Phase of Learning

The other day we revisited the phases of learning and discussed what each phase looked like. Then I asked the children where they thought they were in the progression of phases. They were pretty excited to be where they are.

Strawberry is most definitely in Core Phase. She is learning about work, good/bad, right/wrong, true/false, family relationships, etc. What did her day look like? A whole lot of play, work along side mom, and sitting with the family for family learning when she wanted to. She helped me load her breakfast dishes, fold laundry, and then she put her laundry away all by herself. Do her drawers look pretty? Nope. But she was proud of herself for her hard work! 

Pumpkin Pie placed herself in Core phase closer to the Love of Learning Phase. She spent her day doing her family work, playing, and LOVING her reading and writing lessons and a little bit of math. She also joined us for family learning, story time, devotional, etc.

Butterfly placed herself in the middle of Love of Learning. She needs lots of guidance to fill the educational part of her days, but she spends more time reading and learning than seeking play these days. She still LOVES to play and takes any chance she can to play a quick game of animals or baby or dolls with Strawberry and Pumpkin Pie, but she also relishes her time with a book. Like a true Love of Learning phase child, she reads books of all sorts. (I am so grateful for a fabulous library system so I can check out lots of different books!) The other day she asked if she could have quiet time in the school room so she could read the books on the library shelf without going up and down stairs.

Tiger placed himself transitioning to scholar. He participates deeper with family learning than the girls, works longer on his math and notebooks, and spends even more time reading. He also spent at least an hour practicing piano because he loves it. He has many activities he wants to do and get better at and he sometimes has a hard time picking which of many great things to do. He is working hard in swimming and karate as well as scouts. He is working in his mentor meetings on setting more goals and working towards them in preparation for scholar phase.

Dayspring Academy Pilgrim Story

Dayspring Christian Academy is a Christian school in Pennsylvania. Dayspring Christian Academy utilizes the Principle Approach to education to teach children about the biblical Christian values which shaped this nation and to train them to be great citizens and leaders with Christian values. They have several programs including an on-campus K-12 school, support for homeschoolers, and online classes. The Schoolhouse Review Crew had the opportunity to review one of their three online self-paced courses. The course we reviewed is The Pilgrim Story. Purchasing The Pilgrim Story for $99.00 allows the family access to the program for six months. Classes don’t meet at any specific time because they are always ready and available and are self-paced.

The Pilgrim Story is geared for grades 3-6 and focuses on telling the true story of the pilgrims using primary sources where possible. The  course was written by Mary Stauffer, a third grade teacher at the Dayspring Academy. The class consists of five units, each with three to four lessons and a test. Following the five units there is a virtual field trip to Plymouth, Massachusetts. Each lesson is an interactive slide show with various activities, notes to take, quotes to add to a notebook, and reflection questions which are often focused on Christian character. Each lesson begins with a review of the previous lesson in a multiple choice interactive quiz and then continues where the previous lesson left off. The units start with the establishment of the Church of England, Geneva Bible, and the splintering groups who wanted to return to more biblical teachings than those of the Anglican church. It then progresses through emigration to Holland and the trials faced there, eventual emigration to the New World, Mayflower compact, and trials and experiences the first three years.  Before beginning a lesson, the student is instructed to download and print pages with quotes, vocabulary, note taking guides, and other resources needed for the activities. They are full color but we printed them in black and white without any problems.

One of my frustrations with modern accounts of the pilgrims has been the politically correct tendencies to paint the pilgrims as evil. While I will freely admit there were many atrocities committed by various people who settled in the New World, there were also many atrocities committed by the natives. The truth is that people came from Europe seeking a better life with freedom of religion, freedom from classes, and freedom from tyranny. They did not set out on an errand of oppression. I feel it is important to teach my children the truth- that there was providential assistance in the settling of America and the people who came here in the early 1600s suffered much, worked hard, and had incredible faith.  The Pilgrim Story teaches not only the story of the pilgrims, but also the incredible faith and Christian character they exhibited as they settled in the colonies.

I have been using The Pilgrim Story with all of my children. We gather around the computer with the two littler ones on my lap and work through each lesson as a family. Tiger is in 5/6 or whatever grade he is in, Butterfly would be in 3rd this year, Pumpkin Pie would be in 1st, and of course my preschooler Strawberry. Although each lesson is designed to take 30-45 minutes, my children and I found it took much longer. As a result, we are crawling along at a snails pace. Each time we sit down to study, we are at the computer for at least an hour and might not finish the lesson. This is probably due to the fact that we pause often and talk, clarify meanings, discuss the story, or gain consensus from all children before answering a question.  (You will have to imagine me sitting under the girls in the desk chair and Butterfly on the other side of Pumpkin Pie like below.)

Butterfly, almost 9, found it difficult to write the sentences and listen at the same time on the note sheet. Allowing enough time for Butterfly to write the fill-in words resulted in spending twice as much time on the lessons. After about three lessons like this, we decided to skip the note taking guides and do a narration at the end. She still wanted to record all her notes though so she went back through and recorded notes later during individual work time. Tiger greatly disliked the notes and was happy to give them up for a narration.

Overall I think that The Pilgrim Story is a quality course. I appreciated that when complex ideas are being taught, like the difference between union and unity, the explanation is given in a way that it is relative to the child. As as a result, it is very detailed yet understandable enough that even my 1st grader understood what was being taught. For an adult, at times it seemed to repeat points multiple times, but the children thrive on the repetition and really begin to understand not only what happened but why it happened. Because The Pilgrim Story started with King Henry VIII, the children were able to see why the pilgrims were seeking a different life in order to worship according to what they read in the Bible.

At times The Pilgrim Story did seem a little dry. Most of the activities that we encountered were writing assignments or reflection questions. While there were some interactive aspects to the program, like unscrambling the order of events, I would have liked to see a little more hands-on activities off the computer. I did look ahead at the downloadable and printable resources and saw that there is at least one craft in one of the later units which we haven’t gotten to yet.

We are grateful for the opportunity to review The Pilgrim Story and for the chance to dig deep into the topic. I have never done an online course with my children, but I am glad we are doing this one and wholly recommend it. Many other crewmembers also got the chance to use The Pilgrim Story with their children. Be sure to check out what they thought by clicking the banner below.

Disclaimer: I received a free copy of this product through the Schoolhouse Review Crew in exchange for my honest review. I was not required to write a positive review nor was I compensated in any other way. All opinions I have expressed are my own or those of my family. I am disclosing this in accordance with the FTC Regulations.

Almost Wordless Thursday

I meant to post this yesterday but didn’t get around to it. Oops. Sorry this isn’t a great picture, the light was behind my subjects, but this captures ones of the reasons I homeschool. Here is Tiger assisting Strawberry with reading scriptures during family devotional.

Story Time

Each day I read to the children out of a book. In order to help the children stay quiet while reading stories, I will give them coloring pages or paper to draw on.

We are currently studying the pilgrims and early settlers in the US. Before the pilgrims came from England, they left England and went to Holland to escape persecutions. While the story of Hans Brinker or the Silver Skates has nothing to do with the colonies, it does have to do with Holland. So far it is a wonderful book that I can't believe I missed! Thankfully, through the Early Settlers study we are working through I found it. 

This is the picture that Butterfly drew today.

Here are a couple of the coloring pages recently completed from a fabulous coloring book I found at the homeschool consignment store. They are from a coloring book by Sue Coccia.I love the designs. some of these pages kept my children busy for several readings.

Beeyoutiful Herbals- Schoolhouse Review

Beeyoutiful.com is an online store which carries natural products to promote health and wellness. I can’t describe Beeyoutiful any better than they can, so here is their purpose in their own words:

At Beeyoutiful.com, we believe that each individual is responsible for their own health. It is not a doctor's responsibility to keep you in good health. Instead they are a tremendous resource, especially for those times when urgent care is required. But, they are only one of many resources. And the tools they use, while powerful, are not the only tools available. But a tool is worthless unless one knows how to use it…
As much as is in our power, we want to aid others in obtaining and maintaining good health.
Our mission is to do good to all men.

Beeyoutiful carries many products for children and adults from herbal supplements to skin, hair, and body care products. The Schoolhouse Review Crew had the opportunity to review several of their products. The ones I reviewed are primarily herbal in nature although others reviewed skin care products.

In the interest of full disclosure, before I share my opinions and experiences on these products, I need to state the following: I am a Master Herbalist. I earned my Masters of Herbology from The School of Natural Healing. I am not a doctor or nutritionist. I understand and teach about the historical usage of herbs. Please do not take anything I write in this post as medical advise, diagnosis, or an attempt to cure anything. You should consult with your doctor for that type of information.

 
Berry Well is a syrup made from Elderberries, Echinacea, Apple Cider Vinegar, Propolis, and Raw Honey. All of these ingredients are have immune helping properties, are anti-bacterial and anti-viral and are helpful for colds and flus. Berry well does contain a very small amount of alcohol to assist in the proper extraction of the Echinacea. The amount present in one dose is less than the alcohol consumed in 8 ounce of cola. I am very sensitive to the smell and taste of alcohol and was unable to detect it. There is an excellent article detailing some of the properties of the ingredients here.

We used Berry Well when we got a cold over the summer. Since I am pregnant and prefer not to use what I typically use while pregnant, I decided to use some Berry Well. Please remember that use of Berry Well in pregnancy is not evaluated by the FDA. I felt comfortable using it because elderberry is a mild herb, honey, apple cider vinegar, and propolis are also mild herbs, and I know that in small quantities Echinacea is not harmful in pregnancy even though it is usually found on lists of counter indicated herbs in pregnancy. I noticed that it helped my head remain clearer and I was able to get over the bad part of my cold within about a day. Usually colds last longer for me when I am pregnant. I also gave some to Pumpkin Pie. She really liked the flavor and it helped balance her fever so she was able to get better quickly. When Butterfly began to get sick, I gave her some too. It also helped her get better fairly quickly. Berry Well costs $19.75 for an 8 ounce bottle with tiered discounts available for orders of more than 3 bottles.

 Ow!-Ease is a salve to relieve pain and speed healing of bumps, bruises, and contusions, strains, strains and pulled ligaments and muscles. Ow!-Ease should not be used on broken skin. It comes in a 1 ounce tube similar to a lip balm tube to allow easy application. It costs $15.00 with bulk discounts available for 3 or more. Ow!-Ease is made from Extra virgin olive infused with organic chamomile, organic calendula, organic St. John's Wort, organic arnica, cayenne, coconut oil, beeswax, lavender essential oil, rosemary essential oil. Arnica has long been known to be healing to bruises, strains, and sprains. Cayenne has a constituent which is actually analgesic. Chamomile, calendula, St. John’s Wort, lavender and rosemary oils are soothing as well. Both cayenne and arnica help bring relieve the pressure in the blood vessels to alleviate pain and speed healing. There is a brief article on Ow!-Ease and its use here (you will have to scroll down to Ow!-Ease).

We used Ow!-Ease quiet a few times. With 4 children there is always someone bumping something. Just the other day while Butterfly was at a friend’s house for a book club she got a bonk. She was waiting to be picked up and was playing in the backyard with another girl. They were trying to catch a bunny and her friend ran under the trapeze bar with rings and pushed it. Butterfly ran after her but didn’t see the bar as it came swinging back. The bar hit her on the cheek bone. It was immediately red. When we got home (2 miles or so) she had a small bump and it was bruised. She said it was hurting too. We rubbed some Ow!-Ease on it and the pain subsided. The bump flattened and most of the bruise went away. Over the next couple of days she asked for the Ow!-Ease to rub on her bruise whenever it began to hurt. I found it was really helpful in minimizing the pain from bumps and bruises.

Miracle Salve is an all-purpose first aid salve. Miracle can be used for many purposes including the following (taken from website):

• Cuts and abrasions (cover with a bandage if necessary!) • Stubborn splinters (to help them work their way out) • Insect bites and stings • Inflamed and swollen injuries or bruises • Painful hemorrhoids • Diaper rash and tender bottoms • Dry, chapped skin • Minor burns • Yeast-related rashes like eczema and psoriasis • Cold sores • Post-staph infection and skin surgery sites (to reduce scarring apply daily for 2 to 3 months).

Miracle is made from coconut oil, extra virgin olive oil, beeswax, organic plantain leaf, organic comfrey root, organic calendula flowers, propolis, lavender essential oil, rosemary essential oil. It is a smooth and creamy salve that is easy to apply yet sticky enough to stay in place. A 2 ounce container costs $15 and a 4 ounce container costs $25 . Both are available with tiered bulk discounts for orders of three or more. For an excellent article about the properties about each ingredient and more uses for Miracle, please go here.

In the 4.5 weeks we have been using Miracle, we have used half our container. The first thing I tried Miracle on was dry hands. I have chronically dry hands and nothing really helps. Sometimes they hurt because they are dry. I was getting ready for  bed and my hand was bothering me. I rubbed a little Miracle into my hands and the pain was gone as well as the dryness. I loved how smooth and creamy it was without being heavy or greasy. I also packed Miracle for our trip to homeschool camp. I was really glad I did! When we were at camp, a little girl was swinging on a swing and hit her cheek on the trunk of a tree. It was instantly red and was a fairly large abrasion on her cheek. That night, her mom brought her to my cabin and asked for some salve. She put the Miracle Salve on her daughter’s cheek and covered it with a bandage. Her little girl, who was only 4, wouldn’t keep bandages on during the day because they were bugging her. The only time her mom could put the bandages on her was at night. She used the miracle salve that night and there was noticeable improvement the next day. By the end of camp, it was mostly healed. I saw her a couple days ago and her cheek bears no mark from her injuries. Also at camp, I used Miracle multiple times on myself and my children. Thankfully our camp doesn’t have many mosquitoes thanks to the many bats- but there are a few. I got a particularly itchy bite and couldn’t find my plantain salve (plantain is the bug bite remedy). I then remembered miracle and glanced at the ingredients again since I had only had it a couple of days. I saw the plantain and was thrilled. I rubbed some on and instantly the itch was gone. The bug bite was gone shortly thereafter. One evening during camp I burned my wrist on a rice cooker. Ouch! it stung and hurt really badly. I got relief from the pain by using Miracle. the lavender essential oil is excellent at removing the heat from a burn and calendula is also soothing. I kept Miracle on my wrist the rest of camp and a few days after camp. There was a very faint scar where the burn was on my wrist after about a week and a half after it healed. Now, about two weeks later, the scar is almost invisible.

 B.A.L.M. or Beeyoutiful All Natural Lip Moisturizer in peppermint contains grape seed oil, shea butter, beeswax, and peppermint essential oils. One lip balm tube costs $3 each or $2.70 each for orders of 3 or more. It is also available in orange.

When I first got my Beeyoutiful package, the first thing I tried was the lip balm. I am pretty picky about lip balms because so many are full of chemicals that actually dry out your lips and make you use more balm. Not only that, but because it is going on your lips, inevitably you will consume some of the lip balm. I will not use any lip balm that is not 100% natural with a short ingredient list. B.A.L.M. fit the bill. Going on, it was smooth without being slimy, sticky, or too thick. It also had a nice mint tingly sensation. It quickly absorbed without leaving me with dry lips. It definitely passed my lip balm test.

Beeyoutiful Views DVD is a collection of short video clips with Stephanie Tallent covering many of the products that Beeyoutiful carries. She discusses their properties, uses, and tips.
I thought that for someone new to herbal products, this video might be a good thing to watch. Stephanie goes through many of Beeyoutiful’s products and explains why she likes them and how she uses them with her family. She also throws out periodic tips while she is talking. Many of the video clips are on the website, but if you don’t want to do the digging, it is available for $3.00.

Be sure to check out what the other crew members thought about Beeyoutiful products. Some of them got to review some pure mineral makeup from Beeyoutiful’s sister site Beeyoutiful Skin.   Disclaimer: As a member of the TOS Crew, I received this product, at no cost to me, in exchange for my honest review. All opinions are mine. No part of this review is to be construed as medical advise.

AND She is 3!!!

Strawberry is so full of smiles and giggles. It is hard to believe she is already 3.  Just three years ago, she was 8 pounds, squeaked a lot, and was so helpless. Now she is so busy! She loves to sit on the kitchen counter and snitch bits of whatever veggie is being chopped, sing, read stories, and play with her brother and sisters. One of her more recent games is “Lion.” She and Tiger started out crawling around growling and pretending to eat bunnies. Then Strawberry decided she was a “nice lion” and nice lions only eat “cookie bunnies.” Sometimes she is also a nice bear… guess what a nice bear eats- cookie bunnies and cookie lions.

Here are a few more pictures from her birthday. She received a mermaid costume, some felt food, and butterfly wings…

 

Pearl Harbor Box of I.D.E.A.S.- Schoolhouse Review

Box of I.D.E.As. are a collection of modules which can be completed in any order, although ones like Pearl Harbor are better completed in order. Each module contains a page of information, a game, web links for further research, and suggestions for extension activities. Each Box of I.D.E.As. is intended to be used as an enrichment activity to go along with current studies or as a break from the regular routine. At the end of all the modules, students should complete a notebook or portfolio of their projects to showcase their learning. Box of I.D.E.As. has boxes covering topics like salt, quilts, laundry, and the number 11 which are not typically considered academic subjects as well as others like World War Two-Pearl Harbor which is obviously history. Each box is designed to be used with students ages 9-16 and are intended to be easily portable. Pearl Harbor costs $49 for the pdf download and $79 for the physical box.

I received the pdf download of the Pearl Harbor unit which contained all 10 modules to review. Each module includes a paragraph or two about the topic, a couple of extension activity suggestions which are designed to help a student dig deeper into the topic, a couple of website suggestions, notebooking pages,  instructions for games, and game cards to be printed in color on cardstock, cut out, and assembled. Many of the extension activities included researching a topic and writing about it. The unit starts before Pearl Harbor becomes a base and gives a brief overview of the significance of Pearl Harbor. It then  chronicles the history of Pearl Harbor through the days leading up to the attack  through a decade after the attack. The unit also includes a timed multiple choice and essay test following all the modules as well.

Tiger was really excited to receive the Pearl Harbor unit when it arrived. His interest quickly waned as he began the modules. He struggled to understand the big picture as he progressed through them, probably due to the rather small amount of information presented in each module and his lack of previous knowledge about the time period. He also struggled to understand how some of the card games were related to the informational paragraph presented. For example, the second module is about becoming a base. It talks about why the US felt a need to have a Naval presence in the area. The activity had to do with products made from whaling and Maury maps. While the primary reason for becoming a base involved whaling, there was no mention of Maury maps in the reading. The lack of mention of Maury maps as well as his  lack of a point of reference for items like panniers and corsets made the game difficult to play. Maybe if I had known to skip the first couple of modules, he would have maintained his enthusiasm. Even so, he still tells me he wants to work on Pearl Harbor.

I liked the illustrations in each module. They were beautiful, vibrant, and often included historical pictures. I felt that the breadth of information was well conceived and the games were mostly fun to play. Some of the games were easy enough for Tiger to play with his younger sisters while remaining relevant to the topic. Tiger is 10.5 now and found some of the games to be very simple (like matching, a variation of Go Fish, memory, questions and answers, and puzzles). I wonder how a 15 or 16 year old would feel about the games. Also, each game is a card game. It would have been nice to do some different activities besides a card game with each module.

For the cost I was a little disappointed in the depth of some of the materials. Some of the modules had less than three-quarters of a page of information. Some of the modules never touched on the information needed to appreciate the games except if a website suggestion to explore. This aspect made the Pearl Harbor unit a little less than portable as we needed a computer with internet access to be able to utilize it fully. The websites listed did add significantly to the modules, but not all of them were age appropriate for the entire span of recommended ages. For example, in the Before the Base module, there is a scholarly study citing the historical and present status of pearl oysters near the northwestern Hawaiian Islands. Although Tiger tends to be advanced in many subjects, his eyes glazed over just looking at the page and he wanted nothing to do with reading the article. In truth, I, with a college degree, who loves history and am interested in the history of the pearl oysters, had a hard time wanting to read the article.  Other websites, like one in the module on the Day of Infamy, were interactive and a great resource for all ages. Similarly, some of the notebook pages seemed rather simplistic and others seemed much more well thought out. For example the notebook page for Before Becoming a Base involved measuring the sizes of pearls in pictures. Tiger didn’t really see the point in the exercise. The notebook page for Day of Infamy required the student to read the speech given by President Roosevelt and then answer a series of thoughtful questions.

I really really wanted to recommend this product without any reservations. I think Box of IDEAs has an excellent idea and I find the topics available from the company intriguing. However, I think Pearl Harbor needs a little bit more work to make the product worth the price. I did not feel it really was very portable as advertised because, as I mentioned, in order to really get much out of the unit, we needed a computer and internet connection. I also don’t think it really was “filled with interesting topic-focused activity based learning” either. A better description would be “full of ideas for extension activities for learning.” While the games did teach more than was presented in the introductory paragraphs, the majority of activity-based learning came from  research, the computer, and occasionally from some of the extra enrichment ideas presented. For the cost, I had expected a more comprehensive unit study with more engaging activities and information.

I think what was provided in Pearl Harbor is really well done for what it is- a supplement to pull out and do along side a unit study on a given topic. While it wasn’t ideal for my family, it would be great for a family already immersed in the 1890s through 1950s. I think it might also be better suited for children who are a little older than 10 and who enjoy researching and writing about a given topic. I might also suggest that given the need to print all games out in color on cardstock, it might be worth purchasing the physical box rather than the pdf. Color printing can get very expensive.

Be sure to check out what other schoolhouse crew members thought by clicking the banner below. While this product didn’t really work for my family, it may have worked for others differently and every crew members has their opinion.

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