Mother4Jesus

A few years ago, I posted a review of ACE .  Since then we moved from NY to NC and a few people have asked for an updated review. Here it is...I'm still using ACE. We still love it!! It's a great curriculum for us!!  Sarah , also known as Flippin Princess is 10 now. She's in 5th grade. This year we decided to join a Classical Conversations Community. We used a Classical Curriculum with ACE, Claritas in the past, but wanted the community for David, my 7 y/o son.  David, also known as Daveman2011, is now in 2nd grade and doing all ACE and Classical conversations Foundations.  Sarah is doing Foundations and Essentials. ACE and our other classical curriculum, MORE than prepared her for Essentials. She is fitting right in, doing her diagramming and loving it!!  David is enjoying ALL of ACE 2nd grade and Foundations memory work. It's a lot but because ACE is so easy to implement, we've not had a problem  We also school year r...

This time of the year, we're finishing up this years work with the thought of next year in the back of our minds.  For some, like myself, we already know what we're doing. I will be organizing and rearranging our school room to better fit what we really use. Nothing like having tons of books around that we never used. It makes me feel inferior that we never got to all those great literature books. I know that It's ok, but still, having them around bothers me. I'll be putting them away, so that my guilt goes with it. (Just keeping it real) One way that I reorganize is new notebook covers for the kids. My son loves to have covers that reflect his personality. Same for my daughter. These are some standard covers that I use in binders. I've used standard binders but I find that heavy duty binders are the way to go. Yes, you can save a few dollars, but usually those binders have to be replaced. Either the rings tend to open, or the pocket inside rips, or the cover...

For many homeschoolers, February is a dreaded month!  It's been a long school year and by this time, we're tired.  What a great time for some new goal cards!!  This fun print can be used any time of the year. I added in some hearts for fun.  You can always put the date in the hearts and your students name in the label box.  Just Print, laminate, or stick in a dry erase pocket and enjoy.  I use mine with sharpie markers and clean them off weekly with alcohol.  **Please do NOT Share the file with anyone. Send them here, to my blog to download.  I downloaded these graphics from Chantahlia Design. Please visit her site to create your own documents.  Click Here to Download!

There are so many "Chore Cleaning" Systems out there...how does one choose?? While I love everything that has to do with organizing, chore charts and systems have really eluded me. My children clean with me. We homeschool, they're with me all the time. We usually are working side-by-side. So chore charts aren't really needed. I only have 2 of my 4 at home with me, so those elaborate systems aren't necessary. Chore charts where you check off the work doesn't fit for us. Simply telling my 5 y/o , "Go clean your bedroom" doesn't work. Many times they don't know where to start or they're not really capable of listing in their own minds what to do first, next, etc. The Zone cleaning looked good but a bit too complicated. While I love the idea of itemizing what they had to do in each room/zone, the flip chart was annoying and the the days of the week on each card wasn't necessary. Again, we work side-by-side. What was I looking f...

There are so many "Chore Cleaning" Systems out there...how does one choose?? While I love everything that has to do with organizing, chore charts and systems have really eluded me. My children clean with me. We homeschool, they're with me all the time. We usually are working side-by-side. So chore charts aren't really needed. I only have 2 of my 4 at home with me, so those elaborate systems aren't necessary. Chore charts where you check off the work doesn't fit for us. Simply telling my 5 y/o , "Go clean your bedroom" doesn't work. Many times they don't know where to start or they're not really capable of listing in their own minds what to do first, next, etc. The Zone cleaning looked good but a bit too complicated. While I love the idea of itemizing what they had to do in each room/zone, the flip chart was annoying and the the days of the week on each card wasn't necessary. Again, we work side-by-side. What was I looking f...

Here we are again, another school year. Every year I feel more and more blessed to be able to homeschool my children. I don't have an over abundance of patience, I'm not "Super mom", I'm not even close to perfect. Some how the Lord uses all of my imperfections and theirs to make up our imperfect , but lovable home.  I look forward to our mornings together. I look forward to when David pretends not to know something but really does. He loves to see the look of shock on my face when I realize that he knew it. I love when Sarah reads something and says, "Hey ma! Did you know that..."  All of it brings joy to me. Watching them learn something new, watching them play about what they're learning. Watching them becoming more and more independent, asking more questions. It all fits together so perfectly. Even with the spilled milk, markers all over, beads I slip on and toy cars in every crevice , I love it.  This year we're using ACE ,...

I had planned on blogging a list of topics that ACE Covers for Social Studies and Science for 3rd grade. The problem is that I kept going back to my Usborne collection. Every topic we went over , I could find in their Internet Linked encyclopedias. I love those books!!! Over the summer the kids and I started another "Classical" type curriculum called "Claritas Press Academy". For our memory work, we were learning about the Great Pyramids of Giza near the Nile Delta. I cracked open my Usborne World History and with a few clicks of the mouse, we were taking a virtual tour of an ACTUAL pyramid in Egypt. You should of seen the look of excitement on my 5 y/o's face. Do you know how hard it is to get a 5 y.o interested in history?? It's HARD!!! This did it. He was really enjoying learning about the Pyramids. Thank you USBORNE!!! I quickly realized that I didn't need a list of sites, I had my Usborne Internet linked encyclopedias. I made a video for a frien...

it's that time of year again. All us homeschoolers are getting ready and prepped for the new year. Some of  us, like myself, start early. We will be starting on Aug. 1st this year. Sarah is going into the 3rd grade and David into the 1st grade. He's suppose to be going into Kindergarten but having an older sister means that he was exposed to more phonics than he needed. So 1st grade it is!! This year Sarah and David are both using Accelerated Christian Education. ACE. They love it. I love it. So it's a win-win. We are also using a new curriculum called Claritas Press Academy. I'm using it through www.CrossSeven.Org This is like Classical Conversations only more affordable. We started this over the summer and the kids were both having a great time with it. They both really like the Latin. Imagine my 5 y/o doing addition with Latin numbers?? Well, he was. Here is a quick video of what and how we're using it. Enjoy!! Our School 

I know my title may upset many but there are times where homeschooling isn't a good choice. There...I said it. When I had my younger two children, there was no doubt that i'd be homeschooling. I had already homeschooled my older two through high school and I simply love doing it. My reasons for homeschooling my younger two is that I simply love being with them and teaching them. This however, is VERY different than the reasons I homeschooled my older two. With my older two, I was going to give the a better education, more God-centered. I was going instill in them the biblical and moral values I felt were important and more importantly , I was keeping the government from instilling their political and social morals to my children. This is what I would tell people....Now, here are some of the reasons in my heart. *I was going to be a perfect parent. *I was going to keep them from making the same mistakes I made *I was going to have perfect teens who never rebelled. I...

These are starting to get fun!! I love looking up different things to add. Science: The sun, moon and stars Tides and the Moon The moon All about Stars Galileo Hubble Space Telescope There are so many youtube video's, I couldn't possibly list them all. I'll edit this list as I go. Social Studies: Continent Song   **I'm partial to this little gal** North/South/East/West Longitude and Latitude  Longitude & Latitude song Another great resource that I love are the Usborne Internet Linked Encyclopedias. These are great , year after year. You can find most of the topics in one of their books. I am not an Usborne Rep, and I do not receive any compensation for my endorsement. If you have a local rep, I highly recommend starting a library of them. If you don't, here is a great mom that I use. She's helpful and quickly answers your questions. You can also find her on Facebook. Here is her link:  Jennifer Mason There are so many topics that you ...

I know that many homeschoolers are told, "It's not school at home...it's homeschooling". For my children that doesn't work. They LOVE school at home and was made aware of that when my daughter fell in love with A.C.E, Accelerated Christian Education. I can't complain because she loves school, her reading has improved and her math is great. Not to mention it's one of the easiest curriculums to implement at home. When it's right...it's right!! The other day my daughter ( 2nd grade, 7 y/o) said to me, "Mom, You know those offices that Ace gets to use at his school? Can I have one?" I looked at my child and said, "uuummmmmm Yes!!!!"  "Hold on a minute".. My mind was racing with crafty goodness!!! I had a trifold science board down in the basement and my brain was whirling with ideas. *I know where my daughter gets her annoying love of crafting from. *  I cut the board in half. One for her and one for her brother. The...

Some of the topics covered in pace #1026 For Science Plants and seeds. Parts of a plant, crops. Pollination and seeds. Many of these topics you can dig deeper into. Here are some of the cute things I've found. Science: Parts of a Plant: https://youtu.be/ql6OL7_qFgU https://www.rhs.org.uk/education-learning/gardening-children-schools/family-activities/fascinating-Facts https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tkFPyue5X3Q http://www.mbgnet.net/bioplants/grow.html Polination: https://youtu.be/V5yya4elRLw http://www.arkive.org/honey-bee/apis-mellifera/video-00.html http://www.arkive.org/common-dandelion/taraxacum-officinale-agg/video-09.html Social Studies: Natural Resources: https://youtu.be/071lUxclTBw https://youtu.be/zCheAcpFkL8 All about the Hoover Dam There are so many youtube video's on Dam's that if you'd like to watch some with your children, just go to youtube and type in "All about dams"...The video's are ENDLESS!!! There is one...

It seems that there are many topics covered in both Science and Social Studies. Both of these subjects are a favorite of my daughters. I don't want her getting bored and I LOVE the idea of going deeper in certain areas that interest her. I want to keep a running list of links that i'll be using to go deeper. These will be for fun and not all of them will be used. I just LOVE the idea of having them available. I thought others might too. Now i'm pulling out *some* of the topics I think we're going to want to dig deeper in. There are other topics that I may add and there are some YOU may find more interesting. This is NOT a complete listing. Lets get started. Science Pace # 1025 The starts with Creation (Of course). We've done Creation many times. It seems like every curriculum likes to start with Creation. That said, ACE takes it slightly further with talking about scientific principles in Creation. Here are some links to go with some of those topics. I lo...

My daughter loves to write stories. Some stories are more elaborate than others. Some are quite detailed with chapters and everything!! Did I mention that she's 7 years old and up until this year, she hated reading?? Yup...this was the kid who hated reading. What changed?? The curriculum I was using. I decided to try A.C.E Paces and she has just soared. Her reading has gotten better, she enjoys school and LOVES writing stories. My problem you ask?? When she shows me her work, my first instinct is to grade it. To correct the spelling, grammar, sentence structure and punctuation. It's pretty bad, because she's only 7. Seven with a large vocabulary and has much to put on paper without the skills to do it effectively. That said, a little voice in my head said, "For crying out loud ...SHUT UP!!!" That is exactly how my subconscious speaks to me. I don't listen to quiet whispers. My daughter is enjoying writing. She's enjoying reading. As much as it pai...

I don't usually post reviews because , like most people, we all have opinions but I felt compelled to post about A.C.E. **Disclaimer** I did not receive any compensation for my "Review". I did not receive any free products or curriculum for my review. I wanted to start out by saying that I allowed all the poor reviews of A.C.E. to influence my choice. Now most of the reviews were about the Christian content of A.C.E. and not the academic content. Some were from websites that were Atheists, so I took those with a grain of salt. Caveman is very proud of his grade!!  That said, before I tried A.C.E., I used a variety of curriculum. BJU, MUS, LOE..oh wait.. those acronyms might get annoying.. *Bob Jones Un. *Math u See *Logic of English *My Father's World *Son Light *Alpha Omega LifePacs Now all of the above curriculums are EXCELLENT.. They just didn't work for me. I could nit pick each one but honestly...why bother?? They're all good. If you ...

We are really enjoying My Father's World Adventures in US History. I can't say enough about this curriculum. It brings History ALIVE in a way I wish I had been taught. Both my children are enjoying it and i'm only doing it with my 7 y/o but my 4 y/o loves some of it as well. During Weeks 6 & 7 our Memory Verse is: "I am the bread of life. He who comes to me is never hungry and he who follows me will never thirst."  John 6:35 We're also learning about Colonial days and how they lived. Among that, how they made bread. This happens to be an area close to my heart. Many years ago, a friend was milling her wheat and when I asked , "Why", she sent me this link . Enjoy.  We have since been milling our own wheat. So when MFW suggested a visit to a bakery or someone who mills wheat...I couldn't resist.  Here's a small virtual tour of milling wheat. Enjoy.  Virtual Wheat Milling Tour

Extreme Makeover: School Room Edition What a dramatic title eh??  I've been homeschooling since 1998 and i've NEVER had an official school room. I've never really felt the need for one. I feel that learning is something we do all over the house and so i've never allocated a space for it. I have had shelving for our books but never a whole room!!  With my youngest two children, we're using a different type of curriculum, so many days I would find myself with books, teachers manuals and my teacher binder sprawled all over the kitchen table. If the kids wanted a drink or a snack , I would shove all those over to one side and hope that no one spilled anything.  I had decided that when we paint, I would take the toy room and convert it to school room.  With our "Before" video, you can see that in our "After" video that the room is like what I had planned, as the room was forming, it was amazing to see my vision come to life. This i...

Many have asked me why I don't use a "boxed" curriculum set. I agree that it would be easier...not necessarily less expensive but definitely easier. Last year I used Bob Jones for kindergarten. While this is a fast moving , advanced curriculum, I didn't find it to be as thorough as I would of liked. I would prefer to spend more time on a concept and have the child master it, rather than throw a bunch of topics at my child and see what sticks. This year I decided to use Math-u-See, (MUS), Logic of English, (LOE), Biblio Plan for History , (BP), and Apologia for Science. Why separate curriculum's for each subject?? If you'll notice, each curriculum is a specialty for these companies. For instance, I started 1st grade with Sarah this month, June. We school year round and had taken a few weeks off for me to prep for `1st grade. What i'm noticing is that with MUS we spend more time on each concept. A full week. If my child mastered the concept, then we...