Mountain of Grace Homeschooling and Life Thereafter

Wednesday, February 8, 2017

Valentine's Day Gifts the Kids

Gifts for Girls

Shopkins Sweetheart Collection

Crayola Valentine Stamp Set

Philbin the Bear

Black and White Cat

This little guy reminded me of Therese's cat that died a few months ago.

Heart Earrings

Pink Heart Necklace and Bracelet

Webkinz Love Puppy

Gifts for Boys

I Steal Hearts T-Shirt

I Love You Astronaut

Charlie Brown Valentine DVD

Webkinz Frog

Valentines Flying Airplanes

Flying Saucer

Push and Go Trucks

Please Note~ This post may contain affiliate links. If you choose to click on a link, add it to your cart and complete your purchase, I will receive a small percentage. We are very grateful for this additional source of income. Thank you.

Make sure you don't miss a thing! Subscribe to Mountain of Grace Homeschooling below and get the post delivered directly to your inbox!

Tuesday, February 7, 2017

Homeschool Crew Review~ Times Alive from Times Tables the Fun Way

Recently, Therese was given the opportunity to review Times Alive from Times Tables the Fun Way. Learning and memorizing math facts has been a little tricky for her, so she was eager and willing to give this program a try. She logged into the online lessons with animated songs and stories to learn times tables the fun way!

City Creek Press is owned and operated by Judy Liautaud. She is an educational pioneer. Back in 1992, she wanted to find a way to help students learn the math tables in a fun way, but more importantly in way that students would remember them! City Creek Press offers books, movies, computer software, music cds, flash cards, classroom materials, student workbooks, and online subscriptions to help students learn their math tables. Students can learn addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division.

For this review, Therese worked through the online version of Times Alive. We were given access to the monthly subscription for 3 months. A monthly subscription is $9.95 a month after the initial set up cost. Setting up an account and logging in was simple to do.

Upon logging in, students will see a lesson list that will show them what the lessons are, what lessons they have completed, and what lessons are left for them to work on. Times Alive has 18 lessons for the students to work through. The 18 lessons will work on the times tables from 0 to 9.

Each lesson is broken up into 3-5 sections. The lessons are started off with a movie that introduces the number characters being covered in that lesson. The movie tells a story about the number characters that will help the students remember the math times tables. Following the movie, a song is taught to help the students remember the story about the number characters.

After watching the movie and learning the song, the students will then work on answering math problems by remembering the story and number characters they learned. The questions are presented in a fun and non stressful way.

At the end of some lessons, students will be given a progress check or test to see what they have learned. The progress test allows the student to see what they have learned and what they may still need to work on. The progress check is done after a few lessons to see if the student can remember the facts they have been taught. These tests can be printed out for more practice too.

If the student doesn't score that well they can redo the test. They can be cleared and redone until the student masters it. If you have a child that is a perfectionist, they can retake the test until they score a 100%.

Times Alive even offers the students a little fun. Some of the lessons have a fun coloring page that can be colored in. It' a nice reward for their hard work.

Parents can log in and check the students progress report. Here parents can see what lessons the student has done, if they did all the sections of the lesson, and see what their scores were on the tests given during the lessons. This is great because parents can then see what lessons the students have mastered or what lessons need to worked on again. Once the students have worked through lessons 1-17, they will reach lesson 18. Lesson 18 is the final test to see what they have learned.
What Did We Think of Times Alive?
I found the program very well done. The stories and songs helped make the times tables come alive. This program would be a fantastic way to introduce young children to the times tables. It's fun, colorful, and very educational. Who wouldn't want to learn their multiplication facts in a fun way? I like how the lessons can be done over and over again until a child has mastered the times tables and feel confident in their math skills.
Therese's thoughts...... She thought the program was a little young for her. She's 11 (going on 15). She is on the older end so some of the graphics and songs seemed a little childish to her. She would love to have a program that was geared for older students who just need more reinforcement with their math facts. She did agree that some of the rhymes were catchy. Overall, she felt the program was pretty good.
****As a side note, she might not admit it, but some of the songs did help her learn some of the upper time tables. She has been struggling with the 7's, 8's, and 9's for years. She get certain math facts done but not others. For example, she's now knows 7 x 9, but doesn't know 8 x 7. We will be working through the program until she has them done pat!

Want to see how well it worked for other families? Click on the link below and see how Time Alive worked for their kids.

Make sure you don't miss a thing! Subscribe to Mountain of Grace Homeschooling below and get the post delivered directly to your inbox!

Sunday, February 5, 2017

Living Like a Saint~ Saint Alphonsa

"Whatever you do, do it for the love of Jesus.

Don't only work to please your superiors."

~ Saint Alphonsa

Make sure you don't miss a thing! Subscribe to Mountain of Grace Homeschooling below and get the post delivered directly to your inbox!

Thursday, February 2, 2017

Traveling Thursdays~ Mount Rushmore

Up next on our cross country tour of the United States is Mount Rushmore in the beautiful Black Hills of South Dakota. This part of the United States is gorgeousness. God did an amazing job here. I've always wanted to see Mount Rushmore, but I'l be honest I didn't expect it to be as beautiful as it was. It was absolutely breathtaking.

It's big!

It's bigger than I imagined. The monument and the grounds are stunning.

"I predict future happiness for Americans if they can prevent the government from wasting the labors of the people under the pretense of taking care of them."

~Thomas Jefferson

Driving up to the park, we were able to see the gigantic heads of George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Theodore Roosevelt, and Abraham Lincoln.

There is plenty to do while visiting there. Upon entering the park, you can stop by the Lincoln Borglum Visiter center. Here you can watch a 15 minute movie about how the monument was carved. There are a few exhibits to look at and the kids can get there National Park Passport stamped.

There is a wonderful amphitheater to sit and look up at this beautiful piece of American history. From there, you can head on a hike!

The Presidential Trail is a 0.6 mile walk around the monument. It does have some stairs and can be a little difficult to walk for some people. The path takes you closer to the monument and allows you to catch a few glimpses of the wildlife in the area. We saw birds, squirrels, chipmunks, and mountain goats.

We were able to get some amazing pictures of the details in the sculptures. We found the eyes of the presidents fascinating.

"The greatest danger to American freedom is a government that ignores the Constitution."

~Thomas Jefferson

While walking the trail, you will come upon the Sculptor's Studio. This is where Gutzon Borglum. This was where he spent a lot of his time focusing on the fine details of the presidents. Here you can see exhibits, photographs, and other memorabilia of the making of Mount Rushmore. A wonderful talk is given by one of the park rangers. It's very informative!