Um...Weeks 8, 9, 10, & 11

Don't laugh.  How did I miss 4 weeks?  How is it that it's time to buy the turkey?  And most importantly, WHY IS MY FAVORITE RADIO STATION PLAYING CHRISTMAS SONGS??!?

So, it's been busy around here.  Not necessarily busy how I'd planned, but busy nonetheless.

Grandma & Grandpa Larson and Aunt Sherry came for a 6 day visit.  There was lots of football, basketball, baseball, and slacklining going on the the backyard with the boys and Aunt Sherry.  Ben (Sherry's son/the boys' cousin) and his wife Belu came for the weekend.  It was great to see them (and meet Belu!).  There were several games of Scattergories, and one 5 hours game of Monopoly (which Nicholas Trump most likely won).  And the boys loved staying up late, eating junk food, and watching the entire Lord of the Rings triology over 5 nights.

Then there was the election.  It was educational, but I don't want to talk about it.

Ezekiel got his cast off on the 9th and was released to do anything within reason.  "Within whose reason?," I asked.  "If it hurts he shouldn't do it," the doctor said. "Judo?"  Cleared.  "Gymnastics?"  Yep.  "Back Handsprings?"  Not a problem.  Then the doctor showed me the x-ray and there wasn't a blemish anywhere.

The last big thing that happened was Nick turned 7 yesterday.  He had friends over to play and eat cookies, and then we had a family celebration last night:  presents, pizza, cake, VeggieTales, and Mythbusters.  Among other things, he received a Fortamagjig Fun Fort and I think he's going to have a lot of fun with it.  It's a large piece of nylon with various velcro loops and fasteners on it, so you can hook it to almost anything to build a fort.

Grandma & Grandpa Burns will be here next week for Thanksgiving, so no school will get done.

On the official school front:

• Luke can now work linear equations with two variables with confidence.
• Jacob, Micah, and Nicholas finished The Pilgrim Story online class.  They really enjoyed it.
• Nicholas has been reading the books I give him in one sitting, instead of over a few days (as I planned it).  They're books like Balto, so not long chapter books, but it's fun to watch him enjoy books and ask for the next one when he's finished.
• Nicholas declared "the x math" (mulitplication) the "funnest math" (thanks, Miquon!).
• Luke & Ezekiel are reading Chosen by God, and they're enjoying it.
• Luke, Ezekiel, Jacob, and Micah have finished The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, and will start Prince Caspian after our break next week.
• All are progressing, though slower than I'd like thanks to life interruptions, with spelling & English grammar.  Luke, Ezekiel, and Jacob are moving along with Latin, and Luke & Ezekiel are continuing to make progress in Greek.
• Writing and lit discussions aren't getting as much attention as I'd planned.  I need to figure this part out.

I'm still having trouble finding a balance to schooling 5.  I'm leaning toward pulling Luke & Ezekiel out of their enrichment program at Christmas so we have that day at home for academics.  Objectively, as their teacher, it's the right thing to do.  But then the Mom part kicks in and I doubt the decision (they enjoy it and have a couple of friends there).

I can't believe Christmas is just around the corner!  I'm going to take the advice of my wise friends and plan in time for cookie baking and other fun holiday traditions.  We'll do as much school as we can through December, but I'm ready to shelve some subjects some days so we can make memories some days.  Time is passing too quickly; I don't want the boys to remember the holidays as the time of the year that Mom was crazier than normal--I want to enjoy them and have some fun.  We'll see how I do...

Vocal Coach Singer

Vocal Coach  offered two of their products for the Crew to review:  Vocal Coach Singer and Teaching Kids to Sing.  I will be reviewing Vocal Coach Singer;  I received the downloadable mp3s, which are priced at $99.99.

Confession:  I can't carry a tune in a bucket.  I like to sing, though, so that presents a problem for those around me.  I've been told that I could probably sing well if I had a bit of training, but the time or money isn't in the budget.  

The Vocal Coach Singer includes the following mp3s:

• Getting Started
• Complete Breathing
• Complete Warm-Up
• Complete Tone
• Complete Expanding Your Range
• Complete Diction
• Complete Performance
• Daily Workout High Voice 1 & 2
• Daily Workout Medium/Low Voice 1 & 2

along with these printable PDFs:

• Instructional Guidebook
• Lead Sheets (each exercise with track number)
• Singer's Journal
• Song Evaluation 

The Instructional Guidebook provides a general introduction to the course, and it should be read first.  The next thing is listening to the Getting Started mp3.  This gives a brief introduction to each of the remaining mp3s.

The Complete Breathing, Complete Warm-Up, and Complete Tone mp3s are the foundation of the program.  They explain the how and why behind breathing and posture, warming up the voice, and tone, and then move along to present exercises for each of the topics.

The Complete Expanding Your Range mp3 explains range and helps you to determine your current range, and then provides exercises to help you increase your range.  The Complete Diction mp3 explains what diction is (pronunciation, enunciation, and articulation).  Good diction is important for a singer because it helps with tone and pitch. The Complete Performance mp3 guides you through choosing songs that suit you, picking the right key, as well as other important details, like gestures and facial expressions. 

The Daily Workout mp3s guide you through working out your voice.  The singing exercises vary in difficulty, and the first time through the vocal coach, Chris Beatty, sings it with you.  The following times, he'll give you verbal instructions on how to sing the exercise.    

I learned a lot about using my voice as an instrument.  I never realized that posture and breathing were so important to singing well.  The tone exercises help eliminate issues that might make your voice sound unpleasant (twangy, nasally, etc.), and it also explains vibrato and how it should sound and be used.

I've got to admit, I felt a bit silly during a lot of the exercises.  Practicing these in the privacy of my own home was a definite plus.  I still don't have a fabulous voice, but I could tell a difference when I followed their instructions and practice.  I think with even more practice I can sing to my heart's content without being embarrassed.  If you'd like to learn to sing, or if you can sing and you'd like to improve your voice, check out Vocal Coach Singer.

For more reviews of The Vocal Coach products, go here.

 


Disclaimer: As a member of the TOS Crew, I received this product, at no cost to me, in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are mine.

Primary Arts of Language

Institute for Excellence in Writing is a well known company in the homeschool community.  In addition to writing programs, they produce spelling and poetry resources as well.  The Schoolhouse Review Crew was given the opportunity to review their reading and writing program for early elementary students, Primary Arts of Language.

I was sent the Primary Arts of Language Complete Reading Package ($69) and the Primary Arts of Language Complete Writing Package ($89).  These are for grades K-2, and are intended to be simultaneously, though you could use them individually.  I used these with Nicholas, who is 6 (nearly 7) and in first grade.

The Primary Arts of Language Complete Reading Package contains:

• Reading Teacher's Manual
• Reading DVD-Rom
• Phonetic Games
• Phonetic Farm Folder

The Teacher's Manual contains all 80 lessons for the program.  Lessons are laid out clearly in list form (view a sample).  They are not scripted, but instead give you bullet lists for each section of the program.

The DVD-ROM contains the Student eBook to print out, a video by author Jill Pike that explains exactly how to use the program, as well as helpful mp3s by Adam Andrews and Andrew Pudewa.

The Phonetic Games book (view a sample) includes all of the games used in the program.  These are file folder games that are used throughout the program as a fun way of reinforcing the phonetic rules.

The Phonetic Farm Folder provides a fun and colorful way for the student to keep track of all the phonetic rules.

Nicholas' favorite part of PAL Reading

 

The Primary Arts of Language Complete Writing Program contains:

• Writing Teacher's Manual
• Writing DVD-Rom
• All About Spelling Basic Interactive Kit
• All About Spelling Level 1 Teacher's Manual
• All About Spelling Level 1 Student Materials Kit

The Writing Teacher's Manual (view a sample) contains the lessons to the writing portion of PAL.  It is broken down into 3 parts:  Printing and Story Summaries (31 lessons), Copy Work and Style (40 lessons), and Composition with Style (16 lessons).  

The Writing DVD-Rom contains a video by author Jill Pike explaining how to use the program, Student e-Book (view a sample) to print out, and mp3s by Adam Andrews and Andrew Pudewa.

All About Spelling (view a sample) is a popular spelling program that teaches spelling though teaching the phonograms.  It is a multi-sensory program, using phonogram magnets that allow your child to manipulate the phonograms as they learn to spell.

 

As you can see, there is a lot of parts to the program.  A single lesson using both PAL Reading and PAL Writing has you and your student:

• Read and discuss a poem
• Mark up and discuss words in the poem
• Teach and review phonograms
• Write an entry in a journal
• Read practice sentences
• Complete a writing lesson
• Play a game or two
• Add to the Phonetic Farm
• Complete Student worksheets

It is suggested that you break up the lessons throughout the day.  

Even though Nicholas was just starting to read when we began this review, I started at the beginning since I had not taught him the phonograms.  He enjoyed the poetry in the lessons, the worksheets, and the Phonetic Farm.  Because the phonograms are presented through poetry, he didn't feel like he was moving backwards in his reading instruction.  

I'm a huge fan on the writing portion.  I've been trying to get Micah (8) and Nicholas to form their letters properly for a long time.  In this program, each letter is given a story to help the student remember how to form the letters.  Both Micah & Nicholas now form the letters we've covered properly.  Beyond the handwriting portion, the story summarizing introduces (without being intimidating) young students to plot, character, setting, action, and conclusion.  Once a student can summarize these things orally, they can move along to writing a retelling of a story or event following the same model.  Students are taught proper capitalization and punctuation, as well as how to write key word outlines.  

All About Spelling isn't introduced until Part II of the writing program, and we didn't make it that far during the review period.  However, I have confidence that it will work very well for Nicholas.  The lessons are scripted and clear, which will make it easy to teach, and I think Nicholas will enjoy the colorful tiles and hands on aspect of the program.

I was a bit intimidated by all the parts of the PAL program, but it turned out I didn't need to be.  After a couple of lessons we easily fell into a routine, and Nicholas enjoyed the varied activities.  PAL has been a hit in our homeschool, and I look forward to continuing the program.

For more reviews of IEW's Primary Arts of Language, go here.



Disclaimer: As a member of the TOS Crew, I received this product, at no cost to me, in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are mine.

Activity Bags

Over the years, I have heard of activity bags being used to help keep preschoolers entertained while Mom is schooling older siblings.  I'm out of the preschool stage, but was intrigued when I found out that Activity Bags has eBooks available for older children as well.  I was pleased to have the opportunity to review 4 eBooks from Activity Bags:

• Science Experiments in a Bag eBook 1
• Science Experiments in a Bag eBook 2
• Science Experiments in a Bag eBook 3
• Travel Activities in a Binder eBook

What are activity bags?  The idea is that you take some time and assemble ziplock bags with needed supplies and instructions, so that your child can just pull out a bag and do the activity with little to no direction from you.  You can even arrange a swap with friends.  To complete a swap, each Mom is assigned an activity or two to assemble.  If there are 10 people in your swap group, the Mom would assemble 10 bags of each assigned activity.  Then you get together and trade bags, so every Mom in the swap gets a complete set of activities.  This is an efficient way to get multiple activities assembled.

Each Science Experiments in a Bag eBook contains 25 activities.  There are detailed instructions for how to assemble the bags, and while you might need to purchase some supplies for the experiments, there is nothing that couldn't be found at a local big box or grocery store.  For each experiment there is an experiment log (for the student to record their findings) and answer sheet (contains the answers and explains the why behind what occurred during the experiment). 

EBook 1 focuses on Biology, Nature, and General Science.  Some activities include:

• Balloon Skewer:  inserting a wooden skewer into a balloon without popping it
• Chirp, Chirp: determine temperature using a cricket's chirp
• Geotropism:  germinate seeds and learn what is needed for healthy plant growth

EBook 2 focuses on Chemistry, Human Body, and General Science.  Some activities include:

• Calling Long Distance:  learn about sound waves by making homemade phones
• Crayon Creations:  learn how heat changes a solid into a liquid, and then how the liquid changes back into a solid when it cools
• Rocket Reaction:  learn how unbalanced forces produce motion

EBook 3 focuses only on Chemistry.  Some activities include:

• Microbes:  learn how salting foods can prevent microbes from spoiling food
• Salt Crystals:  grow salt crystals
• Shake, Shake, Shake:  make your own butter

According to the website, the Science Activities in a Bag eBooks are for children in kindergarten through 8th grade, however in the eBook itself it states they are for children in preschool through early elementary age.  While my 7th & 8th grade sons would have fun with some of the activities, I think they are best suited for elementary aged students.  Science in the elementary grades is something that tends to get bumped in our homeschool.  I find that my boys are naturally drawn to science so it's something that they'll easily do in their free time, especially if there are experiments involved.  I had my 5th, 3rd, and 1st grade sons complete some of the activities, and they were well suited for their ages.  I like that I can assemble the bags and then let them choose a science activity when we have some extra time.  The experiment logs are great, especially for my 5th grader, though they required too much writing for my 3rd and 1st graders (we talked about the experiments instead of writing down answers). I look forward to getting several more bags made up for my boys.  All 3 of these eBooks are priced at $15, and are well worth the money.

Travel Activities in a Binder is a bit different.  Instead of placing the activities in ziplock bags, the activities are printed out and put in sheet protectors in a binder.  You'll also need a pencil pouch for the binder to hold supplies like dry erase markers, eraser, blindfold, and dice.

This is a wonderful solution for long car trips or traffic jams.  Activities include familiar activities like hangman, tic tac toe, and mazes, but in addition there are other fun activities like drawing what you see in the clouds, doing an ABC search (looking for something that begins with each letter of the alphabet and writing it down), and blindfold drawing (one person describes what they see out of the window while another blindfolded person attempts to draw it).

We take 1 or 2 really long car trips every year.  In the past, I've made individual activity books for the boys to help pass the many hours.  I've never thought about keeping a binder of dry erase activities in the car for shorter trips, though.  I think it's a brilliant idea, and I know all my boys will enjoy having something to do when they're stuck in the van around town or stuck in a waiting room without anything to do.  This eBook is also worth the $15.

For more Activity Bag reviews (including reviews of Math Games, Reading Games, and Preschool Activities) , go here.

Disclaimer: As a member of the TOS Crew, I received this product, at no cost to me, in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are mine.

Weeks 6 & 7 in Review

Oy!  These were a rough 2 weeks.  Week 6, we were fighting colds & sinus infections. I don't remember who wasn't feeling well, but I was on an antibiotic and was just kind of fuzzy headed.  Week 7, we had a follow up with Jacob's neurologist because his headaches have been worse (requires almost 4 hours of driving roundtrip), I had an eye appointment that took up 3 hours (they'd had an emergency in the morning, so there was a longer wait time), Ezekiel fractured his hand (required the trip to the pediatrician to be sent to x-ray, and then a trip on a different day to the ortho for casting), and finally I had a follow up with my rheumatologist.  I counted the days they weren't at their enrichment program as half days, so we got about 5 days of school work in over the two weeks.  But this is life, right?

I will not let perfection get in the way of the good.

We got bits of math and Greek and reading and grammar and Latin and spelling and phonics and history done (I almost typed science, but I'm 95% sure no one actually did any science, unless you count studying the x-ray of Zeke broken hand).  We did spend one afternoon finishing our read-aloud book, Escape Across the Wide Sea.  I haven't had as much time to read aloud as I did last year, and I miss it and the boys miss it.  I miss the shared stories, but we're so busy that is is hard to justify it.  I listened to a lecture by Andrew Pudewa, though, and was reminded of the importance. Craig will be home in the evenings more now that he's out of class, so we'll restart family read-alouds in the evening (we've all missed it), and I'm going to try and read-aloud during the day on Thursday and Friday.  I figure that's better than not at all.

I will not let perfection get in the way of the good.

As I sit here surrounded by piles of incomplete assignment sheets and stacks of papers to check, I'm reminded that my boys learned lessons that weren't in textbooks.  I'm also reminded of a great benefit of having them home together.  Zeke's hand was fractured when he and Luke were play fighting on the couch.  Luke kicked, they heard a pop, there was a lot of pain.  Luke felt awful.  Zeke's biggest concern was that when people heard how it happened, they would think Luke did it on purpose when they were just playing.  His mind wasn't on revenge, as many people we encountered speculated, it was on the fact he didn't want his brother to be mischaracterized. Sure, they fight and argue (this is bound to happen when you're together as much as we are), but they love each other and are very close.  All five of them.  When we started this adventure 9 years ago (10 if you count preschool), it was for academic reasons.  That is still a very high priority, but now that they are almost7 up to just13, their relationships as brothers and our relationship as a family is at least as high a priority as academics.  It's such a blessing to watch these relationships grow and develop.  

So, I will not let perfection get in the way of the good.

Green & Gold cast in honor of the Packers

The Pilgrim Story

Dayspring Christian Academy is a Christian Academy that utilizes the Principle Approach, and is located in Pennsylvania.  They also operate an online school, and they provided a 6 month subscription of their self-paced course,  The Pilgrim Story to the Crew to review.

This review came up at a perfect time, with Thanksgiving just around the corner.  We're currently studying Egypt, so this program was an easy way to get in some teaching about the pilgrims before Thanksgiving gets here.  This program is intended for students in 3rd through 6th grade, and Jacob (5th), Micah (3rd), and Nicholas (1st) all watched the lessons.

The program is broken down into the following lessons:

Introduction
Unit One:

• King Henry

• Geneva Bible

• Life in Scrooby

• Liberty of Conscience

Unit Two:

• Leaving England

• The Second Escape Attempt

• Leiden

• Preparing to Go

Unit Three:

• Leaving Leiden

• Conditions on the Mayflower

• Building Christian Character

Unit Four:

• The Mayflower Compact

• Exploration

• The First Winter

Unit Five:

• Spring, 1621

• The Wapanoag People

• The Rest of the Story

Virtual Field Trip

The lessons are presented in slide format, and there is a narrator that reads the slides to the student.  There are activities and games in some of the lessons, and some live-action slides as well.  These lessons take about 30-45 minutes to complete, though any enrichment activities will extend the amount of time needed for each lesson.  At the start of each lesson, you are instructed to print out various worksheets for the lesson (note taking sheets, maps, vocabulary sheet, and any other resources needed).  The Principle Approach relies heavily on notebooking, and all of this information is intended to help your student create a notebook for this course.  The notetaking sheets are fill in the blank worksheets; these are easy to complete because the text is underlined on the slide so it's easy for the student to copy.  Each lesson begins and ends with a review, so the student gets repeated exposure to the information.  There is a unit test at the end of each unit.

All three of my sons that did this program really enjoyed it.  Jacob found the notetaking sheets helpful, and he enjoyed learning about the Pilgrims.  Micah thought this course was fun, and he liked the activities and games.  Nicholas liked that he learned about the Pilgrims sneaking away from their homes.  None of the boys  liked the tests, but that is to be expected.

The only complaint (other than the test) was they didn't like having to listen to the instructions to download the worksheets at the beginning of each lesson.  They did this program mostly without my help, and Jacob was able to get to the website and easily navigate each day's lesson on his own.  They asked daily to do this course, and it's always encouraging to have them ask to do schoolwork.

For $99, you'll get a 6 month subscription to The Pilgrim Story.  You can watch the lessons on your timetable during the 6 months, which makes it very convenient.  If you're looking to study the pilgrims, I would recommend that you check out Dayspring Christian Academy.

For more reviews of The Pilgrim Story, go here.

Disclaimer: As a member of the TOS Crew, I received this product, at no cost to me, in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are mine.

KinderBach

KinderBach is a music program for ages 3 to 7 that can be done in your home.  It's available as an online subscription, as an iPad or iPhone app, or on DVD.  I was given a 6 month subscription to review.  

I cannot play the piano.  I played the flute from the 6th grade through the 9th grade, but I have completely forgotten how to read music.  However, despite my lack of musical knowledge, I am convinced that learning to play an instrument is a wonderful way to engage and train the brain, and I think piano is a great instrument for learning to read music and learn music theory.  My older four sons are in piano lessons, and it's about time to start the youngest.  I was very happy to receive this product to review, and so was Nicholas.

KinderBach teaches piano through adorable cartoon characters.  Dodi the Donkey (pictured above), Frisco, Carlo the Caterpillar, Edward the Eagle, Felicity the Frog, Gracie the Gorilla, Alan the Alligator, and Bob the Bear (along with Ms. Karri, the founder and lesson instructor) will guide your young child through learning to play the piano.  In addition, Miss Diddle and Bruno will help teach your child to play different music note patterns on the piano, and the Beat Bug Brigaide will help your child learn rhythm.  In Bach Talk, your child will learn tips and techniques for making their own songs.

There are 6 levels, with 10 weeks of lessons in each level.  Each week is broken down into 4 short lessons.  The short lessons are wonderful because they keep the attention of a young child, but are long enough to teach the concept in a fun manner.  Throughout the lessons, the student is often moving around and interacting with the lesson (beating a homemade drum, for example, to work on rhythm).

Each lesson is in video format.  Ms. Karri teaches your child the fundamentals of playing the piano.  She's energetic and entertaining, and Nicholas really enjoyed the lessons.

In addition to the online lessons, there are PDF worksheets to download and print.  You can print out the entire book for each lesson, or you there is an option to print individual pages for each lesson.  These range from coloring and activity pages to do along with the lessons to music to practice with.  The activity pages were a little bit young for Nicholas, and he doesn't really enjoy coloring, so we skipped doing many of them. I can see where they would be very helpful with a younger student, though.

 

  

KinderBach is a hit with Nicholas.  We've only had our subscription for 6 weeks, and I already see a huge improvement with his ability to keep a rhythm.  He loves to practice the piano like his older brothers.  He asks daily if we can do a lesson, and often tries to talk me into doing additional lessons.  I'm happy that he's getting exposure and developing a love for making music before we start more formal lessons.

To use this program, it's best if you have a keyboard to play.  You don't need anything fancy, just a basic piano or keyboard is recommended.  You'll also need basic craft supplies.

The online program is priced at $19.99 a month (billed monthly) or $95.88 for a full twelve months, and you can try the first two weeks of the program for free.  The iPad app is $26.99, and there is a free version to try the program out.

For more reviews of KinderBach (both the online subscription and the app), go here.

Disclaimer: As a member of the TOS Crew, I received this product, at no cost to me, in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are mine.

Week 5 in Review

We got a lot accomplished on Monday, even though Luke slept late because he wasn't feeling well and even though I ended up at the doctor for a sinus infection.

Tuesday was kind of a bust.  I had a nagging headache and sore throat all day, Jacob spent the morning in bed not feeling well and Micah slept late.  I did some Kinderbach lessons with Nicholas, and sent them outside to clean up the yard so I could mow it for (hopefully) the last time this season.

The headache and sore throat continued, and Wednesday wasn't great.  Oh, who am I kidding?!  Thursday wasn't great, either, and we ended up doing most of our work on Friday and Saturday.

We did accomplish some things, though, so here they are:

Luke & Ezekiel (8th & 7th):

• Finished Lesson 2 in Elementary Greek 2, and started Lesson 3
• Did Exercises 15-18 in Henle Latin
• Read 4 chapters in The Ancient Near Eastern World and completed the study sheets.  The lessons were on Hammurabi and Mesopotamia.
• Rewrote The Stag and His Reflection, and began the process of rewriting a fable of their choice.  I'm not even sure what they chose.
• Took the Lesson 6 test in Rod & Staff's Spelling 6.
• Reviewed the chapter 1 of Rod & Staff's English 7 and took a test.  
• Finished reading Gilgamesh.  We still need to discuss it.
• Watched session 1 of Teaching the Classics.
• Completed Lessons 7 and 8, Lab 4, and Quiz 2 in The Rainbow science.
• Luke finished Chapters 4-5 in Painless Algebra, and Ezekiel took a test and finished Lesson 41 in Saxon 8/7.

Jacob (5th):

• Finished Chapter 2 and started Chapter 3 in Latin for Children A.
• Read Chapters 7 and 8 in Shadow Hawk, and chapters 10-13 in The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe.
• Sort of started Classical Writing Aesop B.  
• Completed Lessons 6 and 7 in Rod & Staff's English 5.
• Spent time on the Math Blaster app, did fact practice sheets for multiplication and division, and worked on flashcards.
• Completed Chapters 4-6 in Life of Fred Farming.
• Worked on Math Mammoth's Introduction to Fractions and Place Value 3.
• Completed Lessons 9 and 10 in Rod and Staff's Arithmetic 5.
• Finished Lesson 3 in Rod & Staff's Spelling 5 and took the test.

Micah (3rd):

• Did 3 Callirobics lessons.
• Finished week 6 in Writing with Ease 2.
• Completed Lessons 9-12 in Rod & Staff's English 3.  He's doing really well with the diagramming (he had to diagram sentences with an understood you this week), and doesn't really complain about writing when he's diagramming.
• Read The Whipping Boy and chapters 10-13 in The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe.  We did the comprehension questions from Veritas Press' Narnia Comprehension Guide orally with Jacob.
• Finished Lesson 3 and took the test in Rod & Staff's Spelling 3 and begane Lesson 4.
• Spent time on the Math Blaster app and with flashcards.
• Finished Kumon's Dollars and Cents workbook and happily threw it away.
• Completed Chapters 4-7 in Life of Fred Apples.
• Completed lessons 56 and 57 in Saxon 3 Math.

Nicholas (1st):

• Completed week 4 in Kinderbach.
• Did 3 Callirobics lessons.
• Completed Week 3 in Writing with Ease 1 and started Week 4.
• Read The Cat in the Hat.
• Read out of Phonics Pathways and Reading Pyramid.
• Finished Explode the Code 3 and threw it away.
• Finished Kumon' Easy Telling Time and threw it away.
• Did some Miquon Orange pages and spent time on the Math Blaster App and with flashcards.
• Completed Lessons 10-11 in Saxon 2.
• Began Primary Arts of Language Reading and Primary Arts of Language Writing.

Jacob, Micah, and Nicholas:

• Completed 3 more lesson in Dayspring's The Pilgrims Story.
• Completed lessons 16-18 in Veritas Press' Self-Paced Old Testament and Ancient Egypt online course.
• Completed the "Descendents of Noah" map from Map Trek.

There was also Judo, gymnastics, piano, and their enrichment program during the week.

My stack of papers to check is about 3 feet high.

/ow/

I couldn't figure out why Micah & Nicholas were in hysterics over a phonics notecard I'd made for Nick covering the one of the /ow/ sounds.

Then I took time to read the card.

Notice the blurred spot?  That's where a tear fell from Micah because he was laughing so hard.

Since Nicholas is the 5th boy I've taught to read, I can't even say it was a rookie mistake.

Beeyoutiful Mineral Makeup

If you know me, this will not come as a surprise.  I am not a girly-girl.  I don't enjoy spending time fixing my hair or applying makeup.  On the other hand, I feel these things are necessary for me to look my best.  My solution has been to simplify this process as much as possible.  I wash my hair, put product in it, and let it air dry.  For makeup, I like to quickly apply foundation, blush, eyeshadow, eyeliner, and mascara.  Just enough to give me some color and at least make it look like I attempted to get rid of the run-ragged-homeschool mom look.  Not surprisingly, I don't enjoy shopping for makeup either, so I was thrilled when the opportunity to review Beeyoutiful makeup came up.  It doesn't get any easier than makeup shipped right to your door!

For this review, Beeyoutiful Skin sent me:

• foundation ($25)
• foundation brush ($11)
• eye/lip color  ($10)
• multipurpose brush ($6.50)
• DVD (contained all of the how-to videos found here)
• Sample of a second eye/lip color 

Beeyoutiful created 100% mineral makeup that is all natural and gluten free.  I was a bit nervous about picking colors from my computer screen, but it worked out quite well.  I received samples of my top three foundation choices before I chose my final color.  The color I settled on was the first color I picked as a sample (samples are available for $1 each).  I'm very pleased with my foundation color, as well as the eye color.  

All of the Beeyoutiful makeup is in powder form.  It's so lightweight, I forget I'm wearing it, and it takes just a tiny bit for all over coverage.  The foundation brush feels like silk on my face when I'm applying the foundation.  I have dry skin thanks to living in a dry climate, so I use a moisturizer daily.  After I put on the moisturizer, I apply the foundation (Beeyoutiful suggests you use a toner, but I don't have any so I just used my regular moisturizer).  It does a great job of evening out my skin tone.  If there are any blemishes on your skin, you can also create concealer from the foundation to help cover them up.  

I've never used a mineral eye shadow before, but I have to say I love it.  I chose Cinnamon Sparkle, and apply it over my entire lid (it doesn't get any easier!).  Again, I'm shocked at how little it takes to do both eyes.  Just using the mineral shadow alone creates a very sheer look; you can also foil the shadow by mixing it with water.  This creates a bolder look with the shadow.  You can also use the shadow as an eye liner by using the foiling technique.

I don't normally wear anything on my lips.  For this review, though, I tested the second sample they sent as a lip color.  To apply as a lip color, you can mix the minerals with water or with a lip balm, depending on what kind of coverage you'd like (anything from a sheer lip gloss to a dark lipstick).  The thought of putting powder on my lips was odd to me, but once I did it and covered it with lip balm, I was quite pleased with the lip gloss effect.  

I'm hooked on this makeup.  It looks great, is easy to apply, and holds up through an exhausting day of being a homeschooling mom.  If you'd like to refresh your look, check out the products from Beeyoutiful.

For more reviews of Beeyoutiful products, go here.





Disclaimer: As a member of the TOS Crew, I received this product, at no cost to me, in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are mine.