One Minute Science Mysteries!

Once again we were introduced to a new favorite from the TOS Crew! 

When you have children that love science and mysteries, One Minute Mysteries: 65 More Short Mysteries You Solve With Science! is a winning combination. This award winning book published by Science Naturally helps in "Bridging the gap between the blackboard and the blacktop." 

 

One Minute Mysteries: 65 More Short Mysteries You Solve With Science! as you probably guessed is the second One-Minute Science Mysteries books.  Each fiction and non fiction story, as the title implies, takes about a minute to read.  After reading the story, children are then challenged with brainteaser type questions that help them to utilize their science knowledge and critical thinking skills.  

In One Minute Mysteries: 65 More Short Mysteries You Solve With Science! you'll read stories and solve mysteries about gravity, sonic booms, magnets/non magnets, rocks and measurements.  

More specifically, this book is covers topics in: 

• Life Science
• Earth and Space Science 
• Physical and Chemical Science
• General Science 

We thought the book was challenging and enjoyable. The book is geared for children ages 8-12, but I found that my younger children (4&6 year old boys) also enjoyed it and were able to interact with us.

Eric and Natalie Yoder, a father-daughter wring team, have worked together on several books.  Each available for purchase through Science Naturally for $9.95.

• One Minute Mysteries: 65 Short Mysteries You Solve With Science!
• One Minute Mysteries: 65 More Short Mysteries You Solve With Science!
• One Minute Mysteries: 65 Short Mysteries You Solve With Math!

You can also purchase the I Love A Mystery Set, which includes all three of the books listed above, for $24.95.

These books would make great summer reads.  The are stories are short, but the lessons really pack a punch!

See what other TOS Crew members have to say about the Science Naturally Books here.

Menu Plan 5/20/13

Did I mention that I was in a little bit of a cooking funk?  There have just been many days lately that I would have been happy to serve cereal for dinner, and actually did on a few occasions.  The "healthy cereal" of course.

Thankfully, I am coming out of the funk and feeding my family real food again {smile}.

Here's what we are cookin' up this week:

Breakfasts

• Homemade Granola as Cereal x2 - my kids are loving this!  I had to hid the container because they will not stay out of it! I am going to try to post this recipe this week.
• Scrambled Eggs, Toast and Orange Slices
• Baked Oatmeal Cups 
• Egg Sandwiches, Fruit
• Waffles, Fruit
• Yogurt & Granola

Lunches

• PB&J's, Fruit and Chips
• Soft Turkey Tacos, Fruit
• Turkey & Cheese Roll Ups, Fruit and Baby Carrots - For these I wrap turkey around a cheese stick, very easy and portable lunch.
• Cheese Quesadillas, Salsa and Fruit 
• Homemade Mac & Cheese
• Fruit & Veggie Platter (Carrots, Celery, Apple Slices, Grapes, Strawberries), Cheese and Crackers OR Pretzel Sticks - I use my veggie platter and fill each compartment with fruit, veggies, crackers, cheese and put peanut butter in the middle for dipping.  This is probably my kids favorite lunch.
• Hot Dogs, Beans and Fruit

Dinners

• Lasagna Casserole & Salad
• Easy Chicken Pot Pie
• Pizza, Baby Carrots and Apple Slices 
• Chicken Quesadillas with Brown Rice and Beans 
• Crust-less Spinach Quiche, Salad
• BBQ Chicken Legs, Sweet Potatoes, Squash
• Tacos with all the fix-in's, and Brown Rice

Trail Guide to Learning Review

 

We just recently finished up our Trail Guide to Learning - Paths to Exploration curriculum for the year. While I have mentioned it in several posts, I had not yet done a complete review of it.

The Trail Guide to Learning series was written by Debbie Strayer and Linda Fowler.  Their goal was to create a curriculum that was completely based on the teaching philosophy of Ruth Beechick. By doing so they have made a wonderful Charlotte Mason friendly curriculum as well.

The Trail Guide to Learning series includes the following teaching philosophies:

• develops thinking skills that lead to comprehension and writing ability
• use the copying and dictation process to acquire language and writing mechanics
• develops reading and writing skills through history, science, geography, and literature rather than through separate artificial activities
• gradually connects grammar to reading and writing naturally
• uses the tutorial approach, thus reducing excess paperwork
• unifies and focuses the core concepts and knowledge—rather than scattering the focus through untargeted tasks, which often occurs in unit studies
• builds skills naturally through reflective thinking and discussion

We received the Trail Guides to Learning - Paths of Exploration Complete Package.  That included the two volume set, as well as the readers that accompany this level in the series.  The books included in Paths of Exploration are:

• 2 Volume Set of Paths of Exploration Curriculum with Student Resources CD-ROM

• Meet Christopher Columbus

• Christopher Columbus

• Stories of the Pilgrims (2nd edition)

• Stories of the Pilgrims Answer Key

• Squanto, Friend to the Pilgrims

• A Lion to Guard Us

• Surviving Jamestown

• 5" RealEarth GlobeMap

• Daniel Boone Frontiersman

• Daniel Boone, Young Hunter and Tracker

• Munford Meets Lewis and Clark

• Seaman

• Trouble for Lucy

• Johnny Appleseed

• 1911 Boy Scout Handbook

• United States History Atlas

• Lewis and Clark Hands On

• Going West!

• Handbook of Nature Study

• North American Wildlife Guide

• Profiles from History

• Eat Your Way Around the World

• Classroom Atlas

• Large USA and World Outline Map

• Assessments CD-ROM

We have spent the past year studying the famous explorers and great pioneers of America. With Paths of Exploration we were able to go beyond the page or two that most history books use to explain these great people.  We were able to in depth who they were, and what their goals were.  Not only did we learn about their lives, but we learned great character lessons from them. 

TGTL uses living books.  Books that are nothing short of AMAZING!  Not only did they teach us history, but they are enjoyable.  Yes, enjoyable!  We have not yet encountered a book in this program that we did not thoroughly enjoy.  My girls always have great things to say about their readers, this is always a good sign.  I personally have loved the biographies that we have read.  

Next to the historical fiction and biography books we've read, digging into the North American Wildlife book has been a favorite for everyone! We have learned so much this year just from the nature studies. My kids have fallen in love with beavers and prairie dogs! When ever we are outside and there are fallen trees, Little Bits swears knows there are beavers close by.  I tell him he has Beaver Fever! 

TGTL also incorporates hands on activities.  The activities through out the curriculum have been a wonderful addition to our year.  We have especially enjoyed the cooking and science diagrams.  The animal ID sheets were also a huge hit with my kids. Learning Morse code was also pretty popular.

I think that the Trail Guide to Learning Series is a fabulous and engaging way to study American history! Home schooling with TGTL is something we look forward to. I am sorry we didn't find it sooner.

The Trail Guide to Learning Series is a complete 3 year study of American History, which is broken down into 3 paths. Each path is a full year course that consists of 6, six week unit studies:

Paths of Exploration

• Columbus (includes people such as Marco Polo, Christopher Columbus, Gutenberg)
• Jamestown (includes people such as John Smith, Pocahontas, and Leonardo da Vinci)
• Pilgrims (includes people such as William Bradford, Squanto, and Galileo)
• Daniel Boone (includes such people as James Cook, Benjamin Franklin, and Handel)
• Lewis & Clark (includes such people as Sacagawea, Thomas Jefferson, and Mozart)
• Trails West (includes people such as Johnny Appleseed, Zebulon Pike,    and Jesse Applegate)

Paths of Settlement

• Growing Pains (includes people such as Samuel Adams, John Audubon and Paul Revere)
• Freedom Decided (includes people such as George Washington, John Adams, and Benjamin Franklin)
• Nation Building (includes people such as Andrew Jackson, Thomas Jefferson, and Francis Scott Key)
• House Divided (includes people such as Abraham Lincoln, Robert E. Lee, and Clara Barton)
• Unity Restored (Includes people such as Samuel Francis Smith, Laura Ingalls Wilder, and cowboys of the American West)
• Sea to Shining Sea (includes people such as Theodore Roosevelt, Will Rogers, and Booker T. Washington)

 Paths of Progress

• Great Leaps
• Making Connections
• Perseverance Pays Off
• Cultivating Greatness
• Success Takes Flight
• Reach for the Stars

 This series in geared toward students in 4-7th grade, but they are easily adaptable for younger and older students. My 1st grade followed this program just fine, with help of course, and he loved it! My little 4 year old even did some of the activities and was in on most of the reading. I just want to encourage you in the fact that this program very flexible and great for multilevel teaching.

For the older crowd, there is a middle school supplement, which we loosely followed for my 7th grader.

Final Thoughts & Favorite Things:

Mom- I loved the open and go feel of this curriculum, all of the hard stuff was done for me. I liked being able to print out the student sheets as we needed them.

I loved that TGTL is not a spoon fed curriculum. My kids were encouraged to think for themselves, and not just regurgitate facts. Loved the discussions!

Teaching from this series, as well as learning myself, was just awesome! Just thinking over the past year with school, it was a huge blessing to use this curriculum.

Lil' Chef - "The books were the best part! Pocahontas and the Captain's Dog were my favorites."

(These were her independent readers from the middle school supplement)

Computer Girl - "I really liked learning about Daniel Boone and Lewis & Clark. I liked learning about what they did, where they went and who they met. You know, their life. Oh, and I love Munford!!"

Alpha Boy - "The Pilgrims were my favorite, no Jamestown, no Daniel Boone. Ok, I just liked it all!"

The Trail Guide to Learning Series is available through Geography Matters. There are several packages available for purchase, including just the teaching guides, the core materials, the resources and complete package. I feel like they have several selections available for different budgets.

There are several bloggers out there that use the Trail Guide to Learning series, you can check them out on my TGTL Blog Roll.  Kris over at Weird Unsocialized Homeschoolers and Sam at Sam's Noggin have also reviewed TGTL. Like me, they both love it!

We received this product at no cost to us in exchange for a fair and honest review.

Papa's Pearls: A Gift of Love and Wisdom to His Children and Grandchildren

With age and experience, wisdom usually follows. Wisdom is exactly what Carol Joseph Flynn gained through the ups and downs of his life. Living through the Great Depression, and being a kid going down the wrong path, he turned life lessons into great pearls of wisdom.

Diane Flynn Keith, his oldest daughter, wrote about these pearls of wisdom in her book, Papa's Pearls: A Gift of Love and Wisdom to His Children and Grandchildren. 

 

I knew when I saw this book it would be a little gem. This book is full of humor, love and of course, wisdom. The way that Diane writes of her dad shows the immense love that she has for him, and that he had for their family.

Papa's Pearls takes us through many of the lessons Papa learned in his life. I just love the sayings that he came up with to remember them! Here are some of my favorites:

You don't kick someone when their down, you give me a hand up.

Let it go, like water off a duck's back.

Be grateful every day.

Life is too short. Take a little time off.

Keep a foxy pocket.

Doodle-lee Do It!

Papa took life experiences, like growing up in the depression and living with out necessitates and turned them into little rules for himself. As he grew up and earned money he saved and invested it. He taught his children and grandchildren to do the same. He encouraged them to save half of any money they were given or earned. He even doubled any money they put in their savings account as an added incentive. He taught his kids and grand kids to always "keep a foxy pocket," so they would never be without a little emergency cash.

Diane, thanks so much for sharing your daddy with us. I was glad to hear he got his whistle back!

Papa's Pearls is available for $21.95. It would be a great summer read!

 

Click to read more reviews from the Schoolhouse Review Crew.

Phonics and Reading with McGuffey App

Over the years I have heard great things about the McGuffey readers series. Many moms have successfully used this set to teach their little ones to read. It wasn't until recently that I got to check them out for myself.

LiteracySoft has taken a tried and true McGuffey reader, and turned it into an interactive phonics and reading app.  The Phonics and Reading with McGuffey App is a complete beginner level phonics and reading program.

I loved this quote from LiteracySoft's website....

“The generations which made America rich and great all grew up reading the McGuffey's Readers.”

The goal of the program is to bring the user to a 1st grade reading level. The App consists of 53 Lessons that are based off of the McGuffey Eclectic Primer, which has been successfully used for over a century. 

Each lesson has several different activities to help students learn, as well as retain letter sounds and words. There is plenty of reading and spelling practice in the program, but with enough variety to keep it fun and exciting. The program is flexible, allowing students to work at their own pace, and even repeat lessons when necessary.

According to LiteracySoft's Website, this app includes:

• All 53 McGuffey Primer lessons

• All 44 letter sounds of English and their graphemes

• 60+ letter sound animations

• 400+ practice word vocabulary

• 9000+ nonsense word audio dictionary

Here are a few pictures of this app is action....

By dragging the letters into the Phonics Blender, students practice spelling words.

Illustrations through out the lessons add interest to the stories.

Here you can see the different activities in the lessons....

This activity was probably our favorite! You are asked to build (or load) a word, after you have spelled the word correctly the truck drives off.  Pretty cute!

 

Little Bits, my Pre-K'er, was my guinea pig for this review.  He seemed to do pretty well with it. I think t hat for him, the progession of learning the letters and words was just right.  I do feel that this is something that I need to be near by to keep a watch on what he is getting and not getting.  This way I know what he needs to repeat.  

For the most part, I was pretty impressed.  I do wish that the app keep track of what they have mastered and what they haven't.  We plan to continue to use this as a supplemental activity.  

You can purchase the Phonics and Reading with McGuffey app for $19.99  It is currently available for your PC, Mac, iPad and iPhone.  We use ours on the iPad.  

LiteracySoft also offers a Lite version of this app.  They give you the first 10 lessons to try for FREE!

Check out what other Schoolhouse Review Crew members are saying about this app!