Category: Homeschool

4th Grade, 5th Grade, 6th Grade, Art, Homeschool, Morning Basket

ARTistic Pursuits: Painting with Watercolor Pencils, Art Core 2

Little Learner and Mom

I received this complimentary product through the Homeschool Review Crew!

The crew was given the opportunity to review ARTistic Pursuits: Painting with Watercolor Pencils, Art Core 2. It is an excellent opportunity to study again for this great company, we have reviewed several of their other levels they have been a pleasure to have in our home.

This year we shifted our homeschooling focus to a more relaxed Waldorfish curriculum. One of the benefits of this switch is incorporating more into our lesson. Most importantly use more watercolors in our artwork. I personally don’t have a lot of knowledge on water coloring painting so I am learning alongside my son. Painting with Watercolor Pencils, Art Core 2 is not like typical watercolor instructions your student is using watercolor pencils! If you are not familiar with ARTistic Pursuits they have homeschooled art curricula with 8 eight levels for K-3, upper elementary, and middle school.

Painting with Watercolor Pencils, Art Core 2 instructions are available on DVD/Blue Ray or digital access through your personal dashboard. You also can purchase the supplies kit to go along with the curriculum. There are 36 lesson illustrated lessons included in the hardcover book and 9 video lessons that are the same as the book. Mrs. Brenda breaks the lesson down in easy-to-follow steps. I really enjoyed the color swatch videos, because I know all watercolors aren’t created equal so it was nice that she went through these swatches with the different types of watercolor pencils. The introduction videos were very helpful in getting used started with watercolor painting because I wasn’t aware of the different colors and how they blend together and create beautiful masterpieces.

We slowly worked our way through lesson one of Painting with Watercolor Pencils, Art Core 2, we learned about wash and line and hard and soft lines. My son instantly noticed that the amount of pressure you use with your open will determine the light and deepenest of the color when activated. Would you look at that I am using artist lingo…LOL! We practiced our technique a few times a week because we needed a lot of practice before we felt comfortable moving on. The online streaming service is a major plus with this curriculum because it allows you to have a personal lesson in your home at your pace.

Painting with Watercolor Pencils, Art Core 2 is the second level in the upper elementary series. I really think we need to try out the first level, I was super excited to see the watercolors book and I choose this one to review, but my son said he wants the first one because he wants to learn how to draw like Mrs. Brenda. He always gets excited when a new ARTistic Pursuits book arrives in the mail. Painting with Watercolor Pencils, Art Core 2 is a wonderful curriculum, I love the online streaming and the use of watercolor pencils I don’t feel as intimidated by using watercolors.

If you are a homeschool that is dipping their hands into water coloring I would highly recommend ARTistic Pursuits: Painting with Watercolor Pencils, Art Core. If you are interested in finding out more about ARTistic Pursuits be sure to click the banner below and read the other Crews reviews of ARTistic Pursuits curriculums.

Social Media Links:

Facebook: www.facebook.com/artisticpursuitsinc
Twitter: https://twitter.com/ARTisticPursui1
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/artisticpursuitsinc/
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCk75eIpDhZUqbr1On5xEQJQ

Curriculum, Education, Grammar, Homeschool, Vocabulary

Dynamic Literacy, LLC: Wordbuild Online Review!

Little Learner and Mom

Disclosure: I received this complimentary product through the Homeschool Review Crew.

We are testing family and this year when I noticed right away there was a substantial amount of vocabulary on the exam. For the last 2 years, we have worked on vocabulary-building activities through workbooks and curriculums. I was thrilled when the Crew was offered to review Dynamic Literacy, LLC: Wordbuild Online .

In all honesty, I had never heard of Wordbuild Online until we were presented with the opportunity to review it. At first glance at the website, I was very impressed with the scope and sequence. Wordbuild Online really concentrates on the prefixes and suffixes, Greek, and Latin roots. There are 3 foundation levels reviewing prefixes and suffixes with 25 units per level. After your student masters, these 75 exercises the students will move on to the Elements level which also has 3 levels of 25-36 units of Greek and Latin roots.

The company started all of our Crew accounts at the foundations level and to be honest with you I thought this was a great idea. Having my son started at the beginning was fine with me because I wanted him to take advantage of everything this online platform had to offer. Starting from the beginning also let me know where he was in his knowledge of roots and where I needed to focus our attention. Students are given a placement test at the beginning as well students watch an introductory video about the English language.

Students are recommended to work the 10-15 min lessons 5 days a week. I highly recommend that you do these lessons consecutively. I made this mistake in week one of us using the program and thereafter we worked consistently. Foundations level 1-3 are students 2- 5th grade, but I personally feel students should start at the beginning Wordbuild Online instead of jumping directly to the Greek and Latin roots. Foundations and Elements break the lesson down into 5 different activities. The requirement for

  • Day 1 Affix Square (Foundations)
  • Daty 2 Affix Adder (Foundations )
  • Day 3 Magic Square (Foundations) / Stair Steps (Elements)
  • Day 4 Comprehension Booster (Foundations) / In Other Words (Elements)
  • Day 5 Question Assessment (Foundations) /10 Question Assessment (Elements)

What We Think!

My SON LOVES this program! It is the first thing he does after breakfast, he has been very consistent with the platform. He learning and reviewing so much and enjoying watching himself get better. At first, he was getting a rating score of 2’s and I was concerned maybe we needed to do some review. I just sat back and just observed his work and I realize that Wordbuild Online was presenting these lessons in a different way than he was used to seeing them as pretty basic. Wordbuild Online was teaching him definitions and vocabulary and having him really dissect these words in sentence comprehension. Those few 2’s started turning into 4’s because he had found his rhythm and gotten over the learning curve.

I really like how Wordbuild Online presents the affix, then students define it in their own words using a new word. Then they work on sentence comprehension by using the new word and picking the correct use in the sentence. The students continue to work on many more activities that increase vocabulary, spelling, and review. I love the parent dashboard that is simple and you can reset it if you want your student to rework an affix.

Since using Wordbuild Online the last few weeks our current vocabulary curriculum has taken the backseat because he really prefers this over his book. When it comes time for the Crew to vote for the best vocabulary curriculum for the year we are definitely casting our vote for Wordbuild Online.

Be sure to check out the other Crew reviews of Dynamic Literacy, LLC: Wordbuild Online by clicking the banner below.

Social Media Links:

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/wordbuild/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/DynamicLiteracy
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/wordbuild_online/

Curriculum, Education, Homeschool, Math, Middle School Math

Math Essentials: Mastering Essential Math Skills Book 2

Little Learner and Mom

Disclosure: I received this complimentary product through the Homeschool Review Crew.

Have you ever found that one resource that was your #1 go-to when needing to supplement a subject? Well, Math Essentials is my #1 go-to for all things supplemental for math. When all as fails I know for sure that any of my Math Essentials books in my homeschool arsenal will get the job down. There was no doubt I was completely on board when the Homeschool Review Crew was given the opportunity to review the Mastering Essential Math Skills Book 2 I was definitely wanting to be a part of this review.

There are 8 chapters in the Mastering Essential Math Skills Book 2, this newly revised 3rd edition is designed for middle and high schoolers. The Mastering Essential Math Skills Book 2 is perfect for my rising 5th grader because we are currently working on middle school math in his spine curriculum. Mastering Essential Math Skills Book 2 covers:

  • Whole Numbers
  • Fractions
  • Decimals
  • Geometry
  • Percents
  • Integers
  • Charts & Graphs
  • Word Problems

Mastering Essential Math Skills Book 2 can be used as a full curriculum or as a supplemental. Practice takes an average of 20-30 minutes a day with each lesson with a corresponding video. The company recommends you use the book daily for math success. There are 8 steps to completing lessons:

  • Review Exercises
  • Speed Drills
  • Work through review problems
  • Introduction to new material
  • Helpful hints & sample problems
  • Daily exercises
  • Correct problems

You don’t have to follow this layout, but I will tell you that it will make the lessons go by smoother if do.

How We Use

We use Mastering Essential Math Skills Book 2 as our daily math warm-ups or we use it on Fridays as our math skills review. The only difference is I work the review exercises on the board. My son and I play this game in which he works on his book and me on the whiteboard and then we check each other’s answers. I purposely sometimes get the answers incorrect so he can check my work and show me he understands the review. Sometimes I let him watch the lesson videos and other times I teach the lesson and then he works on the problems and I check them and help him with any problems he has incorrect. I do also correlate Mastering Essential Math Skills Book 2 with my son’s spine math curriculum for extra practice.

Final Thoughts

Mastering Essential Math Skills Book 2 is a great math review book, perfect for prepping for those end-of-the-year assessments and SAT/PSAT prepping. The lessons sequence nicely together so there is no worry about students developing holes in their math. I like that the lessons are short to the point and there are video lessons.

A great amount of problem-solving and logic activities. Mastering Essential Math Skills Book 2 is available in Spanish and Bilingual. If you are looking for a math supplement for your middle or high school student I encourage you to check out Mastering Essential Math Skills Book 2 from Math Essentials. If you are interested in checking out Math Essentials Math and Algebra platform code CREW2022 and try for free for 3 months.

Be sure to check out the other Crew’s reviews on Math Essentials by clicking the banner below.

4th Grade, 5th Grade, 6th Grade, Education, Family, Homeschool, Homeschool Family, Unit Study

Five Senses Literature Lessons: Children of the Longhouse Unit Study!

Little Learner and Mom

Complimentary product received from Five Senses Literature Lessons

I am starting to lesson plan for our upcoming school year and one of the things I like to include is 3-4 unit studies each year. Last year my son had the opportunity to take classes with Kelly Tudor, if you are not familiar with Kelly Tudor she is a citizen of the Lipan Apache Tribe in Texas. She teaches Indigenous studies classes in Outschool, and she is a wealth of truth about Indigenous people. We love her classes and we will be taking full advantage of them again this year.

I mention Mrs. Tudor because we always do an Indigenous study between October and November. This year we will be using the Five Senses Literature Lessons ,Children of the Longhouse Unit Study.

About Five Senses Literature Lessons

Five Senses Literature Lessons were developed by an occupational therapist, turned homeschool. The lessons are secular and can be used as a full curriculum depending on the student. There are 4 levels instead of grade levels, the reason being the lesson is designed to appeal to all students based on their abilities.

You will see some overlapping of skills because not all children learn at the same pace and may need more time to develop skills. The literature lesson covers multiple academic disciplines such as:

  • History and Social Studies
  • Science and Math
  • Art and Health
  • Language Arts

Everything you need to teach these lessons is within the literature guide. Speaking of the lessons you will receive embedded video and resource links for each lesson which makes this guide easier to implement. You really don’t have to print out the guide itself just the appendix section that has all the printables you will need. I personally like to have both a hard copy (planning and note-taking reasons) and a digital version for the clickable links.

I want children to experience learning with their whole bodies. I want them to not only hear about something but taste it, feel it, talk about it and wonder about it beyond what they were shown. I do not believe that learning about history, science, art or language should hinge on how well a child can read or write.

Laura Sowdon – Five Senses Learning

Five Senses Literature Lessons work for children with disabilities as well as gifted children. The guides appeal to all learning styles and I really like that they were created by the occupational therapist because she has taken the time to really design a program that is relaxed and stress-free for both the learner and parent.

Children of the Longhouse Unit Study

Children of the Longhouse, Unit Study is a part of the green level for students ages 8-12 years. The green level concentrates on historical fiction, critical thinking skills, independent learning, and ambitious hands-on activities. The creator of this unit study was very intentional to point out that the unit was about Appreciation not Appropriation I really like this because I don’t know how many times I have tossed a book or printable because of misappropriation.

There are 13 lessons that directly correlate with each chapter in the book. You will find a book list, how-to-use, supply list, pre-reading activities, and appendix. There is a detailed chart that tells you what subjects are going to be covered in each chapter lesson. Students will learn about Indigenous culture, herbology, sports, woodworking, food, anatomy, and first aid. I really appreciate the life skills included in the resource and recipes.

Last Thoughts!

I really like the Children of the Longhouse, Unit Study from Five Senses Literature Lessons. The unit has cut down my prep time for this year’s unit study on Indigenous Studies. I like the included book list for optional resources all I have to do is grab the books from the library. I do like she included the Wildcraft board game that has been one on my list for our homeschool. November is our slow-down month with homeschool so having all the integrated subjects included takes my mind off lesson planning for those subjects. We are working on independent learning this year so having some of the activities that encourage these skills is a major plus. Five Senses Literature Lessons are great for family studies and morning baskets.

Right now there are 7 unit studies available in the Five Senses shop. I am hoping that she will come out with some new unit studies. At the time of this review Children of the Longhouse, Unit Study is $9.95 and she is having a Summer Sale you can save 25% off with the code hotmom2022.

If you would like to see a full walkthrough of this unit be on the lookout for our video on Little Learner and Mom IG.

Until the Next Time!

Mom

Homeschool, Homeschool Family, Morning Basket, Music Appreciation, Music Theory, Unit Study

Teach Your Child Piano: Read Music Notes in 6 Weeks and Summer Siesta Music Camp Review!

Little Learner and Mom

Complimentary product received from Teach Your Child Piano!

If you are followers on our Little Learner and Mom IG you know my son, well our entire family loves music. My son was exposed to music early on in the womb because his dad is a music producer and insisted on playing music to my belly every night. So when my son was born he instantly took to all things music.

My son’s first instrument was the trombone it was like love at first sight from 18 months old until the present. We bought his first trombone when he was 3 and he has been playing every since. When Karen asked me if we would be interested in taking a look at the Teach Your Child Piano course Read Music Notes in Six Weeks and the Music Camp: Summer Siesta course, we were happy to review them.

The Teach Your Child Piano courses are on the “Teachable” platform. You will have your own dashboard that includes your course of study. Some of the activities include downloadable pdfs and embedded videos. Not all of the Siesta Summer activities have videos. I think it would be nice if each included one example of the topic. This would be helpful for those students and parents who have no background in music. The platform is easily managed and it tracks your progress as long as you click the continue and complete button.

Read Music Notes in Six Weeks

Read Music Notes in Six Weeks is a great course for beginners who do not have a background in music. My son has a background in music so after looking over the first week, he felt like it was just a little too easy for him. But I am going to base my review on what I think if I had a non-musical child. This is a great course to introduce your students to reading music and music theory. The included a detailed lesson plan, games, worksheets, instructional video, flashcards, and a practice plan.

There are 6 modules that cover:

  • Learning Your Way Around The Keyboard
  • Treble Clef Line Notes
  • Treble Clef Space Notes
  • Bass Clef Line Notes
  • Bass Clef Space Notes
  • Review and Preparing for the Grand Recital

After looking through all the weeks I think this would be great for a family who has no or very little background in music. I do still have plans to have my son review the weeks just as a review in the fall.

Music Camp Online: Summer Siesta

Summer Siesta consists of 120 self-paced lessons for ages 4-14. The course runs from May to August, but I think this can be used year-round and I hope Karen will consider keeping the program going year-round. There is so much to unpack in this course and for a music-loving family like ours, we need more time to really appreciate all the wonderfulness in this course. Summer Siesta is really a music appreciation course that families can pair well with geography, history, and cultural lessons in their homeschool.

Students can study:

  • Musical Era (Baroque, Classical, Romantic, and Modern)
  • Various Music Genre
  • Orchestra and Foreign Instruments
  • Cultural Music
  • Composers
  • Chorus
  • Vocal Expression
  • DIY Instruments

There are 120 lessons the summer program encourages students to do 1 activity per day for a total of 60 activities over the summer. You don’t have to do the activities in order, but students will earn a certificate at the end of the course if the activities are completed. For us, that wasn’t going to be something achievable because we kept going down rabbit trails. The activity sheets can be done orally or written. We do them orally and I recorded the answers down for my son because I wanted him to enjoy researching and having fun.

For copyright reasons and to protect the creator’s work I won’t be uploading a copy of the full sheet, but I can tell you that the sheets are detailed and not overwhelming.

My son decided he wanted to spend time learning more about Spanish composer the “Queen of Percussion” Shelia “E” Escovedo! Let me just tell you this was a family affair when my husband got wind that we were doing this study he told us about the Sheila E Master Class. We were all captivated by her wonderful story and percussion lessons. My son was super intrigued and took things to another level and decided to research Pete Escovedo who is her father. We ended up doing 2 lessons on Spanish composers. We also did an instrument study on the bongos. We continued to go down another rabbit hole that led us to Prince. Like really we studied all about PRINCE !!!!

Of course, after we did Shelia E he wanted to research the trombone. So we grabbed the brass instrument and jazz activity sheet and learned about the Trombone and Trombone Shorty. That lesson didn’t stop there because it lead us down the road to New Orleans’ infamous Treme history.

We really like the Summer Siesta and like I said I hope my review persuades the creator to extend the course for year-round availability. Read Music Notes in Six Weeks and Music Camp: Summer Siesta would be a great addition to your homeschool lessons if you are looking for a self-directed course. Self-directed courses work best for us because it allows us the freedom to follow our interest.

Teach Your Child Piano currently has 18 courses available prices start at $49 and up. There is a free course available and a monthly homeschool course. I defiantly recommend checking out Teach Your Child Piano.

Until the Next Time,

Mom and J

5th Grade, Education, Family, Homeschool, Teaching Resources

HUE HD Pro Camera Review!

Little Learner and Mom

Complimentary product received from HUE!

When the pandemic struck I was teaching at my son’s homeschool co-op. After several weeks of trying to pull things together for our students, we ended our school year on a sad note. Then Fall 2020 came and like many schools, homeschool co-ops turned to virtual teaching so we could stay connected with our students. Fast forward 9 months and teachers across the country had learn to adapt and come up with some innovative ways to teach online. I happened to follow one great teacher on Instagram and she spoke highly of the HUE HD PRO Camera. Teachers commented on the post saying the same great things about HUE HD PRO Camera. I knew I needed to get one of these because I was also teaching online and needed a better way to present lessons.

When I was approached to review HUE HD PRO Camera I was overjoyed because this has been on my list to purchase as soon as I could.

HUE HD PRO Camera is super simple to set up and can be used on PC and MAC computers, be sure to check your system with the HUE HD PRO Camera system requirements. I first set it up on my son’s PC because he has already told me that he is using it for stop animation, so I went ahead and downloaded the software for him and HE showed me how to use the camera. Then my husband got wind that I was setting up on my son’s computer and he insisted he was next on his MAC so he could use it for recording music production tutorials. Later I set it up on my computer to try out with my summer virtual students.

HUE HD PRO Camera includes a flexible body and stand, you can use the camera while on the stand or attach it directly to your computer. The camera can capture a standard size document or A4. With manual focus and magnification, you can use up close with objects for demonstrations. HUE HD PRO Camera uses a high-quality microphone and LED lights. The additional HUE INTUITION software is spectacular for teaching allowing you to be able to “annotate and manipulate the live video stream”. The HUE INTUITION software also allows you to:

  • Record Videos
  • Scan documents
  • Image Capture
  • Skype
HUE INTUITION

I am super impressed using it with one of my virtual students I tutor he likes to have a visual of the page we are working on so he can find the page faster in his book and we can work together. Now before having the HUE HD PRO Camera I had to scan the sheet then upload it to my computer, then try to work on the sheet with him using annotate in Zoom while trying to manage my teacher’s manual. Now all I have to do is turn on my camera share screen and place the page in a sheet protector and slide under HUE HD PRO Camera and keep it moving. No more scanning and weird clumsy writing with annotating.

HUE HD PRO Camera is a really great addition to our homeschool and my teaching online. I am still learning my way around HUE INTUITION so I can really use the software to make things easier for my students and my son. At the time of this review HUE HD PRO Camera is $79.95 and it comes in four cool colors. You can also project on whiteboards and projectors, this is definitely a must-have for back to school for teachers. If you are looking for a gift to give your student’s teacher I recommend HUE HD PRO Camera they will love it.

Until the Next Time,

Mom and J

Early Math Skills, Education, Family, Homeschool, Preschool

Creta Class: Math Class

Little Learner and Mom

This review is in partnership with Creta Class. I received access to the app to facilitate my review all opinions are my own.

Math is one of those skills you want to start your children on the right path. As parents, we are our children’s first teachers and we play all kinds of finger play games for counting and read tons of picture books with numbers and counting. What if there was an app that could start your little learners on the right path. Well, the creators at Creta Class have created a wonderful educational platform for children ages 3-8.

At first glance, I was captivated by Creta Class graphics and Momo and his friends. Creta Class was designed by early education experts to ensure your little mathematicians kickstart their math skills on the right foot. Creta Class experts have really outdone themselves with the app. We have reviewed many apps and I was very impressed with how this app was designed.

Creta Class learning approach is systemic there are 5 stages of learning, starting with the very basics of 2D & 3D shapes. Students will work over the week concentrating on that week’s skill. I really appreciate that the app is done daily for as little as 10 minutes a day. Creta Class Math Class lessons are presented with fun animation between the videos students practice the skill 3 times. Creta Class is a mastery math class, students will practice skills and review until they move on to the next week’s unit. Parents receive a detailed report after each week’s unit as well as students can see their progress. Creta Class Math Class is a great way to lesson plan if you are a homeschooler and supplement learning.

What I really like about Creta Class is it’s not a video game or overly loaded with games. The lessons are meaningful and designed to keep your student’s interest and help them learn basic math skills, without all the extra distractions. Creta Class lessons cover:

  • Problem Solving
  • Arithmetic
  • Logical Reasoning
  • Builds Confidence
  • Spatial Awareness

Creta Class 5 stage plan has 240 lessons with one lesson a day for 12 months. I also like that the platform combines lessons that use both real-life pictures and illustrations. With me having background in Montessori I really appreciated the simplicity of the lessons and they are child-led and focus on the whole child.

My son and I tried out several of the units. My son is older than the app appeals to but he found the app fun and agreed with me that this would have been great if he was younger. I really enjoyed the weekly challenge at the end of Unit 1 week 3, he said it was cool how they reviewed all the week’s concepts at the end of the week with a racetrack race. I personally also liked that Thursdays is a review of all the week’s lessons. Creta Class is a safe and educational app that I would feel comfortable using with a younger child. This purposeful screen time with a focus and goal, I wish this app was around when my son was younger.

I really like Creta Class Math Class for ages 3-8 years the program lays a solid foundation for early math skills. With 1000+ lessons, personalized lesson plans, and engaging activities math is fun and easy to master. Students develop a healthy growth mindset toward math and build self-esteem.

Creta ClassI highly recommends Creta Class, you can learn more about this fabulous math app by clicking the banner below or clicking here. Creta Class is available on IOS and Google play. If you are looking to start your students on a great path to math excellence Creta Class is definitely where I would start.

Until the Next Time,

Mom and J

4th Grade, Family, Family Life, Homeschool, Homeschool Family, mindfulness, Mom Life, Parenting

Homeschool Rewind!

Little Learner and Mom

It’s been a while since I have just written a blog piece that wasn’t a review in a long time, but 2022 means new things for our homeschool journey. For the last 4 years, we have been eclectic homeschoolers. I bought the curriculums and wrote out elaborate homeschool lessons. Then in October I started to feel burnt out and observed my son was just not his usual cheerful self and we butting heads a lot when it came to getting lessons completed. Seeing my now unhappy 4th grader I started to examine what was going wrong without homeschool.

Unkownglingy after careful observation our homeschool was starting to turn into the one thing I hated and promised myself I wouldn’t do, we were doing “school at home”!!! How did we get here? We weren’t playing games anymore… hands-on learning opportunities were still present but opportunities were few. Then it was the curriculum I had chosen curriculum that wasn’t interesting and just busywork. What had I done to our homeschool? How could I get things back to our happy place?

The first thing I did was sit down with my son and talk with him. I was shocked at how unhappy he was with our current homeschool situation, I promised him that we would get things back on track. Luckily I kept all of my previous planners and I opened them up and started to examine our previous years. After looking over the planners, I ordered a new planner because I wanted a fresh start. I needed to start fresh and our current planner for the school year was a constant reminder to me of what I had done to our homeschool. I looked over our curriculum and took the advice of a good friend on Youtube and made four piles:

  • Summer Review!
  • Stretch for 5th and 6th grade!
  • Donate/Sell!
  • You were nuts buying this!

After doing a curriculum check I had to do a mental check, we desperately needed to include mindfulness back into our homeschool day. I personally was suffering from weekly headaches and anxiety. My son was also starting to show signs of anxiety because we were just not starting our day peacefully but rushing. So I purchased us some new meditation cards, My 52 List Project, and 52 List Calm. I also picked up a few books for executive functioning and a workbook for gifted kiddos.

I also slowed our pace down for doing actual homeschool lessons. We now operate on 3-4 lessons independently and then the ones that require more 1:1 we do in the afternoon. I am making it a point to meal plan again and prepare 3 meals a week that can stretch for 2 days and the 1 day is a fun meal! I pulled out our Kid Stir, Raddish Kids kits and dedicated one afternoon a week lunch to us cooking together. While revamping our homeschool I noticed we had a significant amount of games that still had their wrapper on them. I pulled all those new games out and put them in the forefront.

I looked over our curriculum and noticed we were doing a lot of repetitiveness in lessons. Now I am well aware that there is going to be review in many curricula, but what I saw was we were truly repeating stuff my son had fully mastered. So I am taking a hard look and decided that I would make some big changes for 2022-2023, we would move towards the 5th/6th-grade curriculum. After all, his math was already 5/6th and he is working well above 4th/5th-grade in language arts, geography, history, and science. So why am I boring him to pieces with repetitive lessons he has mastered. I will continue to analyze his lessons and add support where needed. It was time for a major change and to offer him lessons that work for him and that he loves.

I think what help me validate my decision was watching my good friend Erica over at the Melanated and Well Educated 2022-2023 curriculum choices video. My son is a huge Mrs. Erica fan he studied her video and made his own list of things he liked from the video. He also let me know he wants me to get books about anatomy and physiology and cardiac science because he wants to learn all he can about the heart. With the sincerity and excitement in his voice, I knew he was ready to shift his learning. Little J is looking to expand his knowledge beyond the standard curriculums I was considering. He wanted to see even more of his ancestry in his lessons, my child is wanting to be fulfilled and I needed to pour into his cup.

So many changes have taken place these last few weeks that I know will make our homeschool more of what we both want. Be on the lookout for our 2022-2023 Curriculum Choices and Summer Review Choices!

4th Grade, 5th Grade, 6th Grade, Education, Family, History, Homeschool

Beautiful Feet Books: Around California with Children’s Books Pack: A History of the Golden State Review!

Little Learner and Mom

(Gifted)

Little Learner and Mom were once again given the honor of showcasing more of Beautiful Feet Books History and Science History curriculums. Our family was sent the Around California with Children’s Books Pack: A History of the Golden State. I was very impressed by the selection of picture books and equally impressed by the books included in the rabbit trails and library recommendations.

When you think of history does California come to mind? Probably not, because when teaching US History we traditionally think about the eastern coast of the United States first and don’t usually venture further west until after the Civil War. Well while the east coast history plays a significant part in US History Beautiful Feet Book Around California with Children’s Books Pack: A History of the Golden State brings the excitement about the West Coast.

Beautiful Feet Books curriculums are a Charlotte Mason-inspired. The company creators are homeschoolers themselves and have been inspiring families for 30 years with their beautiful illustrated literature.

To help homeschool parents ignite wonder and connect with their kids through the best stories and guided lessons.

Beautiful Feet Books History and Science History curriculums

Around California with Children’s Books Pack: A History of the Golden State starts its journey through California’s rich history with the Ice Age. Students will embark on learning about animals during this time period and natural disasters. My learner and I spent time researching the La Brea Tarpits and the weather conditions of the world during the Ice Age. I thought of some fun movies (Ice Age animated series) and suggested documentaries suggested in the lesson guide. Around California with Children’s Books Pack: A History of the Golden State covers history, geography, nature study, culinary history, and art study. Each lesson is estimated to take an hour for grades 4-6. You can find a complete scope and sequence on the product page.

Around California with Children’s Books Pack: A History of the Golden State includes:

  • Teacher Guide
  • 80 Multi-Sensory Lessons
  • Blank Notebook
  • 17 Books
  • Downloadable timeline sheet

What is intriguing about Around California with Children’s Books Pack: A History of the Golden State is the inclusive diversity of lessons presented. I was very pleased to see the inclusivity of African Americas and Asian Americans in the later lessons. Indigenous studies were included throughout the lessons as well which were done respectfully and with attention to detail. The selection of books was broad and packed with beautiful illustrations that held my 5th grader’s interest.

My son enjoyed the relaxed feel of learning about California he really spent time writing his journal and adding to his notes. We spent time painting, reading, and engaging in discussions about animals, culture, and global perspectives of California. We visited the story Kalifia as a rabbit trail we went down. He really enjoys geography, art, and culture.

Around California with Children’s Books Pack: A History of the Golden State is meant to be covered in a complete school year. I can see how one can make this their entire year’s history because it is so much you can do that will combine other historical information about the US in this one curriculum. I hope that in the near future that Beautiful Feet Books will add more states because there is so much to unpack in US History.

What I did notice is when it was time to do the lessons we set up the environment. My son cleared our table and prepared a light snack, set out the materials, and turned on the diffuser with little lavender essential oils. I always made sure there was something art relative for us to do while I was reading the literature for that lesson. He did art, snacked and we talked. I don’t know what it was about setting up the environment this way but it made our lessons enjoyable and special.

We will be stretching this curriculum over the next 2 years and it will become our special interest history. I want to take our time with this one because along with what the curriculum provides I want to be able to include more historical information during certain time periods.

Library finds we added to our studies

At the time of this review Around California with Children’s Books Pack: A History of the Golden State cost is $252.95.

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Curriculum, Education, Homeschool, Math, Middle School Math

Unlock Math: Unlock Math Foundations Review!

Little Learner and Mom

Complimentary Product Received!

I have 2 words to say FRACTIONS AND DECIMALS!!! Talk about a major panic button hit for this mama. My son LOVES fractions, but we started moving into higher-level fraction lessons and I started to panic. Just as I am panicking I look over the coming lessons and BAM DECIMALS!! This mama was a nervous wreck until the Squad was offered the opportunity to review Unlock Math!

What is Unlock Math

Unlock Math is an online multi-sensory math curriculum for 6th-12 grade. Unlock Math was created by a fellow homeschool family, which is a major plus in my opinion. If you are like me I am also refreshing myself while my son is working through the lessons. We are working our way through Unlock Foundations. Unlock Math covers six math discipline areas and a foundational course. The five areas of courses offered are:

  • Foundations
  • Pre-Algebra
  • Algebra 1
  • Algebra 2
  • Geometry
  • Pre-Calculus

Students are engaged from the start Unlock Math provides interactive questions with a continuous review for long-term retention. All review questions, as well as tests and quizzes, also provide links for your student to review if needed. There are step by step guidance for each solution if they respond incorrectly. The parent dashboard is comprehensive there is auto-grading, pacing guides, reports, and parent resources. The student dashboard is detailed with guides and a printable math textbook. Unlock Math has fabulous online customer service and math tutoring at no additional cost.

My son is working his way through the Unlock Foundations curriculum. The Unlock Foundations is perfect for us at this time because it is preparing him for pre-algebra and finding gaps and making sure he has a solid foundation of fundamentals skills he needs in order to be successful in Pre-Algebra.

How Does It Work?

Unlock Foundations is divided into thirteen comprehensive units and within those units there are six to thirteen lessons depending on the unit. What I really liked about the Unlock Foundations is that the lessons include an introduction and printable reference notes. As the students begin the lesson they will work through 6 steps:

  • Warm-Up (Material from the day before)
  • Instructional Video (Introduction to new concept)
  • Practice Problems
  • Stay Sharp Exercises (Covers previous lesson concept practice)
  • Challenge Yourself (Stretches their math knowledge)
  • Quiz, Review Test ( Every 2-3 days 5 question quiz, then unit test and midterm)

Our Experience with Unlock Foundations

My son is working his way through the Unlock Foundations curriculum. The Unlock Foundations is perfect for us at this time because it is preparing him for pre-algebra and finding gaps and making sure he has a solid foundation of fundamentals skills he needs in order to be successful in Pre-Algebra. At the time of beginning Unlock Foundations my son was working on decimals in his math curriculum so we started with unit ten decimals. My son has some experience working with decimals but I wanted to see how Unlock Foundations Unit 10 Decimals would measure up with my son’s math curriculum so I had him work on the Unlock Foundations unit 10 decimals lesson first then the next day we worked in my son’s math curriculum. I was pleasantly surprised that my son instantly did really well and used several of Unlock Foundations terminology while doing the lesson. He had no issues with the concept and when comparing the two curriculums Unlock Foundations went deeper into the concept than my son’s curriculum when we got to a certain area in his math textbook he nailed the concept.

For the earlier units in Unlock Foundations, I had my son complete the quizzes first after I reviewed the concepts topics because I didn’t want him to have to work on concepts he had previously mastered. At the time of this review my son has worked on 16 lessons and will continue to work through Unlock Foundations.

In Conclusion

Unlock Math is a comprehensive math curriculum that can be done digitally, hard copy, or a combination of both. You can also use it alongside any math curriculum as well as a supplement. Unlock Math’s multi-sensory approach really appeals to my learning, it is not overly distracting for him and it is to the point and easy to follow. I have used it personally to refresh my math skills so I can better help my student. If my student finishes foundations earlier within our 1-year subscription we can move to another Unlock Math curriculum at no extra charge.

The cost of Unlock Math is $299 per student for the year and you need to select which curriculum works best for you. We will continue to use Unlock Math over the summer for our summer math enrichment as well over the Fall. I highly recommend Unlock Math for homeschoolers and if you have a student who is entering middle school Unlock Foundations is a great way to ensure they have full mastery of skills before moving on to higher-level math.

Until the next time,

Mom and J