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Fables & Fairy Tales (Crafty Classroom) {Review}
Over the years, I have often turned to The Crafty Classroom for printable materials to enhance our homeschool classroom studies. Right now, we are working our way through many units within the Fables & Tales pack. It is as easy and print, hand it to my daughter with her craft supplies and we’re off! This is truly a no-prep pack. For the purposes of this review, we received access to a PDF printable document and I let my daughter set the pace. My middle daughter is seven-years-old and she is always excited to work on these studies. Some days, she would sit and do page after page and on…
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IXL | Math, Language Arts, Science, Social Studies, & Spanish (Online Practice) {Review}
Many years ago, we introduced the concept of computer school to our homeschool situation with online math practice. Back in 2014, I believe that my introduction to IXL Math and IXL Language Arts is still one of our favorite review product items. We continued to pay for a membership in the years following our original review. My oldest daughter (AppleBlossom) started IXL around age five and I have been thrilled to watch all the improvements over the years. It is great, it has been great, and it is only getting better. IXL was my middle daughter’s (the Princess) introduction to working with technology devices including computers, desktop, laptop, iPad tablets, and…
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2nd Grade Curriculum
Before we started on Monday, I laid it all out for my Princess and we discussed what all is in the plans for this year. The only thing this picture lacks is @logicofenglish Essentials and her computer school stuff. From learning to read, spell, and write sentences, to getting a handle on cursive, gaining skills in arithmetic, and spending time with her sister building pegs for U.S. History and Astronomy we have one enthusiast little learner. . . . . If you want to know more about any of these choices, let me know… #mamasgirl #memoriascholeacademy #memoriapress #memoriapresssecondgrade #simplyclassical #classicaleducation #classicalchristianeducation #adventuresinphonics #homeschoolmama #hsreviews #ihsnet #setonhomestudyschool #thegoodandthebeautiful #apologia #astronomy #ourstarspangledstory…
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First Times by Charles Ghigna {Review}
A foray into the first adventures of childhood. Years ago, with Tot school in mind, I discovered Charles Ghigna and his story Little Seeds. Today, I was able to read one of his newer selections in First Times. This is a book about all sorts of firsts and applicable for each of my children from my nearly nine-year-old daughter all the way to her eleven-month-old sister and the others in between. The illustrations are okay, but it is the words and the text that make this book a fantastic one to read aloud again and again. I was blessed to read a digital Advanced Reading Copy on loan from the publisher. Opinions are honest…
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Starfall Pre-k Curriculum & more (Online Learning) {Review}
Ever since I started homeschooling with littles, one of the names that have come up over and over as a recommendation for some online learning is the Starfall Education Foundation. This year with our interactions with the Homeschool Review Crew we were blessed to receive a one-year subscription to The Starfall Home Membership giving access for the whole family. Or rather in our case, from my youngest student using this as a pre-k curriculum at three-years-old through my middle daughter at six-years-old and even the eldest at eight-years-old is able to benefit. Technically, if you include the times they hold her up to witness it all, even my newest addition at…
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Memoria Press Second Grade {Review – Part I}
Hello friends! As of January 2019, I have an affiliate account with Memoria Press. If you’re here, you know how passionate I am about Memoria Press. Please bless my family by using our links. In 2011, I added a second child to the mix and my toddler was antsy to get more attention in addition to being a little mama. We dabbled a bit with a book box curriculum of good nursery readers, however, it was in 2012-2013 that our Memoria Press adventure started. At the age of three, my book-loving daughter started in on our K3 Junior Kindergarten with an extremely wonderful year that we still look back on with extremely…
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Logic of English: Foundations, Level D (Science of Reading) {Review}
I think that it is an easy statement to say that one of my favorite product reviews that I have been introduced to through the blessing of participating in the TOS Crew is from Logic of English ~ (https://www.logicofenglish.com/) and today that blessings has continued in the form of the latest level of their primary school program in Foundations Level D. Link back to Foundations A and you can read my extremely verbose post on our original thoughts about LOE Foundations. We still love “Dragon Phonics”! When we started using LOE Foundations, I got the full kit including the supplemental Doodling Dragons book and iOS phonogram app. You can read more about those in my…
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The Read-Aloud Plan for 2016
Hello friends! As of January 2019, I have an affiliate account with Memoria Press. If you’re here, you know how passionate I am about Memoria Press. Please bless my family by using our links. This year is a blessed year. As I am not the only one reading aloud this year. AppleBlossom has become a voracious reader and loves to read to us all! We have been partner reading The Red Pyramid by Rick Riordan and loving every minute of the adventure together. Truly, we are reading this one at bedtime, and often times the two littlest are already in slumber. Thus it has become a special time for my darling…
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Veritas Press ~ Milly Molly Mandy Story Book {Chapters 1-6} (Free Resources)
Milly-Molly-Mandy is the main character of a series of children’s books written and illustrated by Joyce Lankester Brisley. This year we are using Literature Guides from Veritas Press and Memoria Press designed for the Second Grade school year. *This post includes affiliate links to books on Amazon. Any purchase you make after clicking these links will help bless the Creative Madness Mama family if you do so soon after. Your price is not affected. So far for us, this has entailed selected titles from Beatrix Potter stories, The Boxcar Children book #1, Encyclopedia Brown: Boy Detective book #1, Prairie School by Avi, Owls in the Family, and now the Milly Molly Mandy Story Book. We…
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What materials do you use to teach reading?
Hello friends! As of January 2019, I have an affiliate account with Memoria Press. If you’re here, you know how passionate I am about Memoria Press. Please bless my family by using our links. Learning how to read is possibly the first essential skill in education, but how to teach it? How do you teach reading? There are programs, and curriculum galore available. There is just using phonics or alphabet flashcards. There are interactive apps for mobile devices and websites. There is the option to just read to them and point things out here and there. And there are also educational DVDs. Which direction to go? This doesn’t even touch…
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2015-2016 Curriculum Choices (Looking Forward)
This is post that I have honestly been scared to write as I dread the judgement. Okay, so seriously I don’t have a large commenting base on my blog, but I know from numbers and interactions along down the line that people are seeing what I write. It’s here, in email, and feeds through social networks and what-not. But even though I’m sure you’ll probably read this and go on with your day, I still fear the judgement and the “crazy woman” thoughts you’re most likely sending my way. Alas. Yesterday I talked about looking back at our year and what we did. For a large part of things, they…
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Finding Spring by Carin Berger
Instead of hibernating as he should, a little bear cub goes out in search of spring—and he thinks he’s found it! Gloriously illustrated with cut-paper collages, Carin Berger’s stunning picture book celebrates the changing of the seasons.
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Logic of English: Foundations, Level A Cursive (Science of Reading) {Review}
(This is a long post... I've debating breaking it into parts... but oh well.) Today, I get to share with you a new treasure to our family in our homeschool curriculum and I'm delighted to review this new-to-me program that I definitely want to stick with on further levels in the Logic of English ~ (http://www.LogicofEnglish.com). I was granted the blessing to obtain and use Foundations, Level A as well as a set of reusable resources, and the iOS Doodling Dragons App. I was curious about the curriculum, but had no idea the delight that we were in for on this adventure! Logic of English Review The Logic of English:…