curriculum » Tenacity Divine

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We’ve been in between-house limbo for several weeks now, and thankfully, it’s been over the holidays – a time of year we usually focus on unit studies, fun activities, and spending time together as a family. It’s been a perfect time to explore a homeschool Spanish Curriculum created especially for use within families.

The REAL Homeschool Spanish bundle includes a 100-page text, a 170-page activity book, an answer book with easy-to-read answers for the activity pages, and audio files. It is available as either a digital download or in hardcopy form. In the download variation, all books are pdf, and audio files are mp3. The hardcopy version includes a printed text book, and cds with the audio files and ready-to-print files for the activity pages.

Audio for book and activity book are clearly marked with which page or section they pertain to – makes the audio easy to use. Pages that have audio also have an “audio” symbol marked on there – a useful reminder for those of us that might forget to use it otherwise!

REAL Homeschool Spanish is VERY flexible; it is set up in a manner to encourage you to incorporate Spanish into your daily family life. Though not everyone will want the optional Daily Curriculum Guide, I really appreciate it. I love curriculum that is easy to adapt to the way I want to use it, but sometimes, I get a bit overwhelmed with too much flexibility – where do I start? That’s what the Daily Curriculum Guide is perfect for. If you have a busy household like us, there’s something immensely satisfying about a guide that you can skim through, say, THIS is what we’re going to do today, and then, if you choose to, add in more from the ideas section.

REAL Homeschool Spanish is divided into ten units; each unit has two to four parts. The shorter sections help to keep it simple and controllable; no “there’s too many words to remember” here. Each of the sections haas a list of vocabulary words, a list of phrases to use, and a “tips to the home educator” sidebar. (I call it a sidebar, for lack of a better word, but often, it’s close to half the page – there’s plenty of guidance in REAL Homeschool Spanish, even if you’re new to the language.)

The activity book is wonderfully done. My kids are enjoying the puzzles, and pages are much more appealing than a fill-in-the-blanks, multiple-choice typical workbook. I appreciate that the activity books are in digital form – I can print as many pages as I need for my family, and not worry that I’m wasting money because I want to do the activities and learn alongside them.

It’s been easy for me to pick and and go with REAL Homeschool Spanish – much of the vocabulary here I’m already familiar with – but I think that this program, with the included audio files for help with pronunciation, would make it an excellent choice for a parent and family that is totally new to learning Spanish.

REAL Homeschool Spanish is intended for elementary and middle school ages, though my oldest students have enjoyed it as much and my younger ones. I’d heard that a high-school supplement is in the works, and I’m looking foward to seeing it.

One of the nice things about REAL Homeschool Spanish? If there is a topic that your family would like to learn vocabulary about, it would be relatively simple to use many of the same ideas (minus the activity book) to learn that material, once you’re familiar with pronunciation and feel comfortable doing so.

Samples are available on the REAL Homeschool Spanish website for you to view, and sample audio files may also be downloaded. REAL Homeschool Spanish could be incorporated into any homeschool (or family) that wants to learn Spanish together.

Pricing for REAL Homeschool Spanish varies depending on whether you choose the digital or hard copy version, and whether or not you wish to included the daily curriculum guide. (The daily curriculum guide may also be purchased separately.)

Hard copy: $99.95 with Daily Curriculum Guide, $89.95 without
Digital download: $59.95 with Daily Curriculum Guide, $59.95 without

To see what other crew members had to say, check out the TOS Homeschool Crew blog post, REAL Homeschool Spanish.

**I received this product for free as a member of the 2011-12 The Old Schoolhouse Homeschool Crew so that I could provide you with an honest review of it by our family.**

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Art: I have this love/hate relationship with art. Love the idea of creating art – hate that I’m terrible at it. And a couple of my kids are much, much better at it then I.

Definitely not something I have any teaching ability in whatsoever. Definitely a skill I want to encourage in the kids.

What to do? Hope and pray that the right curriculum finds us – one that, out of necessity, requires no more actual skill from me then providing the books and supplies.

Lo and behold, I think one found us.

We were thrilled to find out that we’d get to try out Artistic Pursuits – I’ve heard a lot of great things about their art curriculum. But AAAAGH! Decision time. I had to figure out which specific book to request. The kids range from 3rd to 9th – and I wanted each of them to be able to participate. That led to my choosing of the 4-6th book: just right for the younger two, and hopefully not too babyish for my older ones, who’ve had no formal art instruction since they were in public school, 2-4 years ago. (If it can be called “art instruction”, when it was of such dubious nature, random and infrequent.)

The book arrived – and wow, bright, intriguing cover, chock full of instructions and sample art. Approximately 90 pages, spread over 16 units, with four lessons per unit. My only disappointment was in the binding – it’s comb-bound. Comb-binding just doesn’t hold up well in our house, so there’s a good chance it will end up dismantled, put in sheet protectors and ensconced in a binder for longevity.

Then it was time for a material hunt. Supply packs are available from Artistic Pursuits, plus they’ve done the kindness of setting up easy-to-order bundles with a couple of online companies, but I wanted to look over the book, and check supplies on hand, before I decided what – and where – to purchase.

Most of what we needed we already had, with the exception of the Ebony pencils, so it was off to our local art and bead store I went. (They offer teachers a 15% discount for class materials – and homeschoolers count. Puts the price that much closer to the discount online places – and supports a local business while we’re at it, definitely a good thing. Besides, it gave me an excuse to check out their neat new location.)

Materials needed vary from book to book, but lists (and info for the bundles) can easily be viewed on Artistic Pursuit’s website. The book itself is text/reference, and reusable – supplies, though, will need to be restocked with regular use. If your kids are anything like mine, you’re not going to get just one project per lesson.

Since we’re on eclectic-leaning-toward-relaxed mode, I wanted to know, right from the get-go, if it would work well with a work-at-your-own-pace-individually situation. Pleased to report that it has, quite well, in fact. My input has consisted of: providing materials, asking if they’d worked on it this week, and admiring the end results. As far as I’m concerned, that’s as independent-friendly as a curriculum can get!

The recommended pace is 2 hour-long lessons per week, which would fill 32 weeks. Lessons will likely require more time to complete as the year wears on, because more skills will likely translate into spending more time working on each project. Also, the parent is advised to schedule lessons when they can be completed without interruption, as a break in the middle can derail enthusiasm and energy.

Artistic Pursuits would be a great addition to any core curriculum, with or without high teacher involvement. It would be easy for a knowledgeable parent to spend more time or go into more details on desired topics, but it’s not necessary. This book is definitely accessible for middle grades, and with a complete set on the shelf, would be a great resource even for unschoolers who enjoy art.

Each unit has four lessons. The first is focused on the topic presented in that lesson, giving ways to observe that detail in the world around them, and create art from what they see. The second lesson gives examples of the skill in other works of art, and relates that art to the history and culture of the artist. The third lesson centers around technique and helping the student to apply their new knowledge to their own art.

We didn’t schedule in two specific times per week – instead, I just added it to their schedule as something that they could work on when they had time – lately we’ve had too many projects going on at once keeping things disorganized, so it fit into our schedule better that way.

I was very excited to learn we’d get to check out Artistic Pursuits; I had high hopes for this product, and this book has met and exceeded my expectations. My biggest surprise? It’s actually the quality of results that I’m surprised at. I’m no artist, but I can appreciate when something is well drawn. Two of mine seem to be gifted artistically, while the other two do not – but what really got my attention that my less-naturally-skilled kids have produced drawings that are far better then I anticipated.

Artistic Pursuits is going on our must-buy list. There are two books for 4th-6th grade, two for junior high, and two for senior high. I’m actually considering, in addition, purchasing the 1st-3rd grade books, also – not sure how well they’d adapt for older kids, but we might just have to try them out and see.

The kids were curious at first look, and anything artsy or crafty, they tend to dive into wholeheartedly. Artistic Pursuits has joined the “wish we’d tried it sooner” collection. It’s going to be interesting to see, as time goes by, how things improve – and I think I’m going to try it out, too. Supposedly, anyone can learn to draw.

ARTistic Pursuits (Grades 4-6) Book One: The Elements of Art and Composition may be purchased from Artistic Pursuits for $42.95. This is just one book in a series that encompasses all grades from preschool through high school – all books are currently the same price.

To see what other crew members had to say about this product, check out the TOS Homeschool Crew blog post, Artistic Pursuits.

**I received this product for free as a member of the 2010-11 The Old Schoolhouse Homeschool Crew so that I could provide you with an honest review of it by our family.**

These days, I don’t have any reluctant readers in my house. Reluctant to put the book DOWN and go do chores, yes. Reluctant to read, no.

But, it hasn’t always been that way.

I learned several years back that the real key to creating a reader is that they must want to read.

And how do you make them want to read? Let them read what they like. What they enjoy. What they find fun. What they want more of.

And next time, it’s a little easier.

With a child who can read, who has the skills to read, is a fluent reader, but won’t just pick up a book and enjoy it – that means you haven’t found the right book, the right genre. It’s there, somewhere. It might not be what you wish they’d read – but reading comic books or fantasy or every single book on fairies they can get their hands on – at least they’re reading.

And reading is what is important.

Enough practice so they feel comfortable. Until it’s normal, and natural, and habit. Until a life lived without books is unimaginable.

That’s where Reluctant Reader Solution from Kid Scoop comes in.

It’s not a full curriculum, by any means. It’s not going to provide you with tools that help you teach your child to read. That’s not the purpose.

Reluctant Reader Solution is designed to be practice. Fun practice. Practice that will entice the student into reading. And they’ll never know that the ultimate goal is simply to practice reading.

Reluctant Reader Solution is comprised of two complimentary parts. The first is a downloadable collection of 365 black and white pages, grouped into more than 50 different topics. Use it either year-round, by following the chronological table of contents to determine seasonally appropriate topics, or pick and choose among the themes in whatever order you choose. These printer-friendly pages are filled with puzzles, games, and a variety of other activities to encourage reading in a gentle, non-threatening manner. Reading? This isn’t reading, this is fun!

The second part of Reluctant Reader Solution is a year-long subscription to Kid Scoop News, an monthly online newspaper. With a style similar to the activity pages, but with 20 full-color pages, this newspaper can be used online, or downloaded and printed. If you choose to print, be aware it’s going to require a lot of ink. I’d suggest, if possible, to allow your students to enjoy the bright colors while perusing the online edition – but then print in grayscale. (If they see the online paper, rest assured, they ARE going to want you to print it.) Each Kid Scoop News has a variety of sections, just like a real newspaper. There’s even a Sports section! And my kids’ favorite – Jokes and Comedy. The online edition has the ability to read the words on the page – but it’s a robot-like text-to-audio conversion, sort of stilted and rough. Some kids will appreciate it, others will find it annoying, but it’s a tool that is available if your student gets stuck on a word.

All of my kids enjoyed this product, and they range in age from 8-15. They love puzzles, and this was viewed as a “treat”, rather then actual schoolwork. It’s fun, it could be easily added to any homeschool with minimal work for the parent. With all the talk of “national standards” on the website, it’s clear that it’s created to satisfy requirements for public school teachers. Despite that, it’s a fun supplement that my kids liked, and it was something that they could use on their own. Suggestions are given to draw students into the page, but it’s hard to envision a kid that would see these and not WANT to know what it said.

Sprinkled lightly through the activity pages are research questions for students to find in “real” newspapers – like finding on article on health, or an advertisement for a product that isn’t good for them. I wouldn’t call these an afterthought – they exist to fulfill standards that require students to be comfortable researching information from a variety of media – but they do give an interesting extra dimension to the pages. If you wanted your student(s) to complete this portion, one would need to provide the newspaper in addition.

It’s not an all-in-one solution if your student is a complete non-reader, but then, it makes no pretensions of claiming it is.

Instead, the Reluctant Reader Solution is quite capable of delivering exactly what it promises – reading practice that is interesting, varied, and above all, fun.

There are a wealth of other things to explore on the Kid Scoop website – check it out and sign up for the FREE-by-email “Make Reading Fun” tip each day for 30 days.

The Reluctant Reader Solution bundle may be purchased from Kid Scoop for $97, a significant discount from purchasing each piece separately.

To see what other crew members had to say about this product, check out the TOS Homeschool Crew blog post, Kid Scoop – The Reluctant Reader Solution.

**I received this product for free as a member of the 2010-11 The Old Schoolhouse Homeschool Crew so that I could provide you with an honest review of it by our family.**

This week has been full of bad news, so I was very pleased to check my email this afternoon and discover that our family has been selected for the 2010-11 Homeschool Crew! Organized by The Old Schoolhouse, members of the crew will be reviewing products during the year.

This is the third voyage for the Homeschool Crew, and this year, the set-up is just a little bit different. Participants will be split into two groups: K-6 and 7-12. With grades 9, 7, 5, and 3 in the house, we’re with the older group.

REAL Homeschool Spanish

Artistic Pursuits

A Solution for Reluctant Readers from Kid Scoop

Sailing with the TOS Homeschool Crew