There is no secret that we love a good unit study. I have been putting together unit studies since my son was a preschooler and we have loved every last one. Planning a unit study is a lot of work and sometimes this mom just wants it just laid out for me already. Well, we aren’t strangers to Jessica Waldock’s Instagram The Waldock Way, we have loved all her wonderful blog posts, YouTube videos, and homeschool hauls. We are super excited to see she released the Who Would Mini Unit studies that go along with the Who Would Win books.
My son was the first one to run to tell me she had a new release; you see he follows her channel and all her hauls. I can always tell when she has dropped a new haul because my Amazon cart magically gets some extra additions. I am really happy to see this newest release because every summer I plan an elaborate Shark Week unit study and I wasn’t sure about which direction I was going to go in.
We decided to check out the book Who Would Win Hammerhead vs Bull Shark from the library and I grabbed the accompanying unit study from the Waldock Way. What is great about all of The Waldock Way unit studies is that she thinks of everything. The Hammerhead vs Bull Shark unit study included:
Required Book
Supplement Books about both sharks
Informative playlist for both sharks
Additional resource links
Along with this perfectly she includes animal profile sheets for your student to complete, geographic locator, comparison, and comparison sheet. She also includes writing prompts for the children so they can write about their predictions and alternative ending to the story. The Who Would Win series has been a long-loved series in our home and my son has read several of the books. The Who Would Win Mini Unit gives students a chance to interact with the story while learning some facts.
Meet the Animals Notebooking Page Animal Habitat Map Work Animal Advantage Checklist Compare & Contrast Worksheet Alternate Ending Writing True or False Fact Sorting Game
The Waldock Way
I have always been a fan of the coloring sheets every time we have done any of the Waldock Way units I have always printed extra copies for myself to color and my son. Our entire family has enjoyed her units we especially loved the Who Was the Tuskegee Airmen.
I highly recommend Who Would Mini Unit there are 15+ units you can choose from. Each unit is $5.00 and you can also grab her animal add-on pack that works for all the mini units for $2.50. If you are interested in reading our review on the Human Body Unit you can check it out here.
Take 30% off your entire purchase at The Waldock Way with coupon code: Waldock2023 valid through August 31st, 2023.
We received Elephango for our honest review. This review may contain affiliate links at no additional charge to you.
Have you ever wanted a companion to help you lesson plan or just a place you could go when you weren’t sure how to present a lesson or concept? Well, Elephango is my new favorite go-to for my planning and resource management for my homeschool. Elephango is an online supplemental learning platform that offers thousands of resources for parents and students.
The Layout
Elephango provides parents and students with their own dashboards. The parent dashboard allows parents to explore the resources, but at the time of setting things up, you will be able to customize the resources that populate on your homepage. You will find resources for K-12, parenting, and adult learning. You can also choose from these categories:
Subject Matter
Grade
Learning or Personality Style
Content-Type
Lesson or Time Length
There were several features I found beneficial on the platform. I really like that they had an assessment under the Discover Your Style tab. These assessments allowed both my son and I to answer questions that would tell us our learning and personality styles. I discovered some things about my son that I didn’t know, but it gave me insight into his learning styles. This breakdown was really helpful it will help me pick activities that would work for him and better understand his personality. The other great feature was the state standards list. You select your state and they come up on the screen and within each standard, there are hyperlinked resources to help you teach or assign to your student.
So far, I have favored resources for writing, history, science, and math. My son was working on exponents, and I did a search, and fantastic resources came up. One of the resources I selected had interactive games and a Cyberchase video link. That’s another thing about Elephango they have trusted resources and links for children to access. Parents can rest assured that their students can explore in freedom. We saw a few of our favorite resources and platforms link in activities. I almost forgot that every day when you log in there is a lead resource on your dashboard, it is always something really good and you will also see featured, popular, and new lessons. So here is my confession I solely was using Elephango the last few weeks so I could get the hang of it before I introduced it to my son. I have been having so much fun planning and reading resources I almost forgot I needed to share Elephango. You know it’s kind of like my new BFF and you don’t want to share, but you have to.
The resources will sometimes have activities and a supply list handy for you on the right side. Students can read or have it read to them. Then there is the testing of what they learn with resources where students will answer questions to demonstrate what they have learned. Students can also earn badges as they research and learn, I like this form of positive encouragement.
My son is a huge researcher and I know he is going to love Elephango and the jumpstart badges are going to be perfect for him to help get started with Elephango. I have gradually assigned things for him to do, but I want him to still be free to explore on his own.
Who Would Benefit
New and Veteran Homeschoolers
Teachers
Students and Parents
Students who show I high interest in research-based learning
There are resources about homeschooling on Elephango which I think all homeschoolers can benefit from looking at and bookmarking.
Overall thoughts, this is my new homeschool companion, when I saw all the writing resources available, I wanted to hug the screen. Then I started to really go through Elephango and realized I struck gold with this platform, and I couldn’t wait to tell my followers. I have told everyone I talked to they have to try this program out. Google Chrome user Elephango has an extension.
For my followers, Elephango was generous enough to provide an exclusive 3-month free trial by using our special discount code: 3monthfreeblog11
So, if you haven’t guessed it yet I love Elephango! I highly recommend you check out this fabulous all-around curriculum companion and independent learner platform. You will not be disappointed.
Don’t forget to use our special discount code: 3monthfreeblog11 so you can sign up for your 3-month free trial and love on Elephango.
Timberdoodle Co, finally unveiled the highly anticipated new 2023 curriculum kits and secular homeschoolers got a brand-new science offering this year. Science came at the right time for us because my son loves all things science and loves science curricula. The new science is Discover! Science Grade 6 and let me just tell you my rising middle schooler was very happy with Discover! Science Grade 6. Discover! Science is also available in grades 1 through 6 and Timberdoodle Co has them all!
Discover Science 6
Discover! Science Grade 6 is a secular curriculum designed with homeschoolers in mind. A full year’s curriculum is divided into two books with one instructor’s guide. Book 6A has six chapters and 6B has seven chapters. Chapters consist of 6 -10 lesson that includes a chapter review. The instructor guide includes the lesson layout for all the chapters. Each lesson is divided into sections:
Lesson Objective
Explore (connection to real-world interactive activities)
Vocabulary
Reading (lecture)
Practice
Take A Closer Look (experiment)
Show What You Know (Q &A about the lessons)
What is unique about Discover! Science Grade 6 is that it is colorful and appeals to all learning styles. The instructor manual offers suggestions for auditory, visual, and kinesthetic learners. There are in-depth but not overwhelming instructions for instructors, along with research suggestions for you to offer your students. The student text is nicely laid out with real-life photos, detailed diagrams, and writing exercises that are not overly excessive. Students’ experiments and lab reports are also included in the lessons.
How we plan to use it!
What I like about Discover! Science Grade 6 is that it’s not overwhelming for those students who may not be science kids. The colorful pages make the lessons more interesting and encourage the students to want to continue to learn. Discover! Science Grade 6 also encourages critical and logical thinking skills. Lesson average 2-3 days a week which is about 150 days of instruction. It is encouraged that students complete 3 pages on the first day and 2 pages on the second day. You can see complete sample pages on Discover! Science Grade 6 Timberdoodle Co landing page. Discover! Science Grade 6 is a part of the 2023 6th grade non-religious curriculum kit.
Lesson 1 Scientific Process
We do have a spine curriculum that we love and will use, but because my son really loves science I always add a supplement to our science curriculum. Discover! Science Grade 6 lessons are interactive which will be a great supplement for him, and he can do them on his own. Discover! Science Grade 6 lessons are quick and short for him and will act as an opener to what we are learning. They will also help enhance what he is learning and give him extra practice.
The Middle Schooler
Hey, everyone, it’s me and I am happy to co-author this review with my mom. I love science and I like to research and learn as much science as possible. I helped my mom look over Discover! Science Grade 6 and I really like what we noticed in the lessons. Almost all the lessons match up with my spine curriculum. I like the pictures and the experiments in the book. The experiments give me more things I can do to explore the lessons. I also like that the book has really nice diagrams. I also like that they include talking points for me to think about. As a middle schooler, I think it’s important that books still look like they are fun and not just a bunch of words and things for you to learn.
I also like that in the second book, there are four chapters dedicated to the human body topics. There are also topics in the books that aren’t like typical science books. I think if you are a 6th grader, and you don’t want to do boring science, Discover! Science Grade 6 is a great pick for a middle schooler. I am looking forward to using Discover! Science Grade 6 this school year and I am trying to persuade my mom to let me start it sooner than September
In Closing
We both highly recommend Discover! Science Grade 6, I feel like even if you have no experience with teaching science this curriculum will work for your family. I also think if your student is a visual learner or if you want to change things up Discover! Science Grade 6 would be a great fit. The price point is affordable and experiment supplies cost is minimal. Stay tuned for our upcoming review of Discover! Social Studies 6.
It’s that time of the year and Back to School shopping is amongst us. Rather you are a homeschooler, a traditional schooler, or continuing your education at some point you may have had to buy some sort of coloring utensil. Our friends over at Timberdoodle Co. sent us Mideer 36 pcs Colored Pencils that are available in 2023 Kindergarten Curriculum Kits.
From an early age, I can remember my son despised crayons, I don’t know what it was about crayons that were so off-putting to him. I bought him every type of crayon you could think of he wanted nothing to do with them. Markers he would tolerate, but here comes 4th grade and he finally tells me why I don’t like crayons. I finally found out he didn’t like that they didn’t move across the page smoothly and didn’t like how they looked on the page. I of course was shocked by this revelation, but I totally understood his plight. So, we finally invested in better-quality markers and colored pencils, and he fell in love with coloring and drawing.
Here we are now entering middle school and he still loves using his colored pencils and markers and he loves trying out new colored pencils and testing their quality and texture. Over the summer we have been doing some video game detox which has left us more time to do art and other activities. We have been coloring away using Mideer 36 pcs Colored Pencils and we have been having a great time.
Mideer Colored Pencils
Mideer 36 pcs Colored Pencils come in a beautifully crafted sturdy storage box unsharpened. Inside the box, you will find a color palette for each color. The pencils are triangular and round in shape, to sharpen the pencils I picked up a hand sharpener with a larger pencil insert. We sharpened pencils as we used them because we didn’t want to sharpen them all at once. The vibrant colors offer you and your child a variety of color selections. The color of the pencil is on the opposite tip of the sharpened end. Mideer 36 pcs. Colored Pencils glide across the paper, we tried several different paper textures. The ergonomic grip allows for a comfortable natural fit for young hands. These pencils are not the traditional skinny colored pencils, but they aren’t thick and chunky. The shape of the pencil prevents the pencils from rolling off the surface so no more pencils on the floor and the storage makes for quick clean up.
We used the Mideer 36 pcs. Colored Pencils to color some of his human body anatomy coloring book pages and we also use them to color and outline some of the art projects we did. My son also used them with his science curriculum diagramming. I received no complaints from my color pencils critic, he likes them and is currently holding them, hostage.
We are entering middle school this year and one of my concerns is ensuring my son has a solid foundation in mathematical concepts. One of the resources we are using this year is Mr. D Math Preparing for Pre-Algebra. Mr. D Math is an online self-paced full math curriculum. The company has an entire course catalog of other courses that include thirteen other topics and live classes.
Before you start your course the guided videos provide you with valuable information for being successful and grading. Also, included is the option to be able to print out your student’s resource pages or homework pages either in one PDF. You also have the option to print per chapter including the answer key. The instructor encourages the student to take notes and work alongside them as they are presenting the lesson. Mr. D Math Preparing for Pre-Algebra has eight chapters that are divided into multiple lessons. Within those lessons, you will also find spiral reviews and quizzes. There are two-semester exams, the first between chapter four and the last at the end of chapter eight.
Lessons
Mr. D Math Preparing for Pre-Algebra videos move at a steady pace that ensures that your student will not get lost along the way. Lessons are short but informative and provide the student with just enough instruction to complete the lesson. Each lesson gives your student an intro about what they’re going to learn it also reminds them about previous lesson skills. Once the lesson starts students will receive math vocabulary, lectures, and examples. During lesson instruction, I reminded my son that he needs to check his worksheets for notes. The instructor provides information in the video for the notes on worksheets. My student take his time and listen to the lecture and then he would continuously pause to make sure that he wasn’t missing the notes.
Mr. D Math Preparing for Pre-Algebra quizzes are only five questions. Keep in mind at the time of this review we are on chapter three of our course. The has two attempts to score a passing grade. I know what you’re thinking only five questions how does that really show if a student really understands the lesson. Let me assure you those five questions have been carefully curated so they cover almost 100% of what was in the lesson. If your student needs the quiz attempt reset just send a quick email to customer service. The other wonderful thing about Mr. D Math’s online platform is the free tutoring session. If your student is struggling there are live tutoring sessions that meet 2 days a week.
His unique and effective approach allows students to understand math as a language, raising their test scores on SAT/ACT/FCAT and other standardized tests.
Mr. D Math
On average each lesson takes about 20-30 minutes. To be honest with you it really depends on your student because they work at their own pace. Some of the lessons are divided into multiple parts. If you’re doing Mr. D Math as your spine curriculum then I would recommend that you do one part each day. For us, we averaged doing two to three lessons a week. We are also still finishing our spine curriculum and Mr. D Math is our supplement. I have noticed my son is covering concepts in Mr. D Math that are in his spine curriculum. I can honestly say having Mr. D’s Math alongside our spine curriculum has really made a difference in my son’s math lessons.
Let’s talk about spiral reviews. The spiral reviews are just that reviews of previously learned concepts along with new ones. It helps demonstrate he can incorporate both old and new information and still be able to continue through the course without frustration and gaps.
Can be used as a stand-alone curriculum or supplemental
I highly recommend Mr. D Math Preparing for Pre-Algebra, we will be investing in the Pre-Algebra when my son has finished this course. The student dashboard provides lesson tracking, grade book, messages, and complete transcripts. The company also has contests and fun opportunities for the kids to interact in the Mr. D Community. I recently purchased his book called Teach: Creating Independently Responsible Learners. Be on the lookout for our upcoming review of the Digital Music Production course.
Hey, guys, I’m jumping on right now to bring you a review that’s probably not like our typical reviews. We were given the opportunity to review the new Khan Academy Khanmigo. If you aren’t familiar with Khanmigo it is Khan Academy’s new AI teacher assistant and learner tutor. I’m gonna be totally honest with you I was a little bit skeptical about the whole AI technology being used in my homeschool. Like many families, we do have several Alexa devices in our home. and So when we were given an opportunity to try out the new Khan Academy Khanmigo AI resource I jumped at the chance to just check it out.
As of right now, the Khanmigo is not available to the general public but you can eagerly put your name on a waitlist. The platform that we were using was the beta platform. We shared the teacher dashboard but there is an area for learners. Once fully launched Khanmigo will be available to students on their dashboards. Khanmigo’s goal is to be an assistant teacher to help you plan creative lessons. For the student, it is used to be a progressive tutor in which the student facilitates the learning and Khanmigo adapts and tutors.
Khanmigo is a wonderful resource from what I can tell right now. There are lots of prompts and details to tell you how the system works. The AI is very responsive, honestly, I didn’t run into any problems using Khanmigo. I was really impressed at how thoroughly the system works.
Teacher Dashboard
The teacher dashboard has and on the left-hand side of ten activities to choose from:
Chat with GPT-4 (Your AI buddy)
Class Snapshot ( Lets you see what going on in your classes)
Summarize student chat history ( lets you see how your students have been chatting with Khanmigo)
Refresh my knowledge ( Lets you pick topics and grade levels you need refreshing on)
Create a lesson hook and write exit ticket questions
Options for creating lesson plans
Write learning objectives
Co-create a rubric
The dialogue box is to the right of the activities and this is where you will see your interactions. How I tested Khanmigo’s lesson planning skills is I asked for the AI to create a lesson plan for Meso- America. I was completely blown away. AI the system gave me a complete breakdown of:
Objectives/Standards
Essential Questions
Materials
Lesson Hook
Lesson Activities
Assessment
Higher-Order Thinking Questions
Extensions Activities
Differentiation
Take your teaching to the next level with AI-guided lesson planning and insightful student feedback. Khanmigo frees up our educators’ most limited resource—time.
Khan Academy
Fellow educators let me just tell you, I WAS SHOCKED !!! I want to take this time and thank Khan Academy for saving me HOURS of research and agony. The systems even referenced activities to use within Khan Academy. I then further tested the learning objectives activity on the same topic and the AI helped me come up with and pinpoint my personal own objectives for this topic for my son.
For Learners
The learner’s section of the dashboard also includes a welcome screen and on the left side there were twenty activities that included:
Brainstorm admissions essay
Grammar and Mechanic check
Tutoring Math, Science, Humanities
Ignite your curiosity
Practice general subjects
Practice for Elementary, Middle School, High School, AP Exams, College
Debate topics for Elementary, Middle School, and High School
Chat with Historical and Literary characters
Story writing and writing prompts
Vocabulary
College and academic and career growth
My son took his turn at Khanmigo and so far he has studied Indigenous Tribes, Civil War, Juneteenth, and Indigenous mounds. He has also used writing prompts and debate topics for middle schoolers. He has also used Khanmigo to help him dig deeper into his physics and history lessons.
Khanmigo mimics a writing coach by giving prompts and suggestions to move students forward as they write, debate, and collaborate in exciting new ways.
Khan Academy
Now I know what you’re thinking is Khanmigo doing all the work for kids and teachers is it taking away the ability to research and be creative. On the contrary, Khanmigo gives students and teachers the skeleton it encourages them to dig deeper into what they have asked about or created. Students are encouraged to use the resources within Khan Academy as well as outside resources. Khanmigo is not about giving your students answers they are testing their knowledge and building upon it. I appreciate that when students type in answers if the answers are wrong or they come close to being correct the system is very encouraging and they help them learn about the topic rather than listing a bunch of facts and historical events.
Khan Academy Khanmigo receives a huge thumbs up from both my son and myself. There are so many capabilities of this platform. The things I took away from reviewing this Khanmigo are that it saves time, and takes my lesson planning to a new level. I definitely see Khanmigo as an assistant teacher at my homeschool.
Middle Schoolers Thoughts
I really like Khanmigo I was able to learn about topics I am interested in. I also like the writing prompts helper. The writing prompts help me develop my writing with greater details. My favorite area is science, I was able to ask questions and search through my own books, and the internet based on the suggestions Khanmigo gave me. Khanmigo is like having another teacher that helps you learn. I also like Khanmigo because I felt in control of what I wanted to do and learn about.
Final Thoughts
Khan Academy Khanmigo is a great resource for educators and learners. Right now it is in beta testing, so I would hurry and get on the waitlist. In the future, the learners will have their own dashboard. I also foresee Khan Academy Khanmigo getting some tweaks. I am hoping they included a printing option so you can print out the conversations. You can copy and paste your conversation into a Word document which is helpful. We really like Khan Academy Khanmigo and I will be using it more often in our homeschool and for planning purposes. I know my son really likes it so I see it being in high rotation with him as well.
Introduction to Public Speaking for Middle and High School was sent from IEW for our honest review.
Just when you thought IEW couldn’t get any better they have released a new curriculum Introduction to Public Speaking for Middle and High School. We received a copy to check out and it couldn’t have come at a better time. My son joined a debate team this spring and he felt overwhelmed. I was super excited that IEW asked us to look over the Introduction to Public Speaking for Middle and High School we desperately needed proper public speaking structure and guidance. My son is type A and he likes to be prepared and organized when he starts a program. Andrew Pudewa and the team over at IEW have once again come to the rescue.
When I first received the curriculum I immediately was transported back to my sophomore year speech class. Not only was this similar to my speech class it was better. Let me just tell you IEW team has done an exceptional job with Introduction to Public Speaking. There are 12 lessons which are accumulated to 12 weeks, but who am I kidding there is no way we are going to finish this in 12 weeks nor do I even want to. My son is a rising 6th grader and we need to take our time moving through this curriculum. What I will say is that we will be more than ready in September when the debate team starts back up.
Introduction to Public Speaking
You will receive the teacher’s manual, student binder, and code for IPS stream videos. If you are familiar with IEW Style and Structure you will notice the binder is similarly set up as a working binder to help keep kids organized. There are four tabs that are divided into speech templates, memorization, critiques, and class notes. Both teacher’s manual and student binder tell you how to set up your student’s workflow, scope, and sequence. In the bundle, you also receive Portable Walls for Public Speakers which is a quick reference for students to help them with their speeches. There is also a weekly overview and objectives for the week. Each week’s lessons are spread out over a 4-day schedule. We decided to stretch lessons over 1-2 weeks, I didn’t want to overwhelm him. Students who have never had experience with the keyword outline will learn this technique in week one. IEW’s infamous keyword outline is used in the weekly lessons, my son loves keyword outlines he said it helps him with memorization. Students are learning to speak publically from their notes.
The 12 weeks cover:
Delivery and Speaker Evaluation
Body, Introduction, and Conclusion of a Speech
Preparation for Narrative, Expository, and Persuasive Speech
Primary Speech Goals
Extensive Memory Techniques
Three modes of persuasion
Impromptu Speech
Various Speech Opportunities
Students will learn vocabulary, proper public speaking etiquette, structure of speeches, and memorization techniques. The videos average about an hour and are interactive. Students will need to practice what they are learning with you, their siblings, and themselves. They will learn the Five Canons of Rhetoric: invention, arrangement, elocution, memory, and delivery. In the front of the teacher’s book, you will find a link to the downloadables for your course. The videos are about one hour, but feel free to break them down in the way it works for your student. I broke the videos down over the course of 2 days. Andrew Pudewa is a great instructor he has a natural rapport with students. I appreciate that the videos include a diverse student class. The videos include on-screen directions for the student, so they are learning right along with the students in class.
What is essential while doing Introduction to Public Speaking is treating this program as a learning experience for your student. What worked for us was making sure my son was having fun while getting the full benefit of the program. You can also see samples of Introduction to Public Speaking by clicking any of my hyperlinks in this review. The first two IPS lessons (videos and handouts) are available at IEW.com/free-speech
This self-explanatory program empowers teachers to help students become competent and confident public speakers.
IEW
I really like the critique part of this program because it gives my son positive and constructive feedback. I also appreciate that my son is learning to slow his speaking down and speak from memory and not relying on just reading from his paper. The one thing I know my son was struggling with was his confidence and anxiety in delivering speeches. I have noticed that both his anxiety and confidence have improved. My son is a huge researcher, but through using Introduction to Public Speaking he is now able to learn how to organize his research and articulate his note in proper structure and etiquette for speeches. Introduction to Public Speaking is preparing him for the upcoming debate team in the fall, so he is ready for anything that is thrown at him because now has the proper tools to be successful.
We highly recommend Introduction to Public Speaking for Middle and High School students who are exploring public speaking and debate. My son has goals to attend a 4-year university and medical school and I know he will need all these skills that he is learning for his future. This program is excellent for the homeschooled family because this is an area some of us tend to overlook. If you are looking for homeschool high credit this is also a great option for your student. Please check out my middle schooler’s review below of Introduction to Public Speaking for Middle and High School.
Middle Schooler Review
When I started debate this year I was unsure what to do. I felt uneasy because I was the new kid and some of the kids had more experience. After completing 3 weeks of Introduction to Public Speaking for Middle and High School I feel more educated and organized for what’s to come in the fall debate team. Mr. Pudewa is funny and encourages us in the video. I like that I am not just watching a video and there are things for me to do and set goals that I can work at. I don’t look at my paper as much and I have learned techniques that have taught me not to rush. I am glad we are doing this curriculum and can’t wait to keep using it.
If you would like to learn more about our favorite IEW products be sure to click our IEW landing page at the top of our blog.
Let me be completely honest with you my son doesn’t like to write, but this year with our curriculum change he became more open to writing. I don’t think my son’s unwillingness to write has anything to do with his inability to write a sentence I think it has more to do with his not knowing what to write and how to organize his thought.
He is moving into middle school in the upcoming school year. I think it’s time that we really target the writing process and get him excited about writing. I’ve looked at several different curriculums over the last couple of months and Write by Number is one that has continually come up on my searches. I first saw Write by Number on a fellow homeschool mom’s Instagram. I decided to take advantage of their 14-day free trial last fall and tuck this program away as my maybe. I knew right away from the trial that this wasn’t your ordinary writing curriculum the lessons are short and your student does not move on until they have mastered that particular stage in the program.
What is Write By Number
Write by Number is a comprehensive writing program for students in grades K through 12th grade. The program is also adaptable for students with special needs. There are 12 stages to the program all students start at stage one. The objective is for students to be able to confidently write an 8-page essay once they have completed all 12 stages. The program focuses on teaching your student to write effectively from the start with the use of sentence patterns. Stages can be completed with your student or independently. If you decide to purchase the hardcover curriculum you will receive a student book which is hardcover and a teacher’s book which is softcover. In the teacher’s book, you will find a section on how to use the curriculum. You will also get some background information on the creator and her recommendations. You will also find workshop videos on the website and the customer service is excellent. Write by Number is not just a writing curriculum students will learn :
Edit
Grammar
Usage and Mechanics
Build Vocabulary and Spelling Skills
Student Book
Students will need a separate notebook and it is recommended they use pens that are not erasable. I would also suggest having some kind of different color correction pen to do edits. Each stage is different and builds upon the previous stage. Students will continue to work through all the stages as they continue to learn a new stage as they continue to progress.
The student book can be used with dependent and independent learners. The book is written to the student so it makes an independent student feel confident that this is not your typical lesson. In the back of the student book, you will find grammar worksheets. The worksheets are to be done in your student’s writing notebook separately. What I did notice is that the worksheets don’t necessarily correspond with the stages in sequence so you need to be sure that when your student is using the appropriate worksheet. Students will always know what stage they’re on because they can look on the right side of the lesson book. On the left side is the paragraph structure for the lesson. I find having the noted stage in the margin is helpful for the student because it teaches them to organize their writing.
Teachers Book
The teacher’s book is comprehensive it gives you insight into the creator and how to use the program. At the beginning of each stage, there is a complete overview of the lesson that includes:
Common Core Standards
Teacher Resources
Student Materials
The teacher’s book also makes suggestions of what worksheets to use and the writing evaluation checklist. There are supportive scripts for you to use with your student if you helping your student complete lessons. The directions for each stage are simple with examples and easy to follow.
How it Works
In Stage 1 (power sentence) students will work on sentence structure using the keyword two. The power sentence sets the tone for future paragraphs. I like using the phrase power sentence better than the topic sentence for students. At first, my son found this assignment a little bit tedious. He soon found out that it wasn’t exactly tedious at all, because we spent two weeks just in stage 1. Stage one is your basic how to write a sentence, capitalization, and punctuation. I have no idea why it was such a struggle for him to use the word two in his sentence, but he was having some issues. You and your learner can decide how many sentences you want your student to write in this assignment. We decided on writing two sentences, but he was puzzled about coming up with two sentences that are quality. Observing my son struggle a little bit with this requirement, put things in perspective for me. He has been writing short stories, reports, and essays all year. His issue was not punctuation, content, and grammar. The issue that was hindering his writing was how to organize his thoughts. The reason why I hadn’t caught this problem earlier is because he and I have always done partnership writing. Needless to say, we did a lot of rewriting in the first week. The second week in stage one was spent building quality sentences and correcting edits.
Lesson Layout
Students write the date in the margin of their notebook page.
Students work on the stage lesson.
Proofread
Rewrite Sentences
Cross youth the original sentences if there were edits
Repeat steps 1-5 if needed
Stage two students are required to write three sentences paragraph. Stage two lesson went over a lot better, his confidence was through the roof. I am happy to report that he did it independently and produced two quality three paragraphs. We only had to do a rewrite once and he was so proud of himself. He read the lesson on his own and completed the assignment. We edited together and he did the rewrite. This time around he was more open to correcting his mistakes and rewriting his sentences. I also noticed his sentences were quality and well thought out. The best part was I had nothing to do with what he wrote!
So, here we are starting stage three at the time of this review. We do Write by Number three days a week and the lessons take 15 mins to complete. I like the rhythm of spending two weeks on each stage and since this is a curriculum that will grow with us over the next few years. I don’t feel rushed to get it done by a certain timeline. I appreciate that Write by Number can be used alongside your current language arts curriculum. Watching my son write his power sentence and rereading his own work, with no assistance from me makes me feel we are on a better track for successful writing.
Hence, I highly recommend Write by Number especially if you have a beginner, reluctant writer, or experienced writer. The lessons are simple and they teach the student to learn how to write correctly using proper grammar, organization, and creativity. To my surprise, my son told me a few weeks ago he wanted to start guest writing on my blog. We recently published his first blog review. It is homeschool convention time if you happen to see the Write by Number booth I highly recommend you stop by and check out the curriculum. At the time of this review Write by Number is still offering its free trial. The cost of Write by Number starts at $99, you also have the option to do the digital pdf reader option at a monthly or yearly cost. If you use Homeschool Planet Write by Number lessons plans are available for $9.95. Check out the trial you won’t be a disappointment. Be sure to check out all of the Write by Number social media platforms by clicking the links below.
Hey everyone it is me J and I am guest writing on my mom’s blog today. So my mom and I have been looking at different planners for me for middle school. My mom reached out to her blogger friend Laura at The Monkey and Mom and she sent us her undated Moon Homeschool Planner. I know why I need a planner I am a kid, but I do need one especially since I am moving into middle school.
I have a planner now, but my mom said we need to upgrade to a new one for me because she writes big and she wants me to have everything in one place. Lately, my mom has been using those longer post it to write my assignments because I use different books. I like the sticky notes but I think it can be a waste of paper and get expensive. So it is time for an upgrade I said for the new year.
So here is where Mrs. Laura’s planner comes in. Mrs. Laura’s academic planners you can pick from undated and dated planners. She has fun kid colors and you can decorate the pages the way you like them. I do not like a lot of information pages and stuff and this planner doesn’t have a lot. So here are the things that I like about Mrs. Laruen’shomeschool planner:
The weekly layout has check boxes and room to write all my extra books
Having my own calendar so I am not late for my online classes.
Password section so I don’t have to ask Mom anymore.
The pages are the same and not overwhelming.
Here is what my mom had to say about the planner!
Mom
I hope you all are enjoying having J guest write on the blog, we are trying something new. Oh, now you homeschool moms already know I am using this as typing, grammar, and writing practice! So like J said he needs a planner upgrade this year and we are on a search. I really like the planner from The Monkey and Mom, thanks Laura for sending us to check out. There is lots of room to write notes, and the planner is kid friendly. One of the things I really like about this planner is that it is versatile. What I mean by this is that I can plan out our year in this planner and it doubles as a kid’s planner for your student. So here are my other likes:
Great paper quality
Sturdy binding (easily can be converted into a spiral or arch)
Multiple sections for a discipline if you are using more than one resource
Inexpensive and available on Amazon
Laura has a great video on her Youtube to walk you through setting up the planner and how she sets up her school year. She also offers printable stickers for you to download for free so you can decorate the planner. The biggest plus for me about this planner is the idea you can share this planner with your student as their own planner once you set it up. I watched her planner video showing you the difference between undated and dated planners. Moon Homeschool Planner is a great option for moms looking to upgrade their student’s current planners.
J the Middle Schooler!
I hope you like my first review, well my first written review because I help my mom with a lot of her reviews. My mom said due to copyright issues and preserving Mrs. Laura’s content that we are not going to post a lot of pictures. So please go to Mrs. Laura’s website The Monkey and Mom and check out the awesome pictures she has posted. Also don’t forget the youtube channel as well. There are many covers to pick from and you are bound to find a cover you like. I recommend The Monkey and MomMoon Homeschool Planner for your kids and you and be sure you share this planner with your kids if you get it because they will like the idea of being in charge of their homeschool also.
We are testing out science kits for the upcoming school year. Generation Genius Home Kits are at the top of our list. This fun-filled box has everything. My son loved it!
If you aren’t familiar with Generation Genius are online science platform for grades K-8 grade. They follow almost 100% of all the state standards. The company is also partnered with National Science Teaching Association.
The online video platform covers topics for science and math depending on your subscription choice. Subscription also includes
Lesson Plans
Vocabulary
Test and Quizzes
Reading Materials
Projects
New Home Kits
The company recently released its own Generation Genius Home Kits to be delivered to your house once a month for ages 9-14. This is a separate subscription available monthly or yearly. Each kit contains 3 high-quality experiments with all the supplies you need. Experiments are fun and comprehensive. Your student will engage with Jeff as he walks your student step by step through what they are doing including safety precautions and self-pausing in the video so your students can gather supplies and complete each step. The videos also include an explanation of the science topic covered.
The Review
We are long time customers of Generation Genius since they first launched. My son has always loved their videos and they were a great supplement when we were still trying to figure out the science curriculum in our early days of homeschooling. I was surprised when opened the box at the quality of the materials. My son instantly started pulling things out of the box and was ready to work.
It was close to dinner time and I didn’t want my son on a screen so I told him to grab the box and work on an experiment. While I cooked dinner he set up like Steve instructed and he only needed my help with putting his gloves on. Well, I was nosey and I wanted to see what the box was about because my son started saying “This is cool” and “Wow”. So I turned off the tacos and went sat in and watched. Umm, I was totally JEALOUS I wanted to do the experiment too.
My son worked on experiment #1 in the kit and wanted to do the next one. I encourage him to pace himself and do another one the following week. He agreed but not before I promised that we would get the Generation Genius Home Kits monthly. I happily agreed because the cleanup was fast and simple and Jeff even walked them through cleaning up. The one experiment had 3 activities for my son to do. In my honest opinion if we can do 3 activities from 1 experiment the cost is well worth it.
Cost
Generation Genius Home Kits start at $49 and the online platforms start at $95. Right now at the time of this review, you can get your first kit free just pay to ship.
I highly recommend this kit if you are looking for a quality science kit. The materials are quality and your kids will be amazed at the experiments.
Little Learner and Mom 