didn’t know at the time that our 3 year old would have surgery during the review. So, I used it with only with our 7 and 5 year olds.
When I received the package I couldn’t wait to get started! After looking it over I was even more excited. PreScripts Cursive Letters and Coloring starts with tracing lines, circles, and curved lines and then progresses into tracing basic pictures and cursive letters. The tracing is something that is so important for them because they both have fine motor challenges, so repetition and practice really helps. After the Progression of the first day we fell into the pattern of doing four pages per day which covered a cursive capital letter, tracing a simple picture, the cursive lowercase of that letter, and then a full picture to color from medieval and world history. It was a really great pattern, and we used it every day Monday through Friday. You can view a sample.
For each cursive letter you begin by having the child trace the large letter at the top of the page with their finger. They then have lines where the child can trace the letter than write one next to it. It continues in this pattern for 8 total letters traced and 8 letters written. Each picture drawn would start with a simple line, curve, or shape for the first picture. It would then progress adding additional details to each picture until you come to the completed picture, which they then color when finished. Our daughter absolutely loves to draw, so she really enjoyed the drawing! It was great for our son because he isn’t confident in drawing, but the step-by-step approach made him realize that drawing is broken up into small parts. He is so visual that he has trouble seeing anything except the finished picture, so this really helped him see a different perspective.
What I really enjoy about Classical Conversations Prescripts is the fact that it covers so many bases. It isn’t just a single subject. In just one lesson we covered writing, history, art, and the bonus of therapy! All of that was done in 30 – 45 minutes each day! Our daughter’s Occupational Therapist mentioned that some children with fine motor challenges actually do better with cursive letters due to the consistent motion without the the breaks or the need to lift the pencil. Plus the dynamics of cursive makes it harder to reverse, which was mentioned in the introduction of the book. Despite our daughter having an incorrect grip she has been able to compensate and still write nicely. Our son, though, has writing challenges. Even tracing straight lines can be a challenge. After the initial challenge of the straight lines and circles, though, he has done really well! He has definitely been able to write the cursive letters more easily than print. It has really helped build his confidence in writing again! Our daughter is doing well with the cursive letters as well!
Our daughter particularly has been paying special attention to the details when she is coloring the pictures, which not only is encouraging her love of art but is also opens teaching opportunities in regards to the history behind the pictures. I love that it opens the door for more learning opportunities – not only for them, but for myself as well because it was a nice review for me, too! Having three children so close in age I also appreciate that Classical Conversations is family friendly in that they allow you to print additional copies for use within your own family. They mention in the introduction that the broad age spectrum helps support the one-room schoolhouse model, and I feel like this really helps reinforce that statement as well. It also leaves room for margin of error if you have a child that may need additional practice or would like to do more. If our 3 year old hadn’t been recovering from surgery he would have been working along side us as well! I anticipate he will be joining us for the last half next week, and we may likely do it again or visit our other options!
You can connect with Classical Conversations on Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube.
Classical Conversations Prescripts can be purchased for $11.99. They offer a variety of subjects and levels. I will be checking out more myself! See what other Crew members had to say in their reviews by clicking on the button below!
Christianity Cove Review
Christianity Cove offers a variety of lessons and Bible resources. They have over 700 resources available! I had a chance to review their Bible Science Experiments and KidMin Power Pack. Both are recommended for a variety of ages. I used them with our children who are ages 7, 5, and 3, but primarily with our 7 and 5 year olds who are both learning at a First Grade level.
Bible Science: 25 Fun and Easy Science Experiments That Show the Nature of God contains experiments using light, color, motion, magnetism, and gravity. It can be used with all ages and each lesson has a list of materials (most of which you probably already have in your home), steps, answers to questions your children may ask about the experiments, and a scientific explanation. Each experiment also contains a Scripture Verse and an “Understanding God” section, which is one of my favorite parts! I love how the lessons tie in both Scripture and a discussion about God’s Nature.
The first week we used Bible Science in place of our usual science curriculum for our review but because the lessons are short I found we could do about three lessons in the time we usually allot for Science or we could even fit one in when we just wanted to mix things up since most of the materials, as I mentioned, we already had in our home as well. So, I decided to take the latter approach and use it as a supplement to our curriculum rather than a replacement. Of course, this did give us options, though. This was particularly nice for us because we definitely have days where their attention span isn’t as long and the shorter lessons DID replace the longer lessons that week! What a nice relief! The lessons are simple and fun. Plus, the clean-up is just as quick and easy as well! The lessons take the natural curiosities of children and explore them further while also relating them their Creator. Bible Science can be purchased for $25.
The KidMin Power Pack contains a variety of lessons, games, music, snacks, fundraising projects, and even some science projects for Sunday School teachers. It can be used with a variety of ages and small or large groups. I received both May’s and June’s Power Packs for review. The KidMin Power Packs use lessons and activities based around the holidays and events of the current month such as: April’s Fools Day, Earth Day, Mother’s Day, Pentecost, Memorial Day, etc. I, personally, had a hard time using the KidMin Power Pack activities with our kids. I feel the KidMin Power Pack may be good for a group setting where you need a day’s worth of activities (such as a Sunday School class as it is intended), but I found it difficult to modify for a homeschool setting and somewhat hard to follow. We took some of the activities and songs that were a better fit for our younger kids and used them to supplement our Bible curriculum. The KidMin Power Pack is a subscription based resource. The first month is $1, and it is $19.99/month for the following months.
For more reviews as well as reviews of other resources Christianity Cove has to offer see what the other Schoolhouse Review Crew Members had to say by clicking on the button below!
The Old Schoolhouse Magazine: June Issue
As always, I love sharing a reminder when the new issue of The Old Schoolhouse Magazine comes out! If you are a homeschooler it is such a valuable resource – and it’s FREE! You can also read it on your smart phone or tablet with their app!
I have to admit I was a little MORE excited than usual! Why? My Adventus MusIQ Homeschool Review can be found on Page 147! As you know, I am blessed to be part of the Schoolhouse Review Crew, and I am honored that one of my reviews is featured in this month’s issue of The Old Schoolhouse Magazine. One day I hope to broaden my horizons as a writer, so this is also very encouraging for me as well!
But back to June’s issue! June’s issue is full of some amazing articles! There are some great topics covered, as always, so be sure to check it out! There is always something for everyone no matter your homeschooling style, ages of your children, etc. You will definitely find something you’ll enjoy!
Schoolhouse Library
As homeschool parents we know there is a lot of valuable information to be found on the web, but we also know how valuable time is! I know I don’t have a lot of time to search for things particularly when I need them! Isn’t that how it always seems to work? There are many times I see my fellow homeschool parents sharing this or that they found and I think how do they have time to find so many things? Well, let me introduce you to SchoolhouseLibrary.net from The Old Schoolhouse Magazine – SchoolhouseTeachers.com. The Old Schoolhouse Magazine and SchoolhouseTeachers.com are both valuable homeschooling resources, and I am definitely excited to see this new addition!
For just a one-time purchase of only $25 you will get access to this library which contains over 175 E-Books or audio books for homeschool support and encouragement from many popular homeschool publishers. Here is a look at a some of the resources to which you’ll have access:
- 2 Study Guides from YWAM
- Draw Write Now Sampler E-Book by Barker Creek
- Heroines of the Past-Victorian unit study from Amy Puetz
- Map Trek: Atlas and Outline Maps of World History from Knowledge Quest
- Teaching Writing E-Book from WriteShop
- 15 audio E-Books from My Audio School in history and literature
- A Glimpse at Carnivorous Plants Lapbook from In the Hands of a Child
- Video from Jessica Hulcy on “Learning as a Family”
- From Frazzled to Focused: 7 Planning Tools for Busy Moms from Mary Jo Tate
Did I mention you get all of it for only $25 TOTAL? It’s an amazing deal and yet another amazing resource provided by The Old Schoolhouse Magazine!
Disclaimer: I will receive the Schoolhouse Library free of charge for posting this to my blog. As a member of The Old Schoolhouse Review Crew, I was not required to blog about this, however I chose to because I feel it is a great deal and wanted to share it with all of my readers.