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By Shawna, on May 15th, 2013 
Immersion is well-known for being the most effective way to learn a foreign language, but it can be difficult to replicate on a local scale, especially in a home-learning environment where the parent doesn’t speak the language. Spanish for You! addresses that challenge, with students learning to write, read, and speak Spanish through age-appropriate materials.
Spanish for You! is centered around themes, rather than levels, allowing parents to choose packages based on interest, rather than level of experience. Spanish for You! was designed to be easy and fun to use with mixed-age groups from . . . → Read More: Review: Spanish For You
By Shawna, on April 23rd, 2013 
Cheyenne has been playing Math Rider, a math drill game, this last few weeks to brush up on her mental math skills. We’ve reviewed Math Rider in the past – during our review of Math Rider from two years ago, all four of my kids were using the software – but with a limited number of computers, Cheyenne didn’t have the amount of free time then to use it as often as she does now.
Math Rider is easy to use, but with tons of complicated things going on in the background . . . → Read More: Review – Math Rider
By Shawna, on November 4th, 2012 
Like many families, we spend quite a bit of time in the car – but since we’re a one-car family these days, most of our time isn’t driving, it’s waiting. Still, there’s that perpetual question: how do you keep the kids busy – and well-behaved – when they have to sit in the car?
Travel games, puzzle books, etc, those are all possibilities – but with the holidays coming up – and road trips looming in your future, let me tell you about one more little tool to have up your sleep when the Wiggly Critters in the . . . → Read More: Activity Bags
By Shawna, on June 22nd, 2012 
IXL is a web-based subscription service for math practice. Accounts are available for either homeschool/individual family users or school classrooms; our family has recently been trying out the homeschool side of the service. (I’m not certain how much, if any, difference there is between the two products other than pricing models – just wanted to clarify which version we used.)
IXL covers skills from preschool through 8th grade algebra; each child has access to all of this material at once, leading to both pros and cons – and in my case, some interesting behavioral observations. . . . → Read More: IXL
By Shawna, on May 22nd, 2012 
Cheyenne’s been testing out a writing program for me lately that’s right – and write – up her alley.
She’s crafty and hands on, and is forever working on some project. (Little scraps of paper on the floor? 90% chance of Chey)
So when we received the Write Shop Junior book (level D), and I saw how activity based it is, I knew that she was going to *love* all the projects… and that she might just enjoy herself while she was doing the writing, too.
We were send download editions (it’s . . . → Read More: The right workshop to write
By Shawna, on April 10th, 2012 
Wow. When the review copy of TruthQuest History Middle Ages guide landed in my email, that was my first reaction, and still, I’m in awe. I think we’ve been blessed with *our* history… and I wish I’d found it several years ago.
Actually, I should say, I wish I’d really SEEN it for what it was. I’d heard of it. I’d hazzard a guess that many of us have. But I’d never really looked inside the covers and lived with it… and that’s what it took to fall in love.
The TruthQuest History . . . → Read More: A map through time with TruthQuest History
By Shawna, on March 4th, 2012 
It’s a good thing that Cheyenne loves doing school on the compute; we’ve been blessed with several interesting sites for her to try out this year. Her latest foray has been into the land of K5 Learning.
K5 Learning is a web subscription service comprised of four subject areas:
Reading – to create strong readers and foster a love of reading. It covers phonemic awareness, phonics, sight words, vocabulary and reading comprehension. Spelling – an advanced vocabulary program designed to improve language skills one word at a time, it . . . → Read More: TOS K5 Learning
By Shawna, on May 25th, 2011 
Sometimes, we search high and low for just the right type of homeschool curriculum, and nothing is ever quite right. Time goes by, and we end up using other materials because – we think – what we want just isn’t out there.
The really frustrating part? Sometimes, it IS already out there – and we just don’t know it yet.
Today’s item is, for me, just exactly that. It lands in my lap NOW, when I really could have used it to best advantage about four years ago. Sigh.
Considering God’s Creation . . . → Read More: Eagle’s Wings: Considering God’s Creation
By Shawna, on April 4th, 2011 
My kids are already readers – no argument there – but they love online games and learning activities. When we were offered the opportunity recently to try out Go Go Kabongo, an interactive learning site designed to increase pre-reading skills, they were just as excited as usual. Princess (8) and Doodle (11 today) are a bit older then Go Go Kabongo‘s targeted age of 4-7 year olds, but they were willing. For my part, I figure any skill practice is a plus, and that their “more advanced” . . . → Read More: Go Go Kabongo
By Shawna, on January 21st, 2011 
Speekee is a intro to Spanish course for young children, wrapped in friendly videos filled with kids and cute puppets. Think Sesame Street, in Spanish, captioned in English and Spanish, full of catchy – but not annoying – songs, and you’ll have the right idea.
My family tried out Speekee TV, which is their new online version. The website is easy to use, with bright, kid-friendly colors. Speekee recommends that the videos be viewed in order to be the most effective, as Speekee uses a spiral teaching method to enhance . . . → Read More: Fun & easy intro to Spanish with Speekee
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