Snow Again

We got hit with 4 inches of snow overnight.  Schnickelfritz was looking for it as soon as he woke up to the sound of the snow blower.  Schools all over the area have snow days.  We, on the other hand, started school at 6:30 this morning so we could be finished in plenty of time to hit the sledding hills with everyone else.  And we won't have to make up a day come summer.   We started with the Bible (we in Judges now), read about contour feathers in Flying Creatures, wrote a paragraph in Handwriting without tears,  watched our Math U See lesson, practiced our Bible verses for Upwards basketball and Royal Rangers, and tested our keyword outline for Institute for Excellance in Writing.

Review: Easy Classical

Let me say up front that this will not be an ordinary review.  Rather than receiving a book or product that I can use in lessons with my Schnickelfritz I received a schedule of lesson plans by Easy Classical to evaluate specifically, Early Modern Times: Explorers to 1820.    So how to review a product without actually using it?  I will be sharing with you the questions I ask myself about any new curriculum I'm considerring and using the Early Modern Times as my example.

1.  Does it fit my educating style?   I like to use a combination of Unit Study and Charlotte Mason approaches to teaching Fritz.   I like to combine subjects where possible--history, writing assignments, reading, hands-on crafts, etc.  and I prefer "living books" over text books.  As the company's name suggests, Easy Classical is based on the Classical Education approach espoused by Susan Wise Bauer and The Well Trained Mind.   The grammar stage of a classical education involves learning facts and rules, mostly through written or spoken word and memorizing (not through videos or self-discovery).   Reading through the schedule I do find the use of copywork (a Charlotte Mason technique) and a lot of "living books" I would have selected myself: Johnny Tremain, The Witch of Blackbird Pond, and Pocahontas and the Strangers for example.  The schedule, while mostly history, also includes  drawing exercises, geography, writing assignments, and literature for read aloud or free reading time.   In other words, it's a lot like my unit study approach although it lacks science (math and phonics are usually done outside of unit studies anyway).

2. Does it fit my son's learning style?  Schnickelfritz is a kinesthetic learner--he has to be moving in some way to absorb information.  He's not fond of reading himself and if he's listening to me what's often going through his head is "how much longer?'  The books and stories have to be lively to keep his attention and we have to take frequent breaks to bounce on the trampoline etc.  This schedule is HEAVY on reading and reading aloud.  Mondays are especially rigorous with multiple chapters in four different history sources and one or two read aloud books.  There is some project work through the use of History Pockets and a Geography workbook, but this is too much reading for my son at this time.

3. Will this save me time?    I only homeschool one but my time is still precious.   This schedule provides daily assignments for 36 weeks.  Each week includes a list of comprehension questions (and an answer key) so I don't have to make those up myself.  Best of all I think is a post it note in the corner of the schedule with a list of what materials I need to have on hand for the following week.  I don't have to pull out each book and build my own list.  I can gather things up ahead of time so we don't have to stop mid-lesson and look for a hole punch.   There is a book list for Read Alouds, picture books, geography and writing resources and history texts so I don't have to search on my own for books to fit the topic or time period.  Early Modern History covers:  Explorers, Colonies, Colonial America, Road to Independence, Revolution up to Slavery and the Missouri Compromise.

 4. What is the cost?   The schedule is available in digital form for $29.95 and preprinted in a 3-ring binder for $35.95.  Once you have the schedule though, you need to have access to all the materials required in the schedule.  Some are available exclusively through Easy Classical:  Geography with History, Writing with History, and Early Modern History copybook can be bundled with the schedule for $95.95 in digital format and $135.95 for print.  Several of the books are used throughout the 36 weeks so you probably need to purchase these rather than continually check them out of the library.   The Story of the Thirteen Colonies and The Story of the Great Republic are available through Google books, but the four volumes of A History of US  run about $11 each.  I also checked with my local library to see if they had most of the read aloud and free reading titles.  We have a small rural library and they didn't carry 90% of the books on the reading list.  That means I would have to use inter-library loans and hope they arrived to fit the schedule or make more purchases.  Of course I could substitute titles, but then what is the point of having purchases the schedule in the first place.

5. What is the worldview of the company?   Most of societylives in a compartmentalized world.  Religion, if there is any, belongs in the compartment of Sunday morning.  History and science and math belong in other compartments on other days.  Our family prefers to view everything as being under God's authority--He created everything (science), He is a God of order that allows us to discover the laws and principles of math (2 + 2 always equals 4) and history is HisStory.  I did see where the schedule covers the Great Awakening and the About Us page on the company's website the family describe themselves as church attending Christians.

Because of the heavy reliance on reading and the lack of available books, this curriculum would not be a good choice for our family, but I hope that by taking you through my evaluation questions you will be able to determine if it is a better match for yours.  Easy Classical's website also provides sample pages and book lists.  You can read what my fellow Homeschool Crewmates this of Easy Classical's history schedule by clicking here.

Disclaimer: I received a free copy of Easy Classical's Early Modern History for the purposes of completing this review.  I received no other compensation.

Review: See-N-Read

I have to say, one of the blessings of being on the Homeschool Crew is learning about items you never knew you needed before.  We recently received three such items--samples of the products available from See-N-Read.  Oops, I should say four.   In addition to the three tangible reading tools there is a "virtual" version to help with reading online.

The tools are thin rectangles of plastic, mostly blue-gray in color with a clear window allowing you to focus on one line of text.   The 3 x 5 1/2   size is perfect for paperback and softback books.  The 3 x 8 1/2 inch size can be used with textbooks and anything written on typing paper.   The third sample is a Memory Mark.  It is availalbe in the same sizes, but rather than being clear the window is cut out to all for highlighting or underlining text.  I was concerned that the cut out feature would compromise the intregity of the plastic and would quickly tear but I've been using it for a month with no problems.

As I mentioned, I wasn't aware we needed these tools.  My Schnickelfritz has really improved his reading skills this year.  Sure, he occasionally skips a word or substitutes "a" for "the,"  but I thought we were doing well.  We did much better though when he held a See-N-Read tool over the page--no more skipped words.  He even mentioned that things didn't seem to wiggle around as much--I didn't even know he perceived words on a page that way. 

I confess to have kept the Memory Mark for myself.  I don't like the tools for casual reading as I felt they slowed me down, but in some cases slower is better--like Bible study.  And I was able to make crisp, clean underlining (wiggly lines take my attention away from the words I was trying to focus on the first place).   We found a second handy use for the Memory Mark in math class.  By turning the tool vertically it helped Fritz keep his columns lined up in multiplication.

There is a free 7-day trial available for the eSee-N-Read, a virtual tool for use on PC's.   We're not big fans of reading at the computer but it would certainly help in this age of downloading and reading out-of-print books available on sites like Project Gutenberg.    You can also find research articles and  testimonials  on the effectiveness of these tools at the website.

The eSee-N-Read costs $29.99 for  one seat license, $69.99 for 3 and $99.99 for  5 seats.  It is available for most Windows formats and a Mac version is coming soon.  The smaller See-N-Read and Memory Marks are $2.99 and the larger sizes are $3.49.   There are discounts for purchasing in bulk.

You can see what my fellow Homeschool Crewmates think of the See-N-Read products by clicking here.

Disclaimer: I received free See-N-Read and Memory Mark procducts and a free trial of the eSee-N-Read for the purpose of completing this review.  I received no other compensation.

Review: Math Facts Now

Years ago, I was grocery shopping when the power went out in the store.  Generators came on to save all the frozen foods, but the computers and cash registers were still acting strangely.  You couldn't pay by credit card and for some reason, the cash registers couldn't tell you how much change to return to the customer.  It became painfully obvious that some of the clerks had no idea how to subtract in their heads--some resorted to pulling out paper, others just stood there befuddled.  The check out lines grew and grew.  In this age where we all rely on computers and calculators to do the figurin' for us, maybe we could all use a refresher course in the basic math facts.

Math Facts Now!  does just that.  There are no bells and whistles, no games or cartoon characters.  It is the computerized version of flash cards.  The parent begins by entering the names of the students that will be using the program.  I only added Schnickelfritz and myself, but I'm unaware of any limit on the number of students.  Next, you set up the lessons. Each lesson only needs to be set up once and can be used by all the students. 

For lesson setup you must choose which math funtion to drill (I'll use multiplication for example) and what facts to be includedby clicking boxes next to the numbers from 1 to 12.  For each number selected, the program may generate any problem multiplying that number by  all numbers from 0 to 12. 

Here's the next screen in lesson set-up.  The time limit per problem must be between 2 and 60 seconds.  Wrong answers must be re-entered between 2 and 10 times.  In the version I downloaded,  there must be 50-200 correct answers to finish the lesson--more on this later.   Next,  the parent gives the lesson a name and has the option to  type in a reward the student can earn by getting all the problems correct--playing outside or TV time for example.

Schnickelfritz was not crazy about the number of problems he had to answer and apparently he wasn't the only one.  Several Homeschool Crewmembers mentioned this to each other and one actually had the brilliant idea to contact the company.  The result is an updated version requiring much fewer correct answers (somewhere between 5 and 10, but I've exceeded my download limit for the month and couldn't get the update for myself).

  I was particularly pleased with how Math Facts Now handles incorrect answers.  First the student has to  type the correct equation  the required number of times.  For the remainder of the lesson, the previously missed equation will reappear frequently with a "Be Careful" to jog the student's memory.   When I purposely missed the first problem, it reappeared 8 more times in a 50 problem lesson.  For math functions with the commutative property, the corresponding equation will not carry the warning.  In this case,  the problem 6 x 2 will not include the "Be careful."

There is also a brief report available for parents listing what lessons the student has completed.   The list is based on the name you created so you might want to be more descriptive than I was. 

Math Facts Now!  is available as a download for $15.95 or a CD-Rom for the same price plus shipping. The program is basically a digital version of flashcards which only cost $1. And since Schnickelfritz only has division facts left, I'm not sure the program would be worth it if we had to buy it.  I'm assuming the CD version would still have the 50 problem minimum.   The program runs on Windows 2000, ME, XP, Vista and Windows 7 but not on Macs.   The program is basically a digital version of flashcards which only cost $1.  You can try the program online or download a limited version for free and decide if it is worth it to your family.

You can see what others on the Homeschool Crew think of Math Facts Now! by clicking here.

Disclaimer: I received a free download copy of the full version of Math Facts Now! for the purposes of completing this review.  I received no other compensation.

The Boy Who Changed the World

Rain and temps in the 60's will mean an end to our winter wonderland.  Before that happens, I took Fritz to the local sledding hills.  Throughout the afternoon families came and went.  We saw all different kinds of sleds from the old fashioned kind with runners like I remember to what appeared to be a plastic box to store things under a bed.  The latter didn't work to well and was abandoned when it cracked.  Schnickelfritz would join up with various kids that appeared close to his age.  He'd introduce himself and ask their name and age, if they'd sledded before, etc.  Who says homeschool kids aren't socialized?   At one time there was a younger boy, a little pudgy and physically awkward, that was having trouble climbing the hill.  His sled didn't have a rope and often when he tried to hold it in his mittened hand, it would slip and slide all the way back down the hill.  He'd have to go back down after it, not a long descent as he hadn't made much uphill progress himself.  Fritz announced to me that he was going to go help this boy.   He went down the hill and left his own sled at the bottom so he could carry the one belonging to the boy.  Then he took the boy's hand and said "Let's pretend you're the first boy to ever climb Mount Everest."  Fritz didn't get frustrated or give up on his new friend whom he learned was named Aiden.    Fritz has always had a kind-hearted nature, but I can't help but wonder if his actions in the afternoon were the result of a book we had read in the morning.



Granny had given Schnickelfritz The Boy Who Changed the World by Andy Andrews for Christmas.  This is the juvenile version of Mr. Andrews' book on the butterfly effect.  He describes how the actions and mindset of one individual can impact another, who impacts another, and so on.  In this case it begins with Mr. Moses Carver, who adopts George Washington Carver, who teaches the son of his professor about plants.  This boy grows up to become Vice President and hires a man name Norman Borlaug, who develops "super seeds" to feed 2 billion people around the world.   Throughout the book are phrases in bold letters like "God made you to make a difference," and "Every little thing you do matters."   Now I don't know what little Aiden will do to change the world someday, but I'm sure the kindness my son showed him today can snowball (pardon the pun) into something great.

We're going to have a White Christmas

The weatherman has assured me that snow is on the way--at first it was coming last evening, then overnight, now it's expected mid morning.  I'm hoping it's not preceded by sleet and ice.   I wonder if there was all the fuss for a White Christmas before Irving Berlin wrote his famous song?

 We've run out and got the obligatory milk and bread and since I was at the store I made sure I had the ingredients for a little holiday baking.  As long as we're going to be stuck inside, it might as well smell nice.  I'm making brownies --this year I'm using a mini muffin pan to make individual ones, hopefully with that "corner" texture all around.  I'm making the Toolman his favorite oatmeal cookies with chocolate and peanut butter chips.  And I'm trying a new recipe for orange/persimmon tea bread for Christmas morning.   

Merry Christmas Everyone!

Blueberry Jam

I scrounged all over the county and made several clerks check the back rooms, but I came away with my jelly jars and fruit pectin.  That's the trouble when you decide to do something out of season.   We do have blueberries growing at several u-pick farms in the area--again, not at this time of year.  Next year I will do more planning ahead when it comes to making jelly and jam for Christmas gifts.  So I had to rely on a large bag of frozen blueberries from Sam's club.  Next year though, I can pick my own wild black raspberries and blackberries.  I have persimmons too.  Does anyone know of a persimmon jam or persimmon butter recipe?

I have to say, I was pleased with the outcome--half a dozen jars of spiced blueberry jam.  They've already been delivered to the Toolman's coworkers.  And I got permission to use one of my Christmas presents early--a Cricut Expression to make the gift tags.   Let me share what I learned about pectin.  Sorry if this is obvious to you veteren canners, but I wasn't the only one in our canning class that didn't know this.  Pectin should be used in the season you purchase it.  You cannot substitute liquid for powdered pectin (or vice versa) in recipes.  Each seasons pectin has its own binding power, dependant on the fruit for that year, so use the recipes that come in that season's pectin package and don't save the papers from year to year.