If you have been following along with my blog for any length of time, then you know there are always perlers to iron in this house.
Last week, I finally took some time and ironed. And ironed. And ironed. 🙂
Here are just a few of the projects I ironed for The Girlio:
There were more, but she is building some 3D projects and hasn’t glued them together yet, so I will share those another time.
Funny story-I mentioned that she was probably going to fill her boards back up after I ironed. She said she was kind of over perlers for now. I said that was just because her boards had been full. Guess what? She had already filled some of the boards up by the next day. Shocker. 🙂
Guess it’s back to the ironing board for me, huh??
Anyway, have a great day, and I will be back tomorrow with another post!
A few weeks ago, I posted about trying this recipe.
Well, I got to thinking about another version I could make-Cheesy PIZZA Sticks!
So, I added pizza sauce and four slices of turkey pepperoni to them instead of the taco meat. I left everything else the same.
They were really good! I think next time I might use spaghetti sauce just because it is thicker, and I could add more sauce that way without it leaking out.
I made four taco and four pizza ones, and I think I will just continue to do this in the future-that way people can have one of each.
You really could put any other pizza toppings in there as well…something to think about for next time.
The only down side to these is that they aren’t GF/DF. I could make them gluten-free, but dairy-free is another story. I will have to keep thinking on that-maybe I will coming up with something-we will see. For now, The Boy has just been using the taco meat for tacos, which he really likes too.
That’s it for today-another post is coming tomorrow, but until then-have a great day!
Disclaimer: I received a FREE copy of this product through the HOMESCHOOL REVIEW CREW in exchange for my honest review. I was not required to write a positive review nor was I compensated in any other way.
Experience Astronomy: Elementary has 30 lessons, and is extremely flexible-allowing parents to pick and choose how much of each lesson they would like to complete. Each lesson contains a short (approximately 15-20 minutes) video, a memory work video, printable flashcards and copy work. There is also a review quiz, suggested reading list, and an activity that corresponds with each lesson.
Each educational video contains a topic-such as the sun, seasons, moon, and constellations. There is a virtual field trip to start the video, then the topic is discussed and the field trip is tied in to the topic. There is also a time of review at the end of each video.
In our family, my six-year old son really wanted to take this course. We watched the videos together, we went through the quizzes, and then I read the corresponding books. It was SO nice to be able to find most of the books at our public library as they are a wonderful supplement to the curriculum.
Here are just some of the books we have checked out so far:
My son has LOVED this curriculum so far, and begs to do it. He thinks the videos are fun and has loved learning new things about astronomy. He especially loves the kid that shows up and says “FIELD TRIP” and “Review time-time for you to review!” He gets a big kick out of that, and I have even heard him going around saying this in daily life. 🙂
The material in each lesson is taught in a simple, yet articulate manner. And I can tell my son has been learning a lot-especially since he has been able to breeze through the quizzes at the end of each lesson, and has been able to answer any questions my husband has had of him as well.
I have also found the videos interesting, and have loved listening to the history of ancient people, and what they believed about the stars.
This curriculum does an excellent job of talking about the myths and fables, but then explaining what really happened through the use of texts straight from the Bible.
My son and I love reading the books together, and even though some of the projects are a little much for him at age six, he thoroughly enjoyed the constellation project in lesson one. He is so proud of it!
To be honest, I had already purchased a science curriculum for this year. But it is going to sit on the shelf for another year because we are definitely finishing this one first!
Disclaimer: I received a FREE copy of this product through the HOMESCHOOL REVIEW CREW in exchange for my honest review. I was not required to write a positive review nor was I compensated in any other way.
We recently received a twelve-month family membership (which includes up to five students) to CTCMath. This online math curriculum contains math lessons for grades K through 12.
I was definitely excited to get to try out this curriculum with my teenage daughter. I don’t consider myself very good at math, and had actually been pleasantly surprised I had been able to help her over the years myself so far.
But, this last year we hit Pre-Algebra. Oh boy. Yep, I had finally reached my limit. My main phrase became, “I don’t know, you will have to ask your dad.”
Unfortunately this meant she had to wait until evening for help, resulting in a lot of late nights, and more than a few tears.
Needless to say, I have been very interested in finding a math program that has videos that can actually SHOW her how to do the math.
When I first logged in to CTCMath, I noticed there was not a placement test. So, I chose to start by assigning diagnostic tests starting at the point I felt was closest to where we were at-Math Basics and Pre-Algebra.
To do this, I added a task, then added a diagnostic test from Math Basics and Pre-Algebra. I began in part one with Basics and Whole Numbers. Then, we continued with Fractions, Decimals, Percentages, and Problem Solving.
After she took each test, I was able to look at a report and review the questions and her answers, and see which ones she answered incorrectly.
My favorite part of this curriculum is that the lesson numbers are listed next to the problems, so I could see exactly which problems she might have struggled with, and the corresponding lesson.
I took note of all of the lessons we needed to review, and then created tasks assigning those lessons to my daughter.
Having the lesson number makes this process SO easy, and it worked great to figure out where the gaps were in her learning.
I assigned the lessons grouped together by theme-all of the lessons on fractions in one task, etc. Then, when she had completed the entire task, I created a task that included a Question Bank.
I utilized the Question Banks as review tests for each theme-one for fractions, one for percentages, etc. If there weren’t enough lessons for one Question Bank, I simply combined two themes together, like Decimals/Fractions.
I like that the Question Bank is customizable-you can decide how many questions you want the test to contain, and even how hard you want the questions to be, which is nice.
I have the ability to name each task, assign due dates, and even view all of the tasks that are assigned to her, and her progress on each task. The tasks are even labeled QB for Question Bank, LE for lesson, etc. which makes it easy for me to quickly identify each task, and I can click on the task and view a report that tells me the percentage she completed correctly.
The other thing I really like about this curriculum is that there are video lessons! This really is what we needed most in a math curriculum.
Each lesson contains a video. Each video explains the topic, and then shows several example problems that students can work through with the instructor.
Then the student can choose to either answer the questions online, or complete a worksheet. If needed, the video can be watched again and again.
Once my daughter completed all of the review lessons, she simply started with the first lesson she had been unable to complete during the diagnostic tests-one where she hadn’t known hardly any of the answers. She worked her way through this lesson, and has continued on from there.
I simply assign new tasks with new lessons as she completes the old ones. I am not too worried about a schedule as it is still summertime, but will probably assign tasks more frequently once we get into our regular school year.
As far as my thoughts on the program, I found it difficult to figure out at first. There are videos, and they are helpful, but I would have loved one more beginner video that talked about the best place to start (since there is not a placement test), and what tasks, diagnostic tests, and question banks are, and the best ways to use them. I was able to figure it out after some trial and error, but it was a little tricky at first.
Once I figured out how to use the program, I really liked how easy it was to customize tasks, and of course, my favorite part-I really don’t have to teach math-it is done for me. This is SUCH a relief, as math was definitely the biggest struggle for us during the last school year.
I like how the program really identified the gaps she had in her learning, and we were easily able to go back and cover those lessons providing her with a more solid math foundation going forward.
And, I was pleased that even after we finished all the review, she still felt like the videos were clearly explaining things to her in a way she could understand-even on topics she hadn’t covered before.
Another big plus about this curriculum is that it doesn’t limit the student to a single grade level. If we need to go back and cover a topic from 6th grade math, we can. If she finishes up Pre-Algebra, we can keep going. I appreciate having this wiggle-room as it really gives us the opportunity to fill in any missed knowledge, or just re-cover something she found confusing.
As far as my daughter’s thoughts, she likes that the instructor explains the topic very well, goes slowly and gives lots of examples, and there are things she understands now that she didn’t before.
She likes how you can change the colors of the text and background to customize it. And most importantly, she likes it well enough, that she chose to use this for her math this year, instead of going back to our old curriculum. CTCMath is definitely working for her (thank goodness!)
If you are struggling to find a math program that works for your family, or one that can fill in any gaps your student might have, you might want to consider giving CTCMath a try.
Slow Down, Enjoy, and Create 