SUPER QUICK GIVEAWAY: Schoolhouse Expo

Here’s a quick, fun giveaway!  I have TWO virtual “seats” to The Old Schoolhouse Expo that is taking place tomorrow (2/27/14) evening.  The flyer below will give you a little more info.

If you’re interested, leave a comment on this post.  The first two commenters (before 3 PM central time TODAY!) will receive free tickets!  BE SURE to include your email address so I can contact you.

Please note:  the TOS website is down today, so you will not be able to visit the website listed below at this time.   The Old Schoolhouse is actively working to get things back online. 

Science4Us.com ~ Review

Do you ever struggle with teaching science at home?  Perhaps you’re just not sure of how you’ll make science interesting for your children, you don’t want to buy a bunch of science supplies, or maybe you can’t handle the thought of crazy and messy experiments leaving your kitchen a wreck? 

The boys and I are enjoying the opportunity to check out Science4Us.com.  We received a six month Science4Us.com online subscription in exchange for our review of the program, and I’d love to take a few minutes to tell you about our experience.  It may be just the program your family needs!

This online science program is designed  for kindergarten to second graders, and it’s a comprehensive science program.  The program may also be used by third through fifth graders as a review, if needed.  Science4Us.com offers inquiry, life science, physical science, and earth/space science.  If I counted correctly, there are 27 unique topics with a series of lessons on each topic.

My boys (6 and 4.5) and I completed the “Living Things: Animals” module together, and we are now working through the “Earth in Space” module.  We grab the laptop, snuggle together on the couch, and go through an online lesson together in the afternoon while little sister is napping.

The lessons and activities on Science4Us.com are designed to EXPLAIN the topic to your child, help your child EXPLORE the topic, ENGAGE your child in learning, and then help your child to ELABORATE about what he or she has learned.

Whether Science4Us.com is used in a traditional classroom or a home setting, you will have a teacher account and an account for each individual student.  Honestly, I was a little overwhelmed at first, but Science4Us.com offers helpful training videos, and I also had the opportunity to view a webinar that walked new users through the basics of navigating the Science4Us.com website.  These were wonderful tools for understanding how the program works! 

The teacher can go through and assign lesson modules to individual students or assign the same lesson to all students in the class.  Students may then go through the online lessons by logging in to their own account.

Lesson plans, teacher information, and offline printable activities are available to extend the learning.  Science4Us.com offers kindergarten, first, and second grade options for lesson plans and activity pages.  I’m impressed with the way they’ve tailored the activities for different levels.  Here is an example of the teacher view of a Science4Us.com module:

Teachers or parents may view student reports, see what the students have entered in their online notebooks, and view each student’s answers to questions asked throughout the lessons.

The student screen is brightly colored and easy to navigate.  My sons have no problem using the mouse to find what they need to do next.  They take turns making choices, but Alex (6) is the one filling in the notebook entries since Max (4.5) is a little younger than the suggested program age.  (Quick note of explanation: While we received an account for each of our boys, we have only been accessing the program through one student account because we discovered how much we enjoy working through the lessons together.) 


When a student chooses an activity or lesson, it will fill the left side of the screen.  The right side of the screen shows the current activity on the top, and it shows the activity options at the bottom.  Fun characters guide you through your activities, ask questions, and voice the lesson information.

Students are asked to draw pictures (using the computer mouse or track pad), click on multiple choice questions, or write a few words in their online student notebook.   Don’t worry if your little learners aren’t yet reading, as pictorial answers are spoken aloud.

On the bottom right of the screen, students will see a section of circular icons showing the lessons in their module.  After each lesson is completed, a star appears on that module to let students know that they have already finished this lesson.  Once every lesson has a star, you’ve completed the module!

After most online lessons, there is a printable activity page or worksheet to help you assess what your child has learned.  My boys actually begged for MORE after completing these activity pages!

     

Since we tend to use more of a hands-on, Charlotte Mason style of learning in our home, some of these lessons were a little longer than my boys are accustomed to.  Max (4.5) is a little younger than the suggested age range, so that must be taken into consideration.  Because of this, we often did the online lesson one day and completed the printed activity the following day.   This stretched a single unit to fill several weeks.

I specifically asked each of my boys if they enjoyed using Science4Us.com, and each boy enthusiastically answered with a yes.  Both boys come away from our lessons with new science knowledge, and they excitedly run to the couch when I call them over for a new lesson.

Did I love it? I appreciate that Science4Us.com is very organized, and I love the way the lesson plans and printable activities are tailored for each grade level.   I liked it a lot – more than I expected to like a computer-based science program, if I am honest - but I loved that my boys loved it. My only issue was that it isn’t as hands-on as I prefer.  It’s MUCH better than a dry science textbook, but it doesn’t make science ‘come alive’ like hands-on experiments can. The kids were definitely learning and enjoying their lessons with Science4Us.com, though, and that speaks volumes.  They would even remind me to do science if it slipped my mind!  As long as my children are engaged in their lessons, excited to participate, and walking away with new science knowledge, then I am happy to continue with Science4Us.com!

If you are looking for a comprehensive, mess-free, easy to plan early elementary science program as your main science or as a supplement, Science4Us.com is definitely worth considering.  A Science4Us.com Online Subscription is available for $7.95/month for each child. 

You can CLICK HERE or on the image below to read more Science4Us.com reviews from The Review Crew!


Technical Notes:
We had no trouble using this on our Windows 7 computer with Google Chrome, but it should work in any browser on a PC or MAC computer.  I did have a problem with my student names being incorrect when our account was first set up, but customer service promptly took care of this.  We’ve had no other difficulties with the program, and we’ve enjoyed (and are still enjoying!) this learning time together.

 

Little Hearts For His Glory, Unit 18

This year, we are using Heart of Dakota’s Little Hearts For His Glory curriculum.
It is adaptable for children ages 5 – 7.  To read more about our choice, CLICK HERE.

Alex is learning right now that history is HIS story – the story of God’s world!

We read, among other things, about Paul and Silas being put in jail for telling others about Jesus.  Then we read about the earthquake that freed them from prison, and the jailor and his family who became Christians as a result of this experience.  God can use something that seems terrible to us, turning it around for HIS glory!  We then re-enacted the story with action figures and our HotWheels prison set.

The next day, we read about how Paul was a prisoner and sailing to Rome on a ship.  The ship wrecked, and God saved Paul and all the men from the storm.  We again re-enacted the story with our toys.  I love how this dramatic play reinforces the Bible lesson in a fun way, and listening to Alex acting it out also gives me insight into what Alex understands.

 

This was a Bible verse review week; throughout this unit, we reviewed five verses that Alex has memorized this year.  Man, does he have a good memory!

We are finishing All About Reading Level 1 – and moving on to level 2 – this year.


sorting words based in the sound that the ‘y’ makes


I love that we can snuggle under a warm blanket while doing phonics together!
(He’ll be mad at me some day for posting a pic with such a weird face, I’ll bet!)

(Please keep in mind that I have the older version of LHFHG, and if you purchase a new guide, your math will follow a different sequence than what we are doing.  I created my own spreadsheet to match the math activities in the older version of LHFHG to the lessons in Singapore Essentials.  It’s not perfect, but it will work for us!)

We worked on fractions this week…
 

We somehow overlooked at the science discover on Unit 18, Day 1.  We were supposed to read about stars, but I am just now seeing that activity as I flip through the guide while working on this post.  Whoops!

We are using Happy Handwriting and Rod & Staff ABC series.

 

Finding The Answers –
the Rod & Staff books are one of Alex’s favorite parts of our school day.

We are reviewing a new product right now for TOS Review Crew, and I look forward to telling you all about this in early April.  Here’s an example of what Alex is working on.  He doesn’t LOVE it, and it’s been the cause of a few tantrums, but I love that it is making him concentrate on letter size and formation:

no pictures – still reading Grandfather Frog.  This week had a writing activity, but Alex had a rough day on that day, and we opted to skip the writing activity in favor of some extra snuggles on the couch.

This week’s art was creating our own handcuffs from cardstock, then wrapping them with aluminum foil so they were shiny.  This tied in with Peter being imprisoned & being freed by an angel of the Lord.

Nothing this week

 

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Valentine Monsters

I almost lumped this one in with the upcoming February photo dump, but decided I’d give it a post of its own.

Yesterday, the kids and I attended the local homeschool group’s belated Valentine party.  (They always meet on the fourth Friday of the month, but having a late party was very convenient in getting our cards, candy, etc at half price!)

Even though I’ve been a member of their email group for about 1.5 years now, this was the first time I’ve worked up the courage to go to one of their meetings.  They always meet in the afternoon, right during naptime, so I’ve had an excuse until recently.  But since Jensyn can skip a nap occasionally now, I no longer had any reason to stay home other than my own nerves.  (I was so nervous!  My stomach was doing flip-flops, I couldn’t bring myself to eat lunch, and my hands were so sweaty!  Oh, how I hate going to a group function when I don’t know anyone!)

We really had a fun time!  We met a a nearby library, and there were around 25 kids (and their moms) in attendance.  We saw a few familiar faces, and I was surprised at how easy it was to get into a conversation with other moms.

The kids all had a lot of fun!  Each child was asked to bring a solid red gift bag, and these were used to make a Valentine Monster.  (Jensyn insisted on a pink bag, so she has a pink swirly monster.)  The monsters had feet at one point, but the wind blew some of our feet away when we were leaving the library.  I tried to catch them, but it was super windy and I didn’t stand a chance!

After this, the children lined up and walked around the tables to distribute their valentine cards and candy.  Jensyn realized what was going on, got out of line, and went to watch as all of the other children put candy in her bag.  She left Mama to had out her cards and candy because she was just too excited to see what she would receive.

After this, we had a soup and salad potluck lunch.  When the kids finished eating, they played “Honey, Do You Love Me?” while sitting in a circle.  Embarrassingly, my boys thought it was going to be “Duck, Duck, Goose”, so they started running around the circle and tapping heads!  Red-faced Mama moment!  Whoops!  Max and Jensyn just sat with me to watch, but Alex joined in about halfway through the game once he caught on.

I tried to take a few pictures while we were there, but my camera’s phone was not cooperating.  So…I got a picture of their party bags when we got home.  That’ll have to do!

We plan to try making it to their next meeting, since we all had a good time.  Hopefully it’ll be a little easier on Mama’s nerves now that I know no one bites, ha ha!

Little Hearts For His Glory, Unit 17

(This was in late January/early February, I believe.  We’re almost finished with Unit 19 now.)

This year, we are using Heart of Dakota’s Little Hearts For His Glory curriculum.
It is adaptable for children ages 5 – 7.  To read more about our choice, CLICK HERE.

Alex is learning right now that history is HIS story – the story of God’s world!

finding Jerusalem on the globe, finding Indiana on the globe,
seeing how far the good news of Jesus has spread

 

practicing his Bible verse


We read about Pentecost, and then we made paper flames. 
We also discussed who has eternal spirits (cat, dog, tree, man, toy, woman…which ones?).

We are working through All About Reading Level 2.


matching the pictures & reading the rhyming words

(Please keep in mind that I have the older version of LHFHG, and if you purchase a new guide, your math will follow a different sequence than what we are doing.  I created my own spreadsheet to match the math activities in the older version of LHFHG to the lessons in Singapore Essentials.  It’s not perfect, but it will work for us!)

We changed up the plan just a little bit to make it a little more fun.  This was hard work for Alex!  Mommy cut out the pieces; Alex did the gluing.  We made flower stems and flower centers.  Each flower center has a number; Alex had to glue on the correct number of petals.  This was a challenge for him – not because he can’t count, but because it took fine motor skills and counting at the same time.

 

Oh, goodness, was this ever fun!  We read about Jesus rising up into the sky when he returned to Heaven.  Then, for science, we watched raisins rising.  We learned about how the vinegar and baking soda work together to cause air bubbles that make the raisins rise.

We are using Happy Handwriting and Rod & Staff ABC series.

 

I can’t find any pictures this week.

We’re reading Grandfather Frog now.  It was a little harder to get interested in this story in the first few chapters, but we’re loving it now as we progress through the story.

Max wanted to do school along with Alex one day, so he listened to the Bible lesson and did this art project with us.  We’d read about how Thomas doubted, so Jesus had to show Thomas his hands.  Then we painted ONE hand, pressed it on the paper, and folded it over to make a second handprint.  We dotted the middle (Alex dotted it three times for some reason…) to show the nail holes.

Alex

Max

I’ve said it before, but both Alex and I enjoy these daily math & literacy pages!  It provides handwriting practice, number writing practice, and introduces/reinforces kindergarten math concepts.  I’m so grateful we came across these pages!

 

 

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