Spanish For You! a Schoolhouse Crew Review

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Spanish has been our language of choice when looking at foreign languages for our learners.  With no plans to visit far off lands, Spanish is the foreign language we are most likely to encounter from home.  Spanish for You! is a new-to-me option that has been a great fit for our family.  We have been learning about holidays and celebrations from the Fiestas set.

We like to learn together as a family for as many subjects as possible.  Spanish for You! makes that easy.  The curriculum has levels for 3rd/4th, 5th/6th and 7th/8th grades.  They all use the same text and can easily be taught together.  The younger grades (3rd/4th) plans are for 30 weeks and the older grades (5th/6th and 7th/8th) are for 24 weeks.  A full year of Spanish for all your children in grades 3-8.

The set we received, Fiestas, takes a look at various celebrations or holidays throughout the year.  You do need to stay with the order presented, the language lessons are building upon each other.  Birthdays are the first lesson covered.  The following lessons - Day of the Dead (fall), Carnival (late winter), Holy Week (spring), and April Fair (spring) follow a typical school year calendar.  Some of these may be holidays we don't celebrate.  We won't be celebrating them, but learning about them.  These holidays are the setting in which the vocabulary and language lessons are set.  Rather than random words and phrases, there are themes to the lessons.

My children using this are 3rd, 4th and 6th graders.  We used the schedule for the younger grades to keep everyone together, though I did use the grade appropriate worksheets for my older daughter.  Our younger children tagged along occasionally, picking up some vocabulary and trying to play some of the games.  I wouldn't expect them to do much beyond play and experimentation though.  We made flashcards and used these for many games.  Many of the games require two players (or more) so if only one child was using this, they would need a friend or parent to play with him.

We worked on lessons four days a week.  We played games, filled in worksheets (in a pdf file -- print what you need) and listened to an mp3 of both an English speaker and of a native speaker.  We've had fun singing songs and checking books from the library as we learned not just the Spanish language but some of the culture of peoples around the world.  We've combined this with some geography studies, too.  As we are wrapping up the birthday lesson, I am contemplating a birthday party - complete with a pinata of course.  I haven't convinced myself that the children need all that candy though.

To purchase the whole set for grades 3-8 it is $64.95.  If you only want one of the three levels, they are $39.95 each.  For a multi-level homeschooling family, this is a fantastic price.  We received a soft-cover copy of the book (where the lessons are presented) and all other necessary elements (lesson guide, flashcards, worksheets - by grade, audio files - by lesson) are digital downloads.

We often use unit studies in our learning.  The way in which Spanish for You! follows a unit study layout makes it easy to use.  Following the 30 week schedule each lesson should take about 6 weeks.  We plan our schoolwork 6 weeks at a time, so this works out perfectly for us.  We are learning about the cultures of Spanish speaking peoples as well as learning the language.  The other set reviewed is Estaciones - seasons.  Be sure to read all the reviews by clicking through the graphic below.  Another set is nearly ready, Viajes - travels.  There are plenty of samples (Fiestas) and free mini-lessons to get a feel for how this curriculum is laid out.


Thank you Spanish For You!

Papa's Pearls by Diane Flynn Keith a Schoolhouse Crew Review

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Papa's Pearls is a book recently sent to our home for review.  Written by Diane Flynn Keith, known for  Carschooling and in alternative school circles.  This is not a book written for homeschoolers, but for everyone - truly everyone.  Papa, Carol Joseph Flynn, is Diane's father, her Papa.  This is his story.

Papa's Pearls is part memoir, part book of wisdom.  Throughout the seventeen chapters we read of a father's love and how he shared this with his children.  There are sayings and catch-phrases that were taught to his children and grandchildren, pearls of wisdom.  These pearls show what Papa had learned and wanted his children to know.

Growing up in the Depression-era, facing what could have been a bleak future, involving crime (common for many in those days), things didn't look so good for young Carol Flynn.  Through some life-changing opportunities and hard work, he turned his life around.  He eventually had his own successful plumbing business.

Some of the stories told throughout the book will have you laughing, some crying.  Some of the stories are about Papa, others his children and grandchildren remembering what he said and taught them.  As a parent, I see opportunities to encourage my children.  Little things I could do more of.  When my children are a bit older, they may be interested in reading the book for themselves.  To read of these pearls of wisdom and the stories behind them.

A few of my favorite pearls are "Life is too short.  Relax: take a little time off" the ideas of the short (and budget friendly) family getaways are something we need to implement in our family.  "Keep a foxy pocket" - I do this but never had a catchy name for  it.  At first picking and choosing a few chapters, I thought this family was not a family of faith in God, but in their own work in their lives.  After reading the chapter about "Be grateful every day" I changed my mind.  Papa had a deep faith, just his own way of sharing it.  The truths and wisdom shared in this book are his way.

You can purchase your own autographed copy of Papa's Pearls for $21.97 (includes $7 s/h).  Many more Schoolhouse Review Crew members reviewed Papa's Pearls.  Check out their reviews, too!



Thank you, Diane, for sharing your Papa!

Mother's Day Dinner Blog Hop Strawberry Lemonade Recipe

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Welcome to the Mango Tango Mother's Day Dinner Blog Hop 

We have some tasty recipes for you to enjoy.  Mother's Day should be a day for mom to relax, so don't worry about what to make.  We have some great ideas for you!  (now if only dinner would make itself)

Most of the time, our family drinks water.  For special occasions though, we will make iced tea or lemonade.  Recently, we had some delicious strawberry lemonade while attending a birthday party.  I set out to make it my own.

After consulting some recipes found on-line, I combined, I tweaked, we taste-tested.  This is the result.  And this is good!

I started by making a simple syrup - which is good to have made up to sweeten tea as well.  Equal amounts sugar and water, heated to help the sugar dissolve.  This was then added to the lemon juice followed by the water.  After hulling the berries, I used my stick blender to mash and puree them.  This was mixed into the lemonade and the tasting commenced.  I normally add a bit more sugar but with the sweet strawberries this wasn't needed.

Chill before serving.  Serving a crowd?  The recipe doubles easily.  What to serve it in?  A pretty punch bowl or one of the cool beverage dispensers I keep seeing.

Strawberry Lemonade

1C granulated sugar

1C water

1C lemon juice (can be fresh squeezed or bottled)

1lb strawberries

5 ½ C water

1. In small saucepan on medium-high heat stir sugar and 1 cup water.  Stir until sugar is dissolved.  Cool to room temperature while preparing strawberries.
2. Hull strawberries.  Halve and quarter as needed to be of similar size.  Use blender (traditional or stick) to puree.  Can use potato masher instead if you want lumps and bits.
3. In container (large enough to hold 2 qts lemonade and room to stir) mix lemon juice, simple syrup and 5 ½ cups water.  When blended well, stir in strawberry puree.
4. Chill before serving.  Enjoy!

This recipe can be adjusted for taste, doubled (or tripled or more) to suit your needs.  I think it would be good with other berries as well.

Printable recipe

Be sure to visit each of the bloggers below for your next course. 

Kathys Cluttered Mind - Table Center Piece
Home Sweet Life - Appetizer
Ben and Me - Appetizer
For Him and My Family - Main Course
Through the Calm and Through the Storm - Main Course
Debbies Homeschool Corner - Dessert
Treasuring Life's Blessings -  Dessert
Our Homeschool Studio - Beverage
Following Him Home - Beverage

Life in Colonial America: an In the Hands of a Child Lapbook Review and Giveaway

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We have been studying the colonies in our American History studies this year.  We have been taking each colony one at a time and fairly in-depth.  We have yet to get to the southern colonies, but I am ready to wrap up this time in history.  Because our studies have been so drawn out (and interspersed with weeks of World history) I want to review what we've covered and concisely cover the rest.  Life in Colonial America a Project Pack from In the Hands of a Child has been just the thing our family needs.

This project pack is for grades 3-8.  We have been using it with our 6th, 4th and 3rd grade girls.  My 1st grade son has been tagging along with me doing most of his writing.  He just loves lapbooks and history so wouldn't be left out.  Doing it with his older sisters has been fine, but I definitely agree with the suggested age range.

No study in our homeschool is complete without adding in library books.  Thanks to the included list of Related Resources and other related books we found, we had a box full of books to choose from.  One of the favorites of my daughters - Meet Felicity of the American Girl Series.  We did not need to add in these extra books - a great study guide with all the information needed is included.

Life in Colonial America is focused on daily life during the colonial times.  The colonial times is generally considered 1600-1776.  The timeline begins with some of the early explorers, but the study itself begins with the Lost Colony of Roanoke.

We looked at types of homes colonists lived in and how they differed depending upon where they lived.  We studied what kinds of work they did - both as a trade and what it took to survive.  We made a journal entry as an apprentice.  Many different things served as currency in colonial times and we looked at many of them.

We talked about the religion -- not everyone was a Puritan.  What might happen if you fell asleep during a church service?  (It wasn't pleasant!)  We talked about the government and some of the things that led to independence.  We looked at a horn book and talked about school.

We talked about holidays and some foods and crafts made.  For my girls, this was their favorite part.  They love getting a taste of whatever we study.  There is a recipe included for corn pudding.  My son's favorite was talking of Muster Day and playing colonial games.

This study has been easy to implement thanks to the 12 day schedule.  We worked on vocabulary words daily, read from the study guide and a library selection and then completed the mini-book.  When one of the mini-books needed some preparation a day before using it, the guide noted that.  I really appreciate these small details that make utilizing this study so much easier.

We love using lapbooks in our homeschool.  We use them to complement what our regular studies are (as in this case), to provide the basis for a subject (Operation: English Grammar) and just for fun as a break from our regular studies. I'll be turning my girls loose on The American Girl (1764-1864) project pack at the end of our spring studies before jumping into our new year.

How would you like to win your own copy of Life in Colonial America?  In the Hands of a Child has generously allowed me to give one of my readers a copy.  Simply use the Rafflecopter below to enter.

a Rafflecopter giveaway
Thank you In the Hands of a Child for providing our family with this lapbook at no charge for the purpose of review.  I was not required to write a positive review; I have given our honest opinions.

Finding Frugal: the Homeschool Version

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Our state is one of the few that charge book rental (and many other) fees.  We have been officially been homeschooling a 6th, 4th, 3rd and 1st grader this year.  Whenever the local paper prints what the fee schedule is for the public elementary school, I cringe.  We would be spending a fortune to send our children.

How do we manage to spend so little?

Library

Not only do we visit our library in our county, we also are members of the library in the next county.  This library is part of a group of libraries across our state that share materials with each other.  By paying $30/year, I have access to books from many, many libraries.  I can put them on hold through the computer system and go to the branch close to me to pick them up.  I prefer this to interlibrary loan, which I sometimes had to pay per book for.  The policy of our country library for interlibrary loan also limited the check out duration.  Once my library receives it, it is checked out to me -- even if it will be a few days before I can drive into the town to pick it up.  Living rurally means we only make a trip into town once a week (which also saves gas money!).  No longer are we skipping books from our curriculum because the one local library doesn't have it.  I am also saving on late fees because I can renew books online as well.  We love our library!

Librivox

In addition to the books we read, we love to listen to books as well.  One of our favorite places to find audio books -- for free! -- is Librivox.  All of the books are recorded by volunteers.  You may find you have a preference for some of the readers over others.  We have found some books have more than one version, so you can listen to your preferred reader.  There are many search options to find just the audiobook you are looking for by title, author, reader or genre.  I usually download the full book using the zip file option.  You can also listen directly from the site.  Downloading lets me add books to my eldest daughter's iPod.  She is an audio learner so this is perfect for her.  Books that I would assign for literature or history, she listens to.

Non-consumable and curricula

Nearly all of our curriculum that we buy (often used!) is non-consumable.  What does that mean?  Non-consumable means no workbooks that are written in and used once.  If there is something on paper, much of what we use has a disc to print it ourselves.  I only print what we need- certain pages in the number of copies needed.  Our history choices: Mystery of History and TruthQuest History, are non-consumable and taught to a range of ages at one time.  What we use for science is much the same.  Apologia and Supercharged Science are both non-consumable and for a range of ages.  The main resources we use for math are digital with student pages to be printed as needed.  I could be even more frugal and only print this once, putting the paper in a page protector.  My learner would then write their answers on a separate sheet in a notebook.

Stocking up during back-to-school sales

Back to school sales are for everyone!  We take advantage of the deals for writing utensils (crayons, pens, pencils and colored pencils), paper (spiral notebooks and loose-leaf) and glue sticks.  Who can pass up 19 cent notebooks?!  I keep these in a few banker boxes and only give them to my children as they need them.  If I handed them over at the beginning of the year, we'd be out by December.  Pencils and crayons don't seem to disappear as quickly when you only have a small portion to be responsible for.

lifestyle learning/hands-on real-life options

We homestead which means chores.  The children take part in many of these chores.  Math and science activities are the easiest to incorporate.  When we gather eggs, the five year old helps to count them.  When we unload all the bags of feed mixed at the co-op, the middle girls figure how many barrels we will fill.  Before we head out to place the order, the eldest works on ratios and percents as we figure how much of each grain, etc. will be mixed.  There are also numerous opportunities in the kitchen.  Matching socks and sorting clothes are great activities for younger children to both help and practice what they are learning.  When you incorporate learning opportunities into your daily life - taking advantage of your regular activities - it's a win-win!

So many freebies to download

I find freebies from both dedicated sites that share deals and freebies and publisher's sites.  Hands of a Child has a free lapbook available which changes usually once a year and a $5 option that changes weekly.  Sign up for Bright Ideas Press's blog - they offer a monthly geography lesson or notebooking page.  A Journey Through Learning has a free lapbook when you sign up for their newsletter and periodic freebies.  Homeschool Freebie of the Day regularly points you to freebies.  CurrClick has a weekly freebie as well as other opportunities throughout the year.

Reviewing and giveaways

Last, but not least, the Schoolhouse Review Crew.  Were it not for this great group, the items we are blessed with, and the reviews I get to write, our homeschool would not be the same.  I have also won great curricula items through giveaways (it truly pays for the few minutes it takes to fill in those forms!).   Follow the curricula providers you like and watch for the opportunities.  You'll find out about sales when they happen, any freebies offered and of course, giveaways.  There are giveaways throughout the year that someone will win -- why not you!

If your budget is small (or nonexistent) don't despair!  Utilizing just one of the things we use will help.  When we save in one or two areas, it allows us the flexibility to spend more in a more critical area.  We have saved a lot through the means mentioned above, and have been able to purchase other curriula as needed.

I am joining in the Schoolhouse Review Crew's Blog Cruise.  The Cruise embarks Tuesday morning, May 7th.  Find more tips and frugal finds here.

Home School in the Woods' Hands-On History Lap-Pak The 20th Century in America a Schoolhouse Crew Review

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I first learned of Home School in the Woods when beginning our formal history studies, including keeping a timeline.  Their timeline figures are the most highly recommended - and rightfully so.  They are beautiful!  A few years ago, we reviewed their Olde World Style Maps (and still use them).  One look at their site, and you see they do so much more.  We have been blessed to receive one of their latest Lap-Paks, Hands-On History the 20th Century in America for review. Lap-Paks are a complete study into a topic.  A booklet with the study information is included for us to print out.  There is even a plan to keep this booklet as part of the lapbook.  Full instructions for each element let you know what should be printed on cardstock or regular paper, colored or plain, etc.  As you study each topic of the Lap-Pak, these various elements are assembled to record what is learned.  We put these elements/mini-books into a gallon size ziploc-style bag to keep each child's together.  When your study is complete, you begin putting the lapbook together.  We really like this way (assembly after versus as you go) of study because our momentum is not broken.  Our focus is on the study, not fitting the bits into their folders. The 20th Century in America Lap-Pak is an overview of events throughout the busy 1900s.  We've looked at the major wars, political events, and the stock market crash.  We've looked at artists, music and architecture.  So many advances were made in science and medicine.  There are 22 topics in all and you can check them all out on the webpage.

You can do this study as a quick overview of the time period, or really dig into it.  We have been really digging into it.  I did not initially plan to spend so long but my children have wanted to learn more, so we have.  There have been some topics in the study we just used the included booklet while others we chose books from the library and movies to round out our studies. I always like studying history chronologically.  I set that aside to jump into this more modern study of history.  We have been referring to timelines quite a bit to keep the when in place and in relation to other time periods we have studied.  My children have had no problem with this jump in time (it's just this slightly OCD mama).  My children have enjoyed this look at history that also includes their parents' childhoods.  They find it very amusing that we have first-hand remembrances of some of these historical events.   In going through this Lap-Pak, we are seeing that this study of history is much more than just history.  We are spending a lot of time reading about notable people and their lives as well.  We are listening to music, looking at art, reading literature, and watching movies.  We are also enjoying sampling some of the foods.  Surprisingly, many of the items mentioned and discussed in the menu-style mini-book are commonly found on our menu.  I generally don't buy processed cheese for grilled cheese sandwiches or macaroni and cheese, but in the name of homeschool studies we did once.  I was relieved when most of my children preferred our real cheese versions.  *big grin*  There are even some recipes for you (or your children) to make.  We still need to make the caramel apple pie. This has been a rainy month, so the time forced indoors, watching movies has been an enjoyable diversion.  We have been watching the Adventures of Young Indiana Jones.  While knowing (and re-iterating) that he was not a real person, he had encounters and spent time with many people throughout the early 20th century.  This look at the times and some notable people has added a fun element to our study. The 20th Century in America is just one topic in the Hands-On History series.  You can choose either download ($21.95) or CD ($22.95).  Other topics in the Hands-On History Paks include Artists, Composers, Old Testament and New Testament.  These are all recommended for grades 3-8.  We have been using this with our eldest girls - 6th, 4th and 3rd.  The younger children have been tagging along for the learning, but not making their own lapbook.  

Thank you, Home School in the Woods!

The End is Near! Don't Miss The Ultimate Homemaking Bundle (and all the Freebies)!

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This is the last day of the sale! Last day to get these books and courses for only 31 cents each. This is such a fantastic price ($29.97) for these great resources you don't want to miss it. You can read more about all that is included here or see everything below.

 Not only are the resources outstanding, the free bonuses are amazing. Fit2B Studio is something I need to begin working on healing my diastasis - and for exercising with my family.  I've been reading more about clay and its health benefits. You can try it when you get a free bundle from Redmond with the purchase of the Ultimate Homemaking Bundle (choice of Earth Paste or Facial Mud).  Those are just 2 of the freebies I will be taking advantage of -- there are many more!

I am an affiliate for this sale and will receive a percentage of your purchase if you buy through my link.  Thank you!  I greatly appreciate your support.