Little Learner and Mom

2nd Grade Curriculum, Homeschool, Read Alouds, Reviews, Uncategorized

The Boxcar Children Early Reader Set Review

March 10, 2020March 11, 2020 Little Learner and Mom

Disclaimer: I received a FREE copy of this product through the HOMESCHOOL REVIEW CREW in exchange for my honest review. I was not required to write a positive review nor was I compensated in any other way.

I was growing up I read several of the Boxcar Children’s Chapter books and I enjoyed reading all about their many adventures. Albert Whitman & Company has published The Boxcar Children Early Reader Set which is intended for ages 6-8 these books are a brief introduction to the The Boxcar Children Series written by Gertrude Chandler Warner.

The Boxcar Children Early Reader Set are level 2 readers and intended for readers who still need support reading. Each book is vibrant in color with pictures on every page. The print is big and bold just enough words on the page to hold the young readers interest. The story lines are simple and easy to comprehend. What I like most like about these books is that it gives young readers a look into the classic Boxcar Children series.

We received all 4 for of the new early readers for us to review. Now I know what your thinking why are we reading level 2 readers when clearly my son is beyond level 2 reading level. We read the books during our morning time and at bedtime for a quick read aloud or bedtime story. A few months ago I tried to introduce the original The Boxcar Children to my son and he didn’t seem very interested in the story line but after book one of The Boxcar Children Early Reader Set titled the The Boxcar Children he wants chapter books.

In the The Boxcar Children book you meet the 4 Alden children and learn a little about their circumstance and how they come to meet Grandfather Alden. Children start to instantly get the sense of adventure from the first few pages. One thing I noticed my son showed real empathy for the children, he was very concern about them and was very happy at the end of the book.

The second book in the set is Surprise Island the Alden children have settled in with Grandfather Alden and life is good. Its the summertime and Grandfather has given them a great adventure of spending the summer on the families island. Alden children are loving their new freedom and enjoying the summer exploring and meeting a new close friend. The kids also get a little bit of a history lesson while on the island. I love how in this book the Alden children are enjoying nature and letting their imaginations run wild.

The Alden children are back at in The Yellow House Mystery another grand adventure to be had now with their cousin Joe. The kids, Joe and Grandfather are back on Surprise Island this time to solve a mystery of the disappearance of a good friend of Grandfather Alden. With hiking, camping and meeting new friends along the way the kids and their cousin solve a mystery for their Grandfather and reunite the good friends.

Mystery Ranch is the final book in The Boxcar Children Early Reader Set its summer time and the Alden children are headed to Wyoming to meet and visit a relative. The kids get settled in on the ranch and lend a helping hand to get the ranch in shape. While picnicking one day they come across a strange shelter and they begin to wonder who is living on their relatives land and why are they there, so they enlist the help of a friend and get to the bottom of this mystery!

The Boxcar Children Early Reader Set are listed as paperback books on Albert Whitman & Company website. At the time of this review we received hardcover books and they retail for $14.99. While reading these books children will see the following character traits: kindness, friendship, helpfulness and togetherness. I was very pleased with these books and now we are reading the first classic chapter book. If you are looking for a gentle way to introduce The Boxcar children series to your early readers I recommend Albert Whitman & Company published The Boxcar Children Early Reader Set .

Be sure to check out the other Crew reviews of the The Boxcar Children Early Reader Set by clicking the banner below.

Until the Next Time

Mom

Social Media Links:

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/BoxcarChildren/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/AlbertWhitman
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/albertwhitman/
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/AlbertWhitmanCo

2nd Grade Curriculum, 3rd Grade Curriculum, Curriculum, dyslexia, Education, Homeschool, Language Arts, Orton-Gillingham, Reviews

PRIDE Reading Program Review!

March 3, 2020March 4, 2020 Little Learner and Mom

This year we have really been working on my son spelling skills. He is a decent speller but I felt as if he needed more practice. We are using the PRIDE RED Book Program Kit – Level 3 from PRIDE Reading Program to provide structured literacy and spelling in our homeschool. PRIDE Reading Program is a Orton-Gillingham curriculum that appeals to all children’s learning style. The homeschool curriculum uses a multi-sensory approach to teach reading, fluency, writing and spelling which is how we approach learning in our homeschool.

The PRIDE RED Book Program Kit – Level 3 comes with a student handbook, online teachers teacher guide, white board, PRIDE Sound cards, and PRIDE Letter tiles. The company also provides online parent training and support. There is online placement test that is highly recommended you take before selecting the program kit that best fits your needs. I had my son take the placement test twice on 2 separate days to make sure I was selecting the correct program kit then I made decisions. On the first attempt he scored a 15 which is level 4 on the second attempt he scored 14. I decided to go with the Red level after carefully looking over PRIDE Reading Program scope and sequence at the end of assessment.

The PRIDE Reading Program online training teaches parents how to effectively use the program and is divided into 11 step by step unit video guide how to use the program. If you invest in this program this key to the success of the program. The teachers manual is online and you will need to sign into the website to use while doing your lessons. Each lesson is 9 steps and ends with fun game for students to play at the end.

***Teacher Dashboard: Program Training***

PRIDE RED Book Program Kit – Level 3 from PRIDE Reading Program has 21 modules that are 3 units and each unit has 9 steps in a lesson. PRIDE RED Book Program Kit – Level 3 from PRIDE Reading Program works on the “long “i” and “e” patterns, vowel digraphs, closed syllable rules(-ind, -ild, -old, -ost) and suffix ed.” I decided on this level because this is area I want to makes sure my son shows mastery for spelling. At the time of this review we have completed 2 modules and have begun module 3 unit 1. Each module unit is broken down into a introductory, practice, reinforcement lesson, We do the program 3-4 days a week as recommended and it takes on average 20- 30 mins.

What I like about this program is that it is self paced and uses the multi sensory approach and it works on using phonetics. We are using the program to improve my sons spelling and I look forward to moving him into Level 4 when he finishes the current level. PRIDE RED Book Program Kit – Level 3 from PRIDE Reading Program is $159 for one student. If you are looking for a curriculum for a child that has dyslexia, reading comprehension, and struggling with reading PRIDE Reading Program is a great program. In our case we are using it to reinforce my sons spelling skills. This program appeals to all children so it will work for any child beginning to start their literacy journey. PRIDE Reading Program is one to check out if you are starting your homeschool curriculum planning for 2020 school or you are looking to make a change.

Be sure to check out the other Crews reviews on PRIDE Reading Program by clicking the banner below.

Until the Next Time,

Mom

Social Media Links:

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/PrideReadingProgram/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/PrideReadingCo
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/pridereadingprogram/
Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/pridereading/
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCCfQB_M2vL2Ebo8deuwwCrw

2nd Grade Curriculum, 3rd Grade Curriculum, Curriculum, Education, Geography, Homeschool, Reviews

Let’s Go Geography Review

February 26, 2020March 22, 2020 Little Learner and Mom

I personally love geography and so when the Crew was offered an opportunity to review Let’s Go Geography, Year 2 I was 100% on board. If you aren’t familiar with Let’s Go Geography is a homeschool geogrpahy curriculum that appeals to all students learning styles. For this review the crew was given a 2 year access to Let’s Go Geography, Year 2 digital download curriculum. Let’s Go Geography, Year 2 has 32 units of countries that can be done in any order.

We do geography in our homeschool 1-2 days a week and I typically plan our geogrpahy units to stretch over a 2-4 week period of time depending on how in depth we go. We decided to study Uganda that is included in the Let’s Go Geography, Year 2 for this review in honor of Black History Month. One the great things about this Let’s Go Geography, Year 2 program is you can start with any country and build your unit study around the curriculum. What I like about this curriculum is that you can use it straight forward or extend thelessons as you see fit.

Each unit is divided into 6-8 chapters depending on the country of study. The units start with introduction to the the country of study by providing the demographics and a travel itinerary. The itinerary is helpful because it lets the students check off their completed activities. The units chapters include Map It, The Flag, Lets Explore, Music , Create and printables. Parents can rest assured that the Let’s Go Geography, Year 2 comes with safe clickable YouTube links there are also direct YouTube provided links for each video but they aren’t clickable. I recommend that you access the clickable links from unit or create a playlist on YouTube for you unit so can have them handy without having to open the document.

Let’s Go Geography, Year 2 is very simple to use and just enough geogrpahy for grades K-5th and is also a great way to build on countries of interest. We found ourselves craving to learn more about Uganda as we worked through the unit. We planned a day for visiting a Ugandan restaurant in our city and also a day for us to cook an Ugandan meal. My son was very interested in the day and the life video provided of a young girl. We had great discussion about how different his life is and hers. We also talked about responsibilities and chores differences as well as education for Ugandan children. The units are well organized and can be completed over a week or as long as you would like to stretch it.

Let’s Go Geography, Year 2 is $27.99 for a 2 year access with an option for Lifetime access. I highly recommend Let’s Go Geography, Year 2 as a fun geography curriculum if you are looking for something to jump start your geography lessons. They are simple and fun and can be great complement to a unit study. Let’s Go Geography also has a Let’s Go Geography Year 1 and soon to be released Year 3.

Be sure to check out the rest of the Crews reviews by clicking the banner below!

Until the Next Time

Mom

Social Media Links:

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/letsgogeography/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/letsgogeography/
Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/letsgogeography/
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCU3aC9YWXi0SQaeTi01A0mA

Homeschool, Mom Life, Parenting

Homeschool Update Reality Check!

February 22, 2020February 22, 2020 Little Learner and Mom

Every year social media homeschoolers across all platforms upload their new curriculum vlogs, blogs and pictures. Some videos will blow you away because it’s sooo much stuff. These moms have taken their time researched and planned but the reality is these are their choices not their kiddos because I am almost 90% sure that at some point in the year the kids will change it up. I mean let’s face it I uploaded my video also but quickly soon after that video went up I started removing over 50% of the choices out of our routine.

In October I took a long hard look at all my previous years of homeschooling and what we were currently doing. I asked myself one quick question…ARE YOU NUTS? There is no way in the entire planet you are going to use majority of this stuff. I instantly stopped purchasing stuff and re-evaluated exactly what my kiddo was really using and the rest of this junk had to GO!!

So here is my update we don’t use Horizon Math Grade 2 anymore. I love Horizon math and it did give my son a solid foundation, he just fell out of love with it. I made me peace with his decisions and moved on. I have said in many of my vlogs and blogs I DON’T CURRICULUM HOP! Horizons has been faithful to us since kindergarten, but I quickly noticed his frustration in September and put it on the shelf. Abeka math has always been my next go to for math and I purchased Arithmetic 2 in July. He is thriving in Abeka Arithmetic 2 and Beast Academy 2 series (part of co-op) . He is happy and so is mommy problem solved.

We also are no longer using The Good and the Beautiful level 2. We have been using TGAB since book K, but I quickly noticed that level 2 was almost a complete duplicate of level 1 with some additional skills added. I didn’t need a repeat of the previous year because my kid has a very good memory and he wasn’t having it. He is really loving using Grammar Galaxy Volume 2 Protostar with his co-op and Evan Moor Language Fundamentals Grade 3 so we said goodbye to TGAB.

History we have been using Curiosity Chronicles series and following his lead. For African studies we are currently studying the Negro League Baseball teams. Science is interest led, he finished his 2nd grade science curriculum over the summer and I wasn’t about to throw another penny at a science curriculum until July 2020 and even then its not looking good. We have also rekindled our love for Sassafras Science series and been zip lining our way through science and interest led studies.

We have been having fun going to co-op 2 days a week and just letting his homeschool take us where he wants it. I teach those 2 days a week at his co-op and I have really been enjoying the kiddos and having some adult interaction this year. I am not in a rush to finish out this school year because we homeschool year round. We spend our days talking, gameschooling, researching, exploring and working as a team. We still have a daily routine and a work box system. My planner is still planned to the MAX each week but my new highlighting system is working out great.

I am not spending a bunch of money on unnecessary items any more. I have purged my home of all items that are for 1st grade and below. I no longer hold on to stuff to make my shelves look full or pretty. I heavily research homeschool items that will serve a purpose for the long term. I also no longer purchase tons of books. Yup I said it I am not hoarding books especially books that are about the same subject. I only buy books that have a long term purpose or books he really loves. We use the library for our literary needs and it is working out perfectly. My son loves our unit studies and hands on activities, but now I am using better common sense. Now when planning these things out I think about the long term use of these items so I am not hoarding.

If you follow me on Little Learner and Mom Instagram page and here on the blog I do review products. Let me tell you right now every product I have reviewed on my blog or shown on my social media platforms have been put into rotation and those we don’t use I use with my co-op kiddos. I am so over seeing all these hoarding videos, let just call it what it is HOARDING and the “Look at me syndrome” or “Let me see how many followers I can get”. We homeschool because this is what is right for my family and if some of what I am doing can help a mom in need I hope we are a blessing to her.

We are completely authentic in our homeschool journey. My son has days when he isn’t in the best of moods and on those days I am like forget it lets play Switch. My homeschool room sometimes looks like a train hit. I am consider myself an organized person and as I write this piece my desk looks like a tornado also hit it. I do like things in order but I am not about to tell you that everything is perfect over here. I have days when I want to pull my hair out. My son has areas he struggles in and I am not afraid to say it. We are pretty much straightforward homeschoolers with a sprinkle of unschooling.

So this is my update we are doing great over here thriving and moving through life one day at a time. We are making positive changes in our homeschool that have made us all happier as a family.

Until the Next Time,

Mom and J

FTC Disclaimer The majority of products featured on my blog have been purchased by me. At any time a product has been provided to me by a company for a review or as an affiliate or I enter into a partnership with a company. I will disclose it in the video and/or description. Amazon affiliate links are provided for your convenience at no additional charge to you. All opinions and reviews that I share are always entirely my own.

2nd Grade Curriculum, 3rd Grade Curriculum, Curriculum, Education, Homeschool

Malcolm X Unit Study

January 15, 2020February 4, 2020 Little Learner and Mom

Every month I ask my son what he wants to study for the upcoming month. For January he wanted to do something different. Typically we study Martin Luther King Jr, but not this year. He made it very clear he didn’t want to study MLK because we have studied him so many times over the last few years and he was over it. I really couldn’t blame him, I respect and honor Dr. King’s memory but I was kinda over it myself. So this year while everyone else pulls out their traditional Martin Luther King materials we decided to honor Dr. King another way.

As I pondered the month of December who could we study? Out of the blue my son said mom let’s study Malcolm X. I asked why Malcolm X and he said because him and Martin Luther King shared a lot similarities and differences. I was sold on this idea but didn’t know where to start. My kid isn’t the fluff type of child, he wants resources and materials that are concrete minus all the fluffy bells and whistles.

So here I was thinking hmmm….Malcolm X ? My first thought was is this request going to be to heavy for him? How could I bring a unit study of such great man to life for my son. We had just finished studying Black Wall Street again one his request and that was a lot information and a heavy topic. Now he wants Malcolm X? I knew I had my work cut out for me on this one.

*Black Wall Street Unit from Educations with Apron and Read Like a Rockstar*

For the last 2 years I have become Instagram friends with Lanesha Tabb ( Educations With an Apron) and Naomi O’Brien (Read Like A Rock Star). These ladies are elementary school teachers and moms that have created not your average social studies curriculum that they sell on Teacher Pay Teacher. The dynamic duo have created not just social studies units they also have created curriculum’s for writing, reading, science and math. If you are not following these ladies I HIGHLY RECOMMEND you do.

While chatting with Naomi about how much my son was loving the Black Wall Street Unit I mentioned to her that my son wanted to do Malcolm X and I didn’t know where to start. She told me they had created a Malcolm X unit and she sent it to me for him. I was so happy for her generosity and promised her we would do it justice.

When I went through the unit I was really happy to see how these ladies approached telling Malcolm’s legacy. They really took the time to create a unit that answered all my son questions and put my mind at ease. We really enjoyed this unit and it left last impression on him.

Malcolm X Unit and Urban Intellectual Black History Cards

I checked out 2 books from the library Malcolm Little: The Boy Who Grew Up to Become Malcolm X and the newly released Malcolm X: A Fire Burning Brightly . I was also happy to this book called Malcolm X that is a chapter book he is still reading independently. I read all books before handing them to my son, I check for content, maturity and accurate information. I highly recommend that if you are planning heavy topics or any historical topic you do these steps. I created my son binder complete with the Malcolm X Social Justice Unit and pictures of Malcolm X provided by a good friend of mine.

His binder included:

Malcolm X eBook
Malcolm X quotes for copy-work
Vocabulary Words
Malcolm X Social Justice lesson sheets
Urban Intellectuals flash cards
Biography card of Malcolm X
Martin Luther King Social Justice eBook

My son also took part in all 5 daily Muslim prayers, we read from the Quran and Islamic Daily Wisdom book. We also studied the 1001 Inventions and Awesome Facts from Muslim Civilization: Official Children’s Companion to the 1001 Inventions Exhibition . We did Arabic studies and spent some time talking about the Nation of Islam and the differences between the Nation and other Muslims.

*Mounted photo from* @liberated_homescholars

So what did my kiddo gain from this incredible unit study this month?

Social Justice
Confidence
Perseverance
Compassion
Decision Making
Cultural Awareness

What I learned from planning this unit is that my child is intentional about what he he wants to learn. He taught me that I shouldn’t be afraid to expose him to topics that others may deem to heavy for a 2nd grader. I asked him where did he get the idea of Malcolm X from he said he remember last year in the Martin Luther King unit there was mention of Malcolm X and he wanted to know more about him. It’s funny how he didn’t want to study MLK this year that Martin Luther King is what inspired this unit study. Small confession though I did sneak a tiny bit of Martin Luther King in this year 😉…He didn’t bite my head off because it also included Malcolm X, The unit I used was Martin Luther King Jr: More Than Just a Dream .

Until the Next Time,

Mom and J

Uncategorized

Nessy Review!

January 11, 2020February 22, 2020 Little Learner and Mom

Over the holiday break I decided to take a look at a few new programs for this semester. After looking through some of the top leading online learning platforms Nessy peaked my interest. Nessy is reading , spelling and grammar curriculum that is designed for kids with all sorts of abilities. What sets Nessy apart from competitors is the design. Nessy is aligned with how children with dyslexia learn to read and write. Now my son doesn’t have dyslexia but like all moms we always worry about making sure our kids are learning in the approach that works for them. For this review I will be discussing the Nessy Reading and Spelling ages 6-11 and Writing Beach ages 7-14.

I decided to do the trial and my son LOVED it. I reached out the company and they were gracious enough to extend our account. The kids start out with is called the Challenge Placement. You can have your student bypass the Reading Challenge Placement, but I wouldn’t recommend bypassing the reading assessment. The assessment is really detailed and it helps the system target exactly where your student needs practice. There is also a Spelling Challenge Placement I let my son complete the first few parts of the assessment but I knew as a mom that he really needed more practice with spelling so in this case I decided to manually go into the system and place him. I did this because I didn’t want to frustrate him he missed a few words and I wanted Nessy to continue to be an enjoyable experience. So I would recommend if you know your student isn’t a strong speller to just manually place them and then do the assessment when you think they have strengthen their skills.

Writing Beach Lesson 6 Past Tense and Irregular Verbs

There are 10 islands and 100 lessons in the Reading and Spelling my son placed at lesson 71 as his starting lesson target, Now I know what your thinking only 100 lesson, let me just tell you these lessons are broken down very detailed your kids are not going to just fly through them and the target lessons (these are targets the assessment sets) will have your student moving between various lesson and islands so don’t fret because my sons next lesson was 83 then back to 72. So you can totally ignore the fact that there are 100 lessons and 10 islands because the system is going to move your kids around the islands according to the set targets. You can manually change this in the administration board if you like but I recommend you let your student work the targets.

So lets talk about the Writing Beach, how I LOVE WRITING BEACH!!! The Writing Beach is the grammar part of Nessy. This is a comprehensive program that covers grammar and writing skills. There are 10 fun filled detailed lesson ,the first 6 lesson are grammar and the last lessons are writing skills. In Writing Beach the students have an option to take assessment or work through the lessons. I started my son from lesson one because even though he is pretty good in his grammar the review is still good for him. You can also go into the system and set lesson as well for your student. At the time of this review my son is working in lesson 1 Sentence Structure but I also set him a target lesson 6 for Past Tense and Irregular Verbs because we are working on this in his curriculum.

Nessy also includes extension activities with every lesson. These printable extension lessons can be used as a way to reinforce the skills and mastery. The Nessy resource library is extensive. Parents can find helpful “worksheets, strategies, phonics and Mnemonics materials“. The student reporting pages is detailed and gives parents an accurate account of what their students are learning. As mentioned parents can follow the assessment targets set or they can manually set targets themselves that pop up on their students dashboard to complete.

For those parents who are interested in the Dyslexia Quest Screener, the cost is only $20 a year per student. This is affordable option provides your students 6 assessment areas. the screener test and been researched by board certified doctor. There is also a free dyslexic early test on the website. There is a lot information on the website in regards to dyslexia if you are looking for more information. Nessy also has Nessy Fingers for typing and a Summer Pack to help with that summer slide prevention. You can also find Nessy new YouTube channel go Hairy with educational videos for ages 4-6.

So lets talk cost at the time of this review the monthly cost for 1 student is $12 a month or $100 for the year for the Reading and Spelling. The Writing Beach is $25 a year per student. The company offers sibling discount as well as 3 different bundle packages. I give this program a thumbs up if you are looking for and affordable program that appeals to all children’s learning styles. They have great customer service and the website is loaded with lots of information and added benefits.

Until the Next Time,

Mom and J

Curriculum, Homeschool, Homeschool Health, Mom Life

SchoolhouseTeachers.com Review

January 9, 2020January 10, 2020 Little Learner and Mom

It is second semester for us in our home school journey and coming off a long break I can honestly say my lesson plans are a mess and I feel totally out of practice. This mom is super excited and relieved to be reviewing the Ultimate PreK-12 Annual Membership from SchoolhouseTeachers.com.

The Ultimate PreK-12 Annual Membership from SchoolhouseTeachers.com is a comprehensive homeschooling database for grades PK-12th grade. The membership comes with printable, lesson plans, online classes and educational videos. Along with all the great homeschooling resources their are awesome household resources such as menu planning , parenting library and many more resources.

For the second semester I wanted to plan a unit for health and nutrition and I really didn’t want to have to purchase a new textbook and teachers manual just for this unit. With the Ultimate PreK-12 Annual Membership from SchoolhouseTeachers.com I was able to select my sons grade level look for through the subjects and instantly I found exactly what I needed for a full 9 week lesson plan completely laid out for me complete with helpful links for activities we can do. The best part is the lesson plan was laid out on a 2 day a week schedule which is perfect and I decided to slide this unit into our morning meeting time. I left out the best part it also included the 24 page textbook that I could print out and use as well with my son.

The Ultimate PreK-12 Annual Membership from SchoolhouseTeachers.com makes it just that easy for you all you do is search, click, print and go. What I was about to start stressing out about took me all of 10 mins to prep crisis over. As a member you also have exclusive access to 450+ videos that cover academics, clean kids entertainment, parenting , relationships, religion and much more.

SchoolhouseTeachers.com offers parents the flexibility to use the resources to customize them as they fit your family needs. You have access to all grade levels and resources in so there is no need to wonder about having to select one grade level and only use those materials for that level. There is also a Literacy Center that is a great resource for teaching literacy and guidance for growing readers.

I also like the Focus Learning Center it helps direct you to the lessons and resources within SchoolhouseTeachers.com for extra support in these areas :

Math, Science and Reading
Special Needs
Physical Education
High School and College
Hands on Learning
Charlotte Mason
Parenting and a few more.

The Ultimate PreK-12 Annual Membership from SchoolhouseTeachers.com is great investment for the homeschooling family, especially those with a large family and a small budget looking to cut cost on purchasing so many curriculum. The membership comes with great academic and non academic resources and makes life easier for parents homeschooling. The website is also mobile friendly I had no problems viewing and printing from the website using my iPhone. The annual membership cost at the time of this review is $99 for the year or $12 a month this sell ends 1/31/20. I highly recommend you check this resource out if you are looking for a minimal cost and approach to homeschooling that is all inclusive.

Be sure to check out the rest of the Crew reviews on the Ultimate PreK-12 Annual Membership from SchoolhouseTeachers.com by clicking the banner.

Until Next Time,

Mom

Social Media Links:

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/SchoolhouseTeachers/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/TOSMag/
Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/tosmag/

2nd Grade Curriculum, 3rd Grade Curriculum, Education, Language Arts, Read Alouds, Writing

LitWits Kits Review!

November 20, 2019November 20, 2019 Little Learner and Mom

I love reading aloud to my son, this has been one of my favorite things to do with him since birth. There have been some great books that I would have loved to develop into unit studies or just dig deeper into and make the words come alive for us. I am always on the lookout for ideas on how to get the most out of books we read so I jumped at the chance to checkout LitWit Kits from LitWits. We choose to use the LitWits Kit for Roald Dahl’s Charlie and The Chocolate Factory.

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory is one of our families favorite books and we always reread it every year around the Fall time. The LitWits Kit for Roald Dahl’s Charlie and The Chocolate Factor y comes complete with everything you need to provide a fun filled literary fun.

LitWit Kits includes:

Overview
Tips
Hands On Fun
Recipe Ideas (There was no actual recipe included in Chocolate Factory Kit just idea)
Take Aways ( Leaving impression on your student)
Awesome Pinterest Board

What I really enjoyed about the LitWits Kit for Roald Dahl’s Charlie and The Chocolate Factor y is that kit included academic handouts and common core standards for grades 3-5th grade. The academic handouts made it possible for me check of some standards for my son. We explored Narrative Arc ( story action) , Vocabulary words, Characterization and Creative Writing. The best part of the academic handouts all it was about the book which made my son eager to do the lessons.

LitWits Kit for Roald Dahl’s Charlie and The Chocolate Factory also included author background information and other resources if you wanted to do more historical research.

My son really enjoyed the candy invention project that was included in the LitWits Kit for Roald Dahl’s Charlie and The Chocolate Factory. We also decided to make some homemade soup one night for dinner and we ate it over the next few days. We didn’t make cabbage and potato soup, but we did make a vegetable soup and cornbread. I decided to stretch it over a few days because I wanted to drive home how fortunate we are that we can eat variety of foods when some families are limited to what they are able to afford. The LitWits Kit for Roald Dahl’s Charlie and The Chocolate Factory spark conversations about poverty and gratitude. As a family we made some decisions about how would like to give back to the community during this holiday season and keep gift giving to minimal this year. The way we did the LitWits Kit for Roald Dahl’s Charlie and The Chocolate Factory is we did it 1-2 activities a week over a course of month along side reading the book.

LitWit Kits Kits are $18 and they have a total of 45 complete kits and 1 mini kit the can be used at home or in the classroom. The company offers a free sample kit you can review and there is also option to purchase project and activities from the complete kits or just the worksheets. I highly recommend you purchase a complete kit to really get the benefits of the lessons. I look forward to using the other LitWit Kits that the company allowed to us to select. The other kits we selected are:

LitWit Kits are a great way to have fun with books and give your child a more hands on experience of their read aloud and academics at the same time.

Be sure to check out the other Crews reviews of LitWit Kits by clicking the banner below!

Until the Next Time,

Mom and J

Social Media Links:

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/LitWits/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/litwits4kids/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/LitWits4Kids
Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/LitWits/

2nd Grade Curriculum, 3rd Grade Curriculum, Education, Homeschool, Reviews, Science

Calvert Homeschool Online Review!

November 1, 2019November 29, 2019 Little Learner and Mom

This year I was all set with our curriculum purchases and ready to start our new home school year in late July of this year. I had done my research and was positive that we had everything we needed. What I hadn’t planned on was my son wanting to jump into his 2nd grade science curriculum. So well this was an epic fail he blew through the entire science curriculum over the summer which left back at square one. To my luck the Crew was offered an opportunity to review Calvert Homeschool online subscription for Calvert Homeschool Online for grades 3rd-12th grade 6 month subscription.

If you are not familiar with Calvert Homeschool they provide printed homeschool curriculum for grades K-2 and mobile online curriculum for grades 3rd-12th grade. For this review I will be reviewing the Calvert Homeschool Online. The set up was pretty easy parents can assign work, check daily work and check the report. Assignments are self grading except for those assignments that are essay format. Parents receive updates when assignments need to be graded and also notifications when student miss assignments. Parents can easily adjust assignment as needed and review assignment questions and topics.

For us the science was a huge importance because at the time of this review we were just winging it. I started my son with the Science 300 which is 3rd grade science and the topic “You Grow and Change” . I was very much impressed with the depth of coverage in this area, Calvert Homeschool Online really goes into depth with the learning. My son was completely thrilled because this is something we struggled with other curriculum he wanted more information about what he was studying. Calvert Homeschool Online gives detailed lessons about what your child is study through information they can read to themselves or have read aloud to them from the platform. There are also instructional videos, games and experiments. Students are tested on their knowledge with brief quizzes, projects, test and essays that are graded. For the essay part I would have my son answer the question orally and I would record his answer and use this time to evaluate if he needed to redo lesson or I need to supplement.

Calvert Homeschool Online offers parents the flexibility to go at the child pace or interest in a lessons. I really liked the ability to be able to assign things in Science, Geography and History that we are covering as he shows interest and we move along in our homeschool year. I also like the ability knowing exactly that the information he is learning can be evaluated and I can printout his reports to slide into his home school portfolio without having a collage of papers. There is also flexibility of not having to do all the subjects at once you can select which ones you want to use.

So let me break down key points Calvert Homeschool Online

Mobile Comprehensive Online learning for grades 3rd-12th grade
Affordable
Self Paced Learning
Access to over 45 in depth courses
Covers Math, Science, Language Arts, Spelling, History and Geography 3rd-6th grade
7th and 8th grade covers all of the above except Spelling and World Civilization (7th Grade)
9th -12 grade also includes the core subjects and students will be able to study Government, Consumer Math, US and World History, Chemistry and Physics .
Lesson Planner, Parent Tracking, Self Grading, Automatic Report Card and Portfolio Builder
Single student cost is $39.95 a month or $399.95 for a year
Family cost up to 3 students $69.95 or $699.95

Calvert Homeschool Online is a comprehensive online homeschool program if your family is looking for a new curriculum. I feel like the family plan is a great plan for families homeschooling more than one student and need affordable option to homeschool. There is very little prep to be done and you can easily add in some hands on learning, gameschooling and unit study to add more to the lessons. The online dashboard is a great help to parents who are looking for low maintenance portfolio building and transcripts. We give Calvert Homeschool Online thumbs up.

Be sure to check out the rest of the Crews reviews on Calvert Homeschool Online by clicking the banner below.

Until the Next Time,

2nd Grade Curriculum, 3rd Grade Curriculum, Education, Homeschool, Morning Basket, Writing

Channie’s Visual Handwriting & Math workbooks Review!!

October 30, 2019October 30, 2019 Little Learner and Mom

My son has never been a huge fan of practicing his writing. As we continue along in our second grade year his feelings about handwriting still has changed. I was excited to have him try the Channie’s Dry Erase Flashcard For Alphabet & Number from Channie’s Visual Handwriting & Math workbooks. With fingers crossed I was hoping that he would change his mind about practicing his handwriting with the Channie’s Dry Erase Flashcard For Alphabet & Number .

Channie’s Dry Erase Flashcard For Alphabet & Number cards are for ages 3+ . They are perfect size for early writers. The lay out of the cards is friendly and color coded to show proper placement of letters and formation. The block spacing encourages consistency of letter and number sizing. I really like the added feature of having pictures to coincide with each letter. On the front of each card alphabet card is the uppercase letter is on and on the back the lowercase. The number cards included I think moms will appreciate that the practice length is perfect for reluctant writers.

We used two different dry erase markers on the cards. We used a high quality marker and lower quality marker and I didn’t see much of difference when we erased them. I used slightly damp rag to wipe them down clearly and my son used his dry eraser to clean them off. The cards are high gloss, sturdy and will withstand the handling of younger student.

Students will cover:

Tracing
Writing
Practice

Channie’s Dry Erase Flashcard For Alphabet & Number worked well for my son because I was able to slide them into his work boxes or folders if I want him to work on certain letters during his writing time. He didn’t put up a fuss about practicing his letters that felt he needed more practice. For struggling writers and those students who are not enthusiastic about writing these are perfect and frustration free.