Homeschool Crew Review~ Wonders of the World from HomeSchool in the Woods

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We love hand son learning in our house! We were thrilled to try out another great product from Home School in the Woods. This time we, received the Hands-On History Lap-Pak Wonders of the World.  Over the years, the kids and I have discovered that having fun while learning helps them learn the information and lets them enjoy the themselves in the process.

Home School in the Woods offers parents and students a wide variety of learning materials. The company was founded by Amy Pak and her family. Amy was a homeschooling mom of four who wanted to create a fun way for students to learn history. She felt is was important for students to learn history, but even more importantly for them to understand it. She wanted the learning to be exciting! No boring history textbooks here. Hands- on projects and great literature were the key. So after researching and figuring out what worked, she decided to share her valuable resources with all of us.  Parents can choose from a wonderful selection. Hands-On History Lap-Paks  (Grades K-2nd) Benjamin Franklin Knights  (Grades 3rd-8th) U.S. Elections  (we reviewed this one last year) The 20th Century in America (I'm looking into this one for next year) Wonders of the World
Hands-On History Activity Paks (Grades 3rd-8th) The Old Testament The New Testament Composers Artists and their newest one.... Make-a-State

History Through the Ages: Time Travelers American History Studies (Grades 3rd-8th) New World Explorers Colonial Life The American Revolution The Early 19th Century (the kids had fun working through this one) The Civil War ( a great way to study the Civil War) The Industrial Revolution through the Great Depression (this one has some fun crafts) World War II (can't wait to get to use this one next year) History Through the Ages: Project Passport World History Studies (Grades 3rd-8th) Ancient Egypt (loved it) Ancient Greece  The Middle Ages Renaissance & Reformation and History Through the Ages: Timeline Trio As you can see they offer a little bit of everything. Finding a topic to fit your needs and engage your children would be rater simple. Over the past few years we have used a few of their products. Just this past year we used the Civil War and The Industrial Revolution Time Traveler series. We'll continue with the series as we finish up with the Great Depression and World War II.  I'm always amazed with the amount of information the program offers to students.

O.K., so now on to the review! I was excited about getting the Wonders of the world. I had always wanted to learn more about these amazing and stunning historical places. Since we were technically on our summer schedule, I thought the Wonders of the world would be a great topic to study and learn more about.  For this review, we received a link to download the product. It was super easy to do. We received an email, I clicked on the link, and the Wonders of the World lap-pak was downloaded. The download version is $18.95. If yo'd prefer a CD, you can purchase one for $19.95. I've used both formats in the past and they work the same way. It just comes down to your personal preference. The Wonders of the World Lap-Pak is all about these famous places created by man and nature. It truly is amazing how some of these places were made. Students will learn all about the Ancient Wonders, the Medieval Wonders of the World, the  New Wonders of the World, and God's Wonders of the World. Ancient Wonders of the World Statue of Zeus Temple of Artemis Mausoleum at Halicarnassus Colossus of Rhodes Lighthouse of Alexandria Great Pyramid of Giza Hanging Gardens of Babylon
Medieval Wonders of the World Stonehenge  Leaning Tower of Pisa The Colosseum Hagia Sophia  Great Wall of China Catacombs of Kom el Shoqafa Lost Porcelain Pagoda  Modern Wonders of the World Channel Tunnel CN Tower Empire State Building Golden Gate Bridge Itaipu Dam Panama Canal Netherlands North Sea Protection Works Natural Wonders of the World Mount Everest Grand Canyon Northern Lights Harbor of Rio de Janeiro Great Barrier Reef Paricutin: Volcano in a Cornfield Victoria Falls The kids and I were excited  and eager to study these beautiful places. Most we had heard of before. I was lucky enough to study abroad in college and was able to visit Stonehenge and the Colosseum. The kids were able to take a look at them in my old photo albums. In my life prior to kids, I lived in NY, so I've been in the Empire State building.  Of course,we were more excited to learn about the places we had never heard of before or the places we knew very little of. Michael was thrilled to learn more about the Great Barrier Reef. The Lap-Pak consists of 23 lap booking projects. These projects consist of creative writing projects, coloring and drawing pages, research opportunities, and fun projects to work on. All the projects are then put together in a colorful lapbook. To go along with the 23 projects, a booklet is provided. This booklet gives students (and moms) all the information needed. You have 2 options on how to print this booklet out. For the life of me, I can never figure out how to make the 32 page booklet. It just seems confusing and too time consuming. I always print out a full page text. I just use construction paper to make the book. My kids can then just add it to their binders. We also checked out a few books out from the library about the different Wonders of the World. I love to have visuals. There are plenty of sites online that have information. The resource page is filled with additional resources to use. There is a wonderful selection of books that are recommenced.
I love how the lap-pak comes with  detailed instruction sheets. Students (and parents) can read all about the projects and how to assemble the lapbook. There is even a page that tells you what projects are included and what supplies you will need. The supplies list is filled wit materials you probably already have markers, paper (white & colored), cardstock, pencils, colored pencils, glue, tape, paint, and of course file folders to create your lapbook.
If you want your kids  to learn about the Wonders of the World and have fun doing it, then this lap-pak is perfect for the kids! Home School in the Woods now offers families a A La Carte Projects!  Now you can purchase just a few select projects to use with a certain topic. You can purchase games to play about different time periods, learn about art or the orchestra, learn about different composers, or take a journey through history with the timelines! Be sure to check out the other crew member's reviews! we reviewed a ton of great projects. Till Next Time, Monique

Living Like a Saint

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Till Next Time,

Monique

Happy Fourth of July!

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Wishing 

you all 

a 

wonderful 

4th of July!

Till Next Time,

Monique

Traveling Thursdays~ Chapel of the Sacred Heart, Grand Teton

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.

While traveling around the Grand Teton National Park, we stumbled upon a charming rustic log chapel. Chapel of the Sacred Heart Mission is nestled into the Grand Tetons.

The chapel sits along the southern shore of Jackson Lake. The Chapel dates back to the 1930's. 

It is one of two chapels in the park.

When we visited, the chapel contained a door for the Year of Mercy. This was the second door we were able to walk through during that special year.

Till Next Time,

Monique

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Wordless Wednesday

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. 

Till Next Time,

Monique

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Homeschool Crew Review~ Grade 7 Lightening Lit Set from Hewitt Homeschooling

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.

Over the past few weeks, Michael has been working through the Gr. 7 Lightening Lit Set from Hewitt Homeschooling. I was beyond excited when we were chosen for this very in depth writing program. Michael, unfortunately, was not as thrilled. His lack of eagerness to write is one of the main reasons I wanted to review this writing curriculum. 

Hewitt Homechooling is company that serves students in Kindergarten through High school. They offer 3 main items for students and their families: services (online curriculum, grading, etc.), testing, and curriculum programs. For this review, we received the Grade 7 Lightening Lit Set. Our set included the 2nd Edition Student Guide, Student Workbook, Teacher's Guide, and Stories and Poems for Extremely Intelligent Children. The full Grade 7 Lightening Lit Set includes the Student Guide, Student workbook, Teacher's Guide, Stories and Poems for Intelligent Children, and the 4 books needed for the program The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, All Creatures Great and Small, and Helen Keller The Story of My Life. The full set retails for $108.80. Since we didn't receive the additional 4 literature books, I purchased the one book we didn't already have and searched the shelves for the books we did have.  Along with the writing curriculum program, we were lucky enough to receive the paper evaluation service that Hewitt Homeschooling provides. This service generally costs about $250 a year. Throughout the year, the teachers at Hewitt Homeschooling will review and offer feedback on 24 of your student's papers. We didn't receive a full years service, but we have been given the opportunity to send in 4 papers. I prayed we would be chosen for this special service and we were. I really wanted Michael to get some feedback from someone else about his papers. Sometimes it helps to have an outside voice share some advice (or back up what mom has been saying along). So What is Grade 7 Lightening Lit & Comp?

Well, it's a writing curriculum with so much more! The Lightening Lit & Comp program strives to prepare students for high school. It helps students work on their reading and composition skills while using great literature. The goal of this writing program is to expose students to great literature, increase their understanding of the literature, enhance their own writing skills, learn about different authors, time periods, and cultures, and so much more. They want the students to do all this, but have fun while doing it. Who doesn't learn better when they are actually enjoying what they are working on?
The students will work through the student guide book and the student workbook. The books are broken up into eight chapters. The various chapters focus on a literary lesson and a certain book. The chapters are further broken up into lessons. Each chapter has between 8-12 lessons. 

The student guide contains an introduction, which talks about the author, the chosen literature, and the literary lesson for that chapter is introduced. Following the introduction, a vocabulary list is presented for the student. The chapter then continues with comprehension questions for the student to answer. These questions are great way to make sure you student is understanding what they are reading. Following the questions, students will then learn about the literary lesson. Here a literary topic (plot, poetry, rhyme, creativity) is discussed in detail. The students learn all about how to work this into their own writing. This section often has pictures and diagrams to help explain the topic. The last part of the chapter includes a mini-lesson ( a small topic is discussed) and the writing exercises the students can work on. 

More than one writing lesson is presented, so students can choose one to work on or they can work on all of them.  The writing lesson should only be completed once all the activity pages in the workbook for that chapter have been completed.

The student workbook follows the guide book. In the workbook, students will work on exercises that help reinforce the literary lesson being taught. Multiple choice, question & answer, fill in graphs, writing exercises, and other forms of writing are presented. It's not all boring though. The workbook also has fun pages too! Crossword puzzles, word searches, and drawing activities are included too.

The teacher guide is just that a guide. It has a wonderful section explaining how to use the program, why you should this program, and they've even included a schedule. This makes it easy for parents. No breaking down the lessons. It's all done for you. I do wish they had included a schedule in the student book. If the students had a copy in their own guide book, they could easily know what they were supposed to be working on. I made a copy for Michael to have, so he could have it to refer to. My goal this year is too encourage more independent learning for him.

It has all the answers to the comprehension questions and activity pages in the student workbook. It offers suggestions for parents on how to help their students understand the literary lesson and mini-lesson presented in the chapter. What Did We Think of Grade 7 Lightening Lit Set and the Paper Evaluation Service? After being chosen for this review, I have to admit I got a little nervous. I was afraid Michael would stress out. Was it going to be too hard? I wanted this to be a pleasant experience. I didn't want to have to do battle everyday for him to write a little.  I wanted him to enjoy this writing program and learn some new writing techniques and rules. I wanted his writing skills to improve so he could grow in his writing abilities and build his confidence. He doubts himself when he writes a paper. Over the past year, the kids worked on papers and Michael struggled getting them done. When he did complete them, they were filled with lots of sound information. He just lacked in his writing skills. He hates to proofread! I was thrilled when Michael (his teacher at Hewitt Homeschooling) clearly pointed out that he needs to proofread! It felt like a win for this mama.  Michael, from Hewitt Homeschooling, has been wonderful. He has been very friendly and extremely helpful. He sent an introduction email to us. His email put me at ease and I was happy to know that he was there to help us. If we had any questions, all we had to to was ask.  So far, we have turned in one paper. We are getting close to sending in our second paper. The whole process has been rather simple. My Michael just types the paper up in Word and then I email it for him since he doesn't have an email address yet. Once we sent the paper off, it was about a week and half before we received it back with corrections and comments. This was shorter than the 2 week turn around we were told. After looking over his corrected paper, Michael admitted that he could have caught a good bit of the mistakes if he would have reread his paper. Proof reading is important! I loved the feedback he received, Michael, our evaluator, offered positive feedback too. He pointed out parts that were strong and well written, while pointing out areas in the paper that could be clarified and made into stronger points. I felt he made a positive impact on Michael's writing experience. Over, the next few weeks, we will send in the remaining 3 papers. I am hoping I will see a difference in Michael's writing abilities and his confidence.  Here are Michael's Thoughts about the Program... He thought the program was very good. In fact, he stated this was the best writing program he's done so far. The program offers great stories! It's not boring. He likes the variety of writing exercises. He'd give it five stars! *****
This is a HUGE success for us! I think I'll be looking into the Grade 8 Lightening Lit Set for him for next year! Be sure to stop by to see the other fantastic programs Hewitt Homeschooling has to offer!
Till Next Time, Monique

Homeschool Crew Review~ Earth Science: God's World, Our Home from Novare Science & Math

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As the kids have gotten older, curriculum choices have gotten more confusing. Trying to find resources we like and agree with has been a little tricky. We were thrilled when we were chosen to review Earth Science: God's World, Our Home from Novare Science & Math. For this review, we received a physical copy of the Earth Science: God's World, Our Home textbook and a link to download the resource CD that Novare Science & Math sells to go along with the book.

 
Novare Science & Math is a relatively new company in the homeschooling world. They set out to revolutionize the science and math world by "promoting a a teaching philosophy bases on the core principles of mastery, interrogation, and  Kingdom perspective." I love how they wanted to break away from the schooling standards of "cram-pass-forget." I remember too often studying for a test and then completely forgetting the information I had learned. I wanted my children to learn and master the topics being covered. Over the past year, I've been searching for a strong science curriculum for the kids. There seems to be a huge selection for elementary and high school students, but the resources for middle school are limited. I am thankful that Novare Science & Math decided to create Earth Science: God's World, Our Home. The textbook is geared for middle school students, but could easily be used for 9th grade. I was especially thrilled to see Catholic Heritage Curricula and Memoria Press both recommend this new textbook! So What is Earth Science: God's World, Our Home? First off the basics...the textbook is beautiful. It's a hardback book filled with bright, colorful graphics and pictures. The book retails for $75.00.  The book is a little smaller than an average textbook. This took me a little bit of time to get used to. The kids didn't even notice, since it was the same size as their English textbooks.  The book contains 15 chapters... Chapter 1: Earth in Space Chapter 2: Visualizing the Earth Chapter 3: Thinking About the Earth Chapter 4: Matter and Minerals Chapter 5: Rocks and the Rock Cycle Chapter 6: Plate Tectonics and Mountain Building Chapter 7: Volcanoes and Earthquakes Chapter 8: Weathering, Erosion, Soils Chapter 9: Surface Water and Groundwater Chapter 10: Landforms Chapter 11: Unraveling Earth History Chapter 12: Oceanography Chapter 13: The Atmosphere Chapter 14: Weather Chapter 15: Climate and Air Pollution

Each chapter is broken up into 4 -6 lessons. Some of the lessons are broken up into even smaller lessons. Each chapter has an Objective list for students, a vocabulary section, sections called Learning Check and an Exercises section at the end of the chapter. The learning check section contains activities and questions for the students to use to strengthen and test their knowledge. The end of the chapter exercise sections are similar to review questions and activities. They are a great way to tie up the chapter. In addition to the chapters, the book contains a preface section for teachers and students, an appendix, a glossary, biblical citations, references, and an index. 

To go along with the textbook, the company offers a CD. The resource CD sells for $50. It includes quizzes, tests, answer key, instructions for 8 experiments, weekly review guides, lesson schedule, and additional resources. There is no teacher's manual to this textbook. So What Did We Think of Earth Science: God's World, Our Home?

It was a big hit for us. While searching for a science textbook for the kids, I wanted a book that taught all the theories of how the earth was created. I didn't want a book that only taught creationism. With a young man interested in going into the science field, I wanted him to be aware of the different theories out there. I felt is was important for him to know about them, understand them, and be able to make up his own mind in what he believed. As Catholics, we have 3 Dogmas we must believe. 1. God created everything out of nothing ("ex nihlo") 2. God created an orderly universe (the universe is not a product of chance) 3. God sustained everything in being (everything depends on God for existence)  So having the different theories presented in this book was an important aspect for us. Families that believe in only creationism may have a problem with this book. If you don't want your child exposed to the other theories this book may not be the right fit for you. However, for us I do feel it is important for students to be exposed to the different theories. Being well read and have all the information is important for forming our young students minds. 

The additional resource CD was a nice added bonus. It provides students and parents with additional resources. Of course, the students may not want the quizzes, tests, and exams, The schedule was laid out in a simple manner. The lesson outline was very basic. I actually liked that. I love to add other activities to our lessons, The simple lesson guidelines allowed me to do just that. I wasn't added more projects and then overwhelming my kids.The lessons are not written out like some other homeschool curriculum. It didn't tell you what pages to read on what day or what activities to do. It did suggest a lesson guide and when to take the quizzes, but the actually lesson plans were pretty laid back. If you're not a planner, this might not be enough for you. I happen to love a simple, easy guide. It's easier for me to change and adjust to meet our needs. Plus I love planning! I can never just grab a books and follow it religiously. I always have to tweak it....take something out, add something new, rearrange the schedule,etc.  Another added bonus from Novare Science are the free resources from the Tips and Tools link on their site! 

These are FREE resources for parents and students. They offers additional resources like website links and YouTube videos for the different chapters in the textbook! This makes planning a easier and quicker. So far we have enjoyed the book. We have found the lessons challenging but not too difficult. It's written so students can learn and understand what they are reading. We got into the first few chapters before taking a break for the summer. We will definitely pick this book up again. I strongly believe my kids will have a fantastic understanding of the world around them. I may even learn a few things. My 9th grade Earth Science teacher may finally be proud of me. I'll be looking into their General Chemistry and Introductory Physics for the kids. Science wasn't my strongest subject in high school, but with these books we will excel! The crew reviewed a few other books from Novare Science! Introductory Physics General Chemistry and Science for Every Teacher  Till Next Time, Monique