Our Sixth Grade Curriculum Choices

I am excited to share with you today the very best and only correct sixth grade curriculum! Just kidding! I firmly believe that there are many great programs. There are many factors that go into choosing the best curriculum for your child. However, I always like to share what we are using in case it helps someone find a program that works well for their family.

*Some of the links in my posts may be affiliate links see below for more information. *

My daughter is eleven and getting ready to start her sixth-grade year. When we sat down and discussed her goals for the year, she wanted to work on improving her running, her music skills, start her own weaving business, and read through the entire Old Testament. As I sat down to plan her curriculum, I wanted to find ways to incorporate both the academic goals that I had for her as well as her own goals and interests.

Glossary Sample

For language arts, we are using a combination of four programs. This might sound a bit overwhelming but they each cover a different area and generally only require a few minutes each day per program. First, we are continuing to use All About Spelling. It is one of my favorite programs ever because it was such a game changer for our family. This program helped both of my older children to finally understand spelling and translate what they were learning in spelling to their everyday writing. Last spring, my daughter had the opportunity to try out Fix It! Grammar from IEW and we felt like it was a really good fit. The short lessons were effective without being overwhelming and so we are going to continue to use that program for Grammar. For literature we are going to use Analyzing, Understanding, and Exploring Literature from SchoolhouseTeachers.com. Finally, we are going to start working our way through Sharon Watson’s writing program Jump In. My son started this program last spring and we really liked it. She has various plans to cover this material in anywhere from one to three years. I plan on using the two-year track with my daughter.

For the last two years my daughter has used Math For A Living Education. She has really enjoyed the program and it worked well for her. I thought about switching her to something that she could use all through middle school (level six is the highest in this program), but since she liked it and wanted to continue, we decided to go ahead and finish out the program before switching to something new next year. I love that it is a very open and go program that includes lots of real-life application to help them understand why they need the math and when they will use it in real life.

$math-lessons-level-6$

For science, we are finishing up a science program that we started but did not finish last year: Apologia Exploring Creation with Chemistry and Physics. We love the Apologia series but got behind due to the hurricane and switched our science focus to match what was happening in our lives. We are excited to dive back into this program and finish it out. We enjoy all of the hands-on projects and the creation-based approach to science.

We will be studying North Carolina History as a family. We love history and have spent a good deal of time volunteering at our local historic site, so the children are very excited about this year’s history line-up. I will be using a variety of books, our North Carolina Junior Historians program, the North Carolina Historic Sites, and a variety of other resources to take them through North Carolina’s history. We will also use State History from a Christian Perspective to get us started and get a good overview of North Carolina.

For art, she will work on lessons from You Are An Artist Chalk Pastels. She does not see herself as much of an artist, but has found that she can follow along with Nana’s simple and clear instructions to create adorable pictures. I think that the program helps her gain confidence in her art abilities and takes her outside of her ‘box’ and lets her try new things. For music, she takes violin lessons from Practice Monkeys. We love this gentle and convenient approach to music lessons. She is progressing through the levels of the program quickly and enjoys practicing each day. She is also hoping to add piano lessons through the same program in January. I love that she can manage this new passion and is being responsible in practicing and ‘going to’ her online lessons without a lot of reminding. We are also going to incorporate some music appreciation materials during our morning time and evening education.

In addition to these programs, she will be doing Bible study each day and our morning time which will include read alouds, music appreciation, missionary studies, and more. Of course, there will also be lots of free play, field trips, and hands on adventures to keep the real-life learning going. Over the next couple of weeks, I will be sharing more about what we are using for our morning time as well as the programs I am using for my eighth grader. If you have younger children you may want to check out Our Kindergarten Curriculum.

What are your favorite middle grades resources?

Resource Library and Affiliate Disclosure

Resource Library

This post may contain affiliate or referral links, including Amazon affiliate links. As always I will never recommend a product that I don’t believe in and you will never be charged more for purchasing through our links. It does help pay for the costs associated with the blog.

Deals and Freebies

SchoolhouseTeachers.com is doing an amazing sale this month! Buy One year get One Year FREE! We use this for several of our courses and one price covers all the students in your home for as many of their over 400 courses and you would like to use.

Not Consumed is having a great FREE Homeschool Curriculum week this week including live chats, free printables and daily giveaways! make sure to check it out.

Free ABC Mouse Trial: Looking for a little summer education for your children when it is too hot to play outside? ABC Mouse is offering a FREE 30 day trial. This is a great way to give it a try and see if it works for your child.

Free Makeover Your Morning 5 Day Challenge! This is a great way to help re-focus and get your day off on the right foot.

Harry The Happy Mouse (Free on Kindle)

Illustrated Would You Rather Book (Free on Kindle)

Enrichment Studies has a great free fine arts memory match game this month!

Free Help Your Child’s Memory Book from All About Learning Press!

North Carolina History Resources

** This page is a work in progress. I will be updated and organizing these resources as we finalize our plans.**

*Some of the links in my posts may be affiliate links see below for more information. *

General North Carolina History Books

North Carolina Travel Books

This one is one of the ones I am most excited to use as a spine for our studies this year.

Colonial North Carolina

Native Americans

The Wright Brothers

North Carolina Hurricanes

North Carolina History Websites

North Carolina Museum of History

North Carolina Junior Historians

North Carolina Historic Sites

Tryon Palace

North Carolina History Videos on Demand

Resource Library and Affiliate Disclosure

Resource Library

The Kingdom Code Journal #1

You may have seen my review of The Kingdom Code a few weeks ago. We are really loving the program and I am very excited to announce that I will be partnering with them to share more about our Journey Through The Code. I will be posting a Journal entry approximately once a week (skipping vacations/holidays) sharing what we have learned and covered in each lesson.

When we sat down to do lesson one, we first got everything set up and ready to use. The kit came with instructions and we used three ring binders that we already had on hand to get Matthew’s notebooks set up with the proper forms and documents behind each tab. Then we sat down and read through the lesson together.

*Some of the links in my posts may be affiliate links see below for more information. *

Lesson one discussed the full armor of God, financial responsibility, and different types of service jobs. Younger students also had an opportunity to practice counting money. While I skipped this part with my son because he is already very proficient, it is great practice in an important life skill for those that are still learning about money.

Key to the Lesson ” In God’s armor, I will be financially responsible and build treasure.”

We also made a chart of different businesses and categorized them as businesses that sell goods or those which provide a service. This program is primarily designed to help students start and run a service-based business so it is important that they have a good understanding of the difference before they start their business in the next lessons. It is easiest to use this program with a service-based business, but I do think you can adapt it for a goods-based business if your child has a strong preference for a particular business.

In addition to the activities that we chose to complete, they also offered lesson reinforcement through the use of a song, building activity, or money games. I really appreciated that they included a variety of bonus activities to help meet varying interests and learning styles.

Stay tuned next week for lesson two of The Kingdom Code and don’t forget that you can get 10% of this program using Coupon Code: 10TKC08! If you have any questions about our journey let me know in the comments and I will be sure to try and address them in our next installment.

Disclaime 2 x 7 - 3

Resource Library and Affiliate Disclosure

Resource Library

Our Kindergarten Curriculum

One of the most popular homeschooling questions I receive is, “What is the best curriculum for….?” I will be the first to tell you that there is no one right answer to that question. There are many factors that go into choosing the best curriculum for your child. However, I always like to share what we are using in case it helps someone find a program that works well for their family.

My son turned five in April and is beginning his kindergarten year this fall. Earlier this summer, when I was working on goals with my older two children, he wanted to set his own goals. I suggested learning to read or to write his name. He, however, had other ideas. He let me know that he wanted to learn to cook pancakes and fish, climb trees, and more about Jesus. While I don’t think this is all we will learn in kindergarten, I did think they were worthy goals and a great insight into the mind of a five-year-old boy. I’ll leave the tree climbing lessons to his siblings but I do plan to teach him to cook pancakes and fish (though not together) and I am always happy to teach my children more about Jesus.

*Some of the links in my posts may be affiliate links see below for more information. *

All About Reading's new color edition review

In addition to his goals, I have planned out some fun curriculum for us to use to cover additional academic subjects. We do believe in a relaxed approach to kindergarten and what I have planned should take us about an hour a day not counting field trips, nature walks, and his fifteen-minute violin lesson. Since he is not yet showing any interest and has been resistant to learning letters and reading, we will be waiting to start formal phonics until at least January. I will re-evaluate his readiness in January and possibly start All About Reading or work some more in The Learning Dynamics Reading Program. I am also going to have him continue to use his Starfall subscription a couple times a week to continue his exposure to letters and phonics.

I will be using Five in A Row as our primary curriculum with him this year. This program is a great way to encourage an enjoyment of good children’s books and incorporate other areas of learning. Using this program, we will read the book of the week five times (once each school day) and complete various activities coordinating with the book. Five in a Row includes activities for social studies, math, language arts, art, and science. Each week I will choose from the variety of activities to engage and challenge him.

While Five in a Row includes some math, it is not a sequential math program. I believe that math in the early years should mostly be hands on and as real life as possible, but I like to have slightly more structured program. Therefore, I am using a Calendar Math set and the Building a Foundation with Kindergarten Math course from Schoolhouse Teachers to create a math program for him. He loves doing math and is looking forward to getting started. He has really enjoyed using the Pattern Block Pack from The Crafty Classroom so I will also use those a couple times a week for independent work.

For science, we will be doing a mostly nature focused science study in addition to some of the science activities in Five in a Row. I am going to use a primary journal so that he can draw pictures of what we find in nature and then dictate a sentence about it for me to write at the bottom. We will use our Peterson’s field guides and other resources to learn more about the things he finds. I am also planning to get him caterpillars in the spring so that he can learn about the life cycle of the butterfly.

20180203_113021

We will be studying North Carolina History as a family. At the kindergarten level this will mostly be listening to me read aloud, having family discussions, lots of field trips, and some fun coloring pages. We also already to historical interpreting as a family, so he has lots of exposure to history and has developed a love for the revolutionary era. I believe that this will be a great introduction to the study of history for him.

20190506_154135

For art, he will continue to work on lessons from You Are An Artist Chalk Pastels. He has been doing the preschool lessons, but as he gets more comfortable I will have him do some of the regular lessons that are a little more challenging. He enjoys these lessons with ‘Nana’ so much and just last week as we were coloring a picture he told me that my picture was “almost as good as Nana’s.” For music, he takes violin lessons from Practice Monkeys. We love this gentle and convenient approach to music lessons and looks forward to them each day.

In addition to these programs, he will be joining us for Bible study each day and our morning time which will include read alouds, music appreciation, missionary studies, and more. Of course, there will also be lots of free play, field trips, and hands on adventures to keep the real life learning going. Over the next couple of weeks, I will be sharing more about what we are using for our morning time as well as the programs I am using for my older children.

What are your favorite kindergarten resources?

Resource Library and Affiliate Disclosure

Resource Library

Deals and Freebies

Free Makeover Your Morning 5 Day Challenge! This is a great way to help re-focus and get your day off on the right foot.

Harry The Happy Mouse (Free on Kindle)

Illustrated Would You Rather Book (Free on Kindle)

Enrichment Studies has a great free fine arts memory match game this month!

Free Help Your Child’s Memory Book from All About Learning Press!

Learning Dynamics Reading Program (Review)

I recently had the opportunity to review the Learning Dynamics Reading Program by Learning Dynamics with my five-year-old son. His birthday was in the spring so he just turned five and will be considered a kindergartner in our homeschool for the 2019-2020 school year. He had no prior reading instruction and was very excited to try and learn to read.

*Some of the links in my posts may be affiliate links see below for more information. *

The program arrived in mail all nicely packaged in a cute storage box that makes it easy to keep together. The package is a really nice perk because it is easy for parts and pieces to go missing in our house. The kit included a lesson manual, a CD with songs to go with the lessons, a student workbook, flashcards, and character letter reward punch-outs for each letter. It also had over 50 full-color books for beginning readers.

20190709_135002

The program is designed with short lessons to match the typically short attention spans of young readers. The program is designed for students ages 4-7 that are learning to read. It can also be used to teach older students who are struggling to learn but may feel a bit ‘childish’ even though it could be effective.

20190515_170224 — Even baby brother wanted to help with the unboxing!

When the program arrived, my son was very excited to try it so we got started right away. It was very ‘open and go’ and only took me a couple of minutes to know what to do and get him started. The lessons are short and only took about 10 minutes to complete. This works well with the typically short attention span of young students.

IMG_20190516_121211_396 — Student Workbook Page, Character card, and Teachers Manual

First, you introduce the letter that the student is learning in that lesson and the sound, then you read a short story about the character that goes along with that letter. Next, the student listens to the song for the letter and then completes a short worksheet about the letter in which they circle the pictures that start with the letter and put an “X “over the ones that do not. The student can also trace and practice writing the letter on that page. Then the student listens to the song once more while pointing to the pictures that match the items in the song. Finally, you review the letter name and sound.

Once the student has mastered the first five letters, the program introduces blending so that students can begin to make words. After lesson nine, the student is introduced to the first book. My son’s favorite part was the character that went with each letter. For example, H was for Henrietta Horse who wore a happy hat. He would have me show him the punch-out of Henrietta and read her story several times.

If a child is ready to learn to read, this program could move them very quickly through learning letters, blending sounds, and into reading. There is no busy work or monotonous repetition and so it is easy for them to stay engaged in each lesson. However, if your child is not yet developmentally ready to read this program may move too fast for them and not be enough practice to allow for mastery. In the case of my son, he enjoyed the program but could not remember the various letters and sounds from lesson to lesson which made it hard for him to progress forward. I plan to put the program away for a few months, then reevaluate his readiness in January and possibly try the program again. The age at which a child is ready to read varies greatly from child to child and could significantly affect how well your child would progress using this program.

If you have a child that is ready to learn to read or struggling with their reading and you want a short and simple approach to teaching them, Learning Dynamics Reading Program might just be the program for you. It is low teacher prep, easy to understand, and engaging for students. In addition, I am pleased to offer my readers 10% off of your purchase of this program when you click on this link and use the code: SCHOOLINSWAG . I encourage you to click on the Crew Reviews graphic below to check out the experiences that other crew members had with this program.

Resource Library and Affiliate Disclosure

Resource Library

Pollinator Week Resources

Happy Pollinator Week! This may seem like an odd ‘holiday’ to celebrate, and it certainly is not as well known as many other holidays, but I think it is a great time to teach about all of our beneficial pollinators.

Each year in June, a week is designated as National Pollinator Week in order to celebrate and educate people about our pollinators. Pollinators are vital to our food supply and environment, but unfortunately, many of them are declining in population.

*Some of the links in my posts may be affiliate links see below for more information. *

Our Adventure Into Beekeeping

Several years ago, we became much more aware of pollinators and all they do for us as we became hobby beekeepers. This experience has taught us so much about bees and pollinators in general. Last year we even lost an entire hive of bees to a municipal spraying program designed to reduce the mosquito population but accidentally reached our bees.

I think that the best way to help pollinators is by teaching children about them and their importance. There are many small ways that we can help in our own homes to protect them and allow their populations to grow and thrive.

For many people, the term pollinator brings bees to mind. Bees are an important pollinator, but they are not the only pollinators; birds, bats, butterflies, and even beetles are all important pollinators.

As we celebrate this week, I encourage you to start by educating your children about the various pollinators and then finding at least one small way in which you can support pollinators in your area.

I will also include a list of some fun crafts and recipes to turn your learning into a fun celebration. If you have time, I encourage you to look for local field trip opportunities to really get hands-on in your learning.

Pollinator Resources

There are many resources for learning about pollinators. The American Beekeeping Foundation has some great information and resources. Pollinator Works is a great website to learn about various pollinators. In addition to websites, there are an abundance of books that talk about pollination and pollinators, such as Bees, Bugs and Butterflies, What Lily Gets From a Bee, and From Seed to Sunflower. I have also included a more extensive list of websites, videos, and books at the end of this post.

Helping Pollinators

Once you have learned a little about pollinators, it is time to take action to help the pollinators. There are many things you can do right in your own yard to help various pollinators. You can plant beneficial plants, set up habitats conducive for birds, or clean up trash that is dangerous for the birds.

You can check your garden and lawn chemicals to make sure that they are safe for pollinators. Watch for plants treated with Neonicotinoids. If you need more ideas, Kidsgardening.org has a great list of Ten Tips to Help Pollinators.

Pollinator Fun

Now it is time for a little fun! Try to make a pipe cleaner bee, draw a chalk pastel bird, or even hatch your own butterflies. You can make cookies shaped like pollinators, taste some raw honey or bake a honey dessert (baklava anyone?).

You could even listen to Flight of The Bumble Bee while you enjoy your pollinator snacks. See the list below for more recipes and craft ideas.

20161102_081000 — Pollinator Doughnut Activity

Pollinator Field Trips

Finally, if you have a little more time, try to fit in a pollinator field trip. You could find a local butterfly garden, a beekeeper that is willing to show off his hives, a science museum with displays, or even a zoo that has bats, birds, or bees. This week there are many places doing special pollinator activities, but if you cannot make it this week, there are still lots of opportunities to learn more about these wonderful animals from various experts.

I hope that these resources are helpful as you learn more about pollinators and what we can do to help their populations grow and thrive. If you do something to help out our pollinators or learn more about them, I would love for you to share in the comments. I have also started this Pinterest Board for pollinator resources.

Books and Websites on Pollinators

Wild For Pollinators

Junior Master Gardner

Magic School Bus in a Bee Hive (video)

Magic School Bus inside a Bee Hive (book)

Magic School Bus (episode on bats and one on butterflies)

Bee and Pollinator Activities

Bat Pollination Information

Crafts and Recipes

Honey Recipes

Bee Themed snack (fruit and kix)

Bee Themed Cookies

Butterfly Cookie Cutter

Flower/Butterfly Mini Set

Mixed Set of Bee, Butterfly, Dragonfly

Healthy Butterfly Themed Snack Ideas

Pollinating Doughnuts

Resource Library and Affiliate Disclosure

Resource Library

Deals and Freebies

Schoolhouse Teachers is also offering a great sale!

Free Makeover Your Morning 5 Day Challenge! This is a great way to help re-focus and get your day off on the right foot.

Harry The Happy Mouse (Free on Kindle)

Illustrated Would You Rather Book (Free on Kindle)

Free Help Your Child’s Memory Book from All About Learning Press!

Kingdom Code Review and GIVEAWAY!!

When I was asked about my interest in reviewing the The Complete Starter Kit by The Kingdom Code, I knew that it needed to be my son’s decision. He was very interested in starting and growing his own business but he is on the upper end of the age range that the program was designed for. However, after looking over the samples he was enthusiastically onboard with reviewing this program. According to their website,” The Kingdom Code is a Biblically-based, fun, hands-on program which helps parents and teachers educate kids and young teens about money management and how to become entrepreneurs.” Each student that goes through the program will create and run their very own service based business.

kingdom code 2

The day it came in the mail he was ready to unbox it and get started. He already had a business idea and couldn’t wait to figure out how to turn his idea into a reality. The kit contained the student textbook, student packet, and teacher’s guide. All I needed to add to have everything ready to go was a couple of three ring binders, tabs, and a few pencil pouches. I was really impressed with all of the resources in the student packet. In addition to worksheets for each lesson, it included a wide variety of forms to help get the business going and keep it organized. There were survey forms, ledger forms, calendars, and even a receipt book. There was also a nice map and stickers to track the student’s progress through the program.

The Kingdom Code is a really cool program. I enjoy using it to start a business. It teaches me about how to sort the money you receive to pay expenses and keep some for you and such. It taught me how to keep a ledger and make sales calls. If you are looking for a good business program I would recommend this program. – Matthew

I sat down with my son that first night and spent about thirty minutes getting everything set up in the binders, looking through the program and getting ready to begin. We then met once or twice a week to go over material from the next lesson and he would work through the other parts independently. If you had a younger child, they might need more hands on guidance at first. The lessons vary in the amount of time/sessions needed to complete them but most include two to four 45 minute sessions per lesson. My son was sometimes able to move a little quicker because of his age and some previous experience with business.

Cutting Grass

Weedeating

Choosing a business to start was easy for us because my son had been cutting grass for a family member and really wanted to turn that skill into a business. He even has long term goals of running his own landscaping business one day.

Each lesson contains a variety of components that introduce Biblical money management concepts, business terminology, practical applications, and actions steps towards owning and operating a business. I noticed two things right away, the inclusion of Bible verses and Biblical principles, and that they went ahead and got started on the business very early on in the curriculum. By lesson two, they were choosing the service based business that they wanted to start. The Biblical foundation was important to us as a family because those are the principals that we try to live by as well as how we strive to operate our own family business. Beginning the business early in the program was a huge win because it allows children to practice what they are learning immediately as well as keeps them from getting bogged down in the terminology and business lessons while waiting to get to the ‘fun stuff’.

Some programs just give a basic overview of a child’s business and then leave them to do the best they can. I really appreciate that this program takes them through step by step including details like keeping money records, writing thank you notes, sales etiquette, making goals, etc. It also teaches them economic principals like capitalism, supply/demand, being financially responsible and managing money.

We are finishing up lesson eight this week and my son already has one consistent customer and several folks that are going to use him on an as needed basis for vacations and such. He has learned to budget his money and has his ledgers and books all set up and is ready to keep growing his business.

We have been very pleased with this program and I look forward to sharing more of our progress and my son’s business as we continue on with this program. Make sure to check out some other reviews at the link below. Today, I have two special opportunities for you from Kingdom Code. First, you can enter to win a prize pack from The Kingdom Code by simply leaving a comment on this post telling me what kind of business your young entrepreneur would like to start or what business you had when you were a child. I will use a random drawing to choose a winner on Monday, June 24th. This pack includes The Kingdom Code Coloring Book and The JR KCK Budget Kit. (This giveaway is open to those living in the United States and APO/FPO addresses only). In addition to the giveaway they are offering my readers 10% off of any products ordered online from The Kingdom Code. Use Code: 10TKC08 to receive your 10% discount.

Resource Library and Affiliate Disclosure

Resource Library

Flag Day Resources

Flag Day is an often-overlooked holiday, but there are many great resources to help us celebrate and the history tie-ins are abundant! While it will probably never share the ‘fame’ of Independence Day on July 4th; Flag Day is a great day to learn more about our flag and our nation’s history. I know that summer is here for many of us and we may not want to have to make one more lesson plan, so I gathered some fun resources that you can easily use to celebrate Flag Day in your home with very little preparation. Some are more ‘school like’ but there are also some fun ideas, like a flag cake and art work that can feel more like a party than a history class. It’s flag day because, on June 14, 1777 the second continental congress decreed: “Resolved, That the flag of the thirteen United States be thirteen stripes, alternate red and white; that the union be thirteen stars, white in a blue field, representing a new constellation.”

*Some of the links in my posts may be affiliate links see below for more information. * My children love to make a flag cake. We typically make one for Memorial Day (which often is the same weekend as my son’s birthday) and Independence Day but it would be a perfect treat for Flag Day. Simply make any rectangular cake that you would like (we use two yellow cake layers with strawberries in the middle) and then top with sweetened whipping cream. Once you have a nice white rectangle, they can use blueberries for stars and cut up strawberries to make the stripes. For something a bit more savory we have also made this yummy American Flag Dip.

There are a variety of great art projects and crafts ideas for Flag Day. We really liked this free chalk pastel flag tutorial or this video lesson. If you like those lessons, you should check out Nana’s US History Course. In addition to chalk pastels, there is a great list of crafts here including one for small children using paint and star shaped cookie cutters that I think will be fun with my five-year-old. Older children might enjoy these patriotic jar lanterns or these washi tape flags. If the history of the United States and her flags is interesting to you and your students, I have also added our fun ‘US History Through Flags’ packet to the free resource library. This will give you a fun and easy way to incorporate these topics in a few minutes a day throughout the year. You can also follow the US History Through Flags page on Facebook to get daily bits of history right to your news feed. I have included a variety of resources below to help you tailor your Flag Day celebration to your children. I would love to know what creative ideas and resources you use to celebrate Flag Day in your home.

Flag Day Resources

History of Flag Day US History Through Flags Smithsonian Star Spangled Banner Flag Day Poster Flag Day Worksheets 21 Ways to Celebrate Flag Day Flag Etiquette Flag Coloring Pages Patriotic Poems Why Are There Stripes on the American Flag? (Free on Kindle Unlimited) F is for Flag Story of the Star Spangled Banner Flag Day Resource List (Still Learning Something New)

Resource Library and Affiliate Disclosure

When you sign up for the Schoolin’ Swag free resource library you will get a link and password to the library, we are adding to the library each month with new items. You will also get a bi-weekly newsletter email to keep you up to date on what we have going on. Resource Library This post may contain affiliate or referral links, including Amazon affiliate links. As always I will never recommend a product that I don’t believe in and you will never be charged more for purchasing through our links. It does help pay for the costs associated with the blog.

Deals and Freebies

gned up for #LifeSkillsNOW? This is such a fun and beneficial program!

Life skills help kids be confident, capable, and ready for anything.
Your kids and teens will build critical thinking and know deep down that they can do hard things.
Productive screen time instead of passive scrolling
The #LifeSkillsNow Screentime Promise: We promise to give your kids the shortest amount of (productive) screentime possible, and then OFF into the real world.
Expose your kids to topics you’ve never thought about (and might not know yourself).
Bridges the gap in traditional education with practical life skills, critical thinking, tech savvy habits, and understanding money

Journey Homeschool Science has some great online summer camps starting this month! They are a fun way to keep the learning going for the whole family.

What If You Could Give Them an Education That Truly Aligns with Your Values?Education shapes the worldview of your child. Did you know early learning forms lifelong ethical foundations? Use coupon code MAMABUG25 by June 20th, 2025, for a $44 Family Quarterly Membership (regular price: $89/Quarter). Find Christ-centered homeschool curriculum at SchoolhouseTeachers.com and set their hearts on the right path.

Lightning Lit & Comp: Hewitt Homeschooling Resources (Review)

My thirteen-year-old son loves to read. He goes to bed every night reading, takes books in the car to read, and often spends his free time reading. However, he has never enjoyed literature courses, until we had this opportunity to review Gr 8 Lightning Lit Set by Hewitt Homeschooling Resources. This included the teacher’s manual, student guide, and workbook.

One of the first things that I noticed was that instead of stopping every couple of chapters to analyze and review the book, Lightning Lit had him read the entire book before he began completing worksheets related to the book. For a student like my son, who reads really well and enjoys long stretches of reading this was a huge benefit. There were comprehension questions for each chapter but the teacher’s manual explained that they could be asked at the end of the week for all of the chapters that had been read that week. If that proved to be too long of a stretch for your child you could ask them more frequently, or if they were doing well you could wait and ask them at the end of the book.

The first part of this eighth grade series featured a short story. We spent the first two weeks of the program doing the introduction and the short story. The short story was a little ‘cerebral’ and he needed a little help understanding it but thought it was quite funny once we had discussed it. Once he had read the short story there were a variety of worksheets and writing prompts that could be completed to accompany the story. Those included activities to work on fact and opinion, capitalization and apostrophes, and author’s purpose. There was also a crossword puzzle in there to keep things interesting.

Then in week three we got into the first novel of the program, Treasure Island. This adventure-filled book was an excellent choice for my son and he enjoyed reading it. He is now working on a variety of activities to go along with Treasure Island.

Once we finish Treasure Island, we will be taking a summer break before having him pick back up and finish it in the fall. The program rotates between short stories or poems and novels. This means that after Treasure Island he will work through a short grouping of poems before moving onto the next novel. We are really looking forward to A Christmas Carol at the end of the first semester as well as The Hobbit during the second semester.

20190502_142346

The teacher’s manual gives a schedule broken down into two eighteen week semesters but you could easily adapt this to various schedules to suit your needs. It also includes mini-lessons to help you work on various skills and the answer keys to the discussion questions and workbook pages.

20190612_125614

If you complete this course in its entirety, it would work well to cover literature and composition. There is also grammar review included though if your student is weak in that area you may want to supplement with a grammar curriculum. We worked through the first two chapters using it in its entirety and found it to be a solid but interesting program. Since we also have a writing program that we enjoy, we will probably finish it with a focus on the literature part and skip over some of the composition components. I really appreciated that this curriculum is easy for me to adapt in that manner.

If you are looking for a literature and composition course for your middle school student, I encourage you to check out the Gr 8 Lightning Lit Set and other resources by Hewitt Homeschooling Resources. They also have programs for elementary and high school so make sure you check out the reviews from the other Review Crew members at the link below.

Resource Library and Affiliate Disclosure

Resource Library

Our Summer Plans: 2019 Edition

There is a lot of discussion about summers in the homeschool world. Should I take a long break? School year-round? Keep doing math? Spend all day outside? The choices seem endless and sometimes a little overwhelming.

However, I love that each family can decide what works best, and that can change from summer to summer.

Last week I shared a little about how we were going to focus on resetting our rhythms and routines over the summer to help us get back on track with chores, fitness, and Bible reading.

These are things that I want to become ingrained habits that are a natural part of our day. In addition to working on those rhythms and routines, I had to decide how I wanted to spend our summer days.

*Some of the links in my posts may be affiliate links see below for more information. *

After such a busy year, I really wanted to be sure we had some downtime to relax and rest. I have left lots of ‘white space’ in our calendar to play outside, watch a few movies, make lemonade, and just enjoy our time together. We will have the opportunity to spend some time enjoying time with our family down at the river: swimming, boating, and playing in the sand.

However, I know that my children do best with a little bit of structure. I have decided that we will be enjoying some focused time on a few ‘electives’ this summer, as well as some family reading. In addition, we will be continuing to work on a few new reviews for various products, so keep an eye out for those.

IMG_20190410_164413_770 — Big sister helping little brother with his violin (messy bed and all).

Music Lessons

My three oldest children have been learning instruments this year and I plan to have them commit some of their time this summer to furthering their musical goals. My daughter just moved up a level in her Practice Monkeys violin class and feels that she has a lot to learn to be successful in this level. Some extra practice time this summer should help her feel more confident and continue moving her forward.

My five-year-old son is also working in the first level of violin and will hopefully be able to move to level two before the summer is over. My oldest son wants to play the guitar and has begun to learn but has not felt that he has the time to devote a lot to practicing. I am hopeful that this extra time will allow him to gain confidence.

This also fits well into my rhythm and routine theme for summer because I believe that if he is practicing daily and making progress, it will be easier for him to fit that in when we start our regular school schedule in the fall.

You Are An Artist Art Camp!

We are excited to be spending some time at ‘art camp’ this summer. It is the perfect camp because we don’t have to leave home! It is included in the price of our regular art program, it has lots of option for various interests and ages, and I can fit in around our schedule.

My plan is to get up in the mornings and work on our routines (chores, Bible time, and fitness), have breakfast, and then complete an art lesson.

Next, we will have a snack, and then the kids can spend some free time outside playing before we tackle our other projects and review work. Nana with You Are an Artist has so many wonderful art lessons for them to choose from each day can be new and exciting.

Summer Reading

I do not want to lose the momentum that we have with reading and books. I am grateful that my children naturally spend time reading, and I do not have to assign free reading, but I want us to spend some time reading books together this summer. Some of these books I will read aloud, and some of them I plan to purchase using my audible subscription. First, I want to read The Secret Garden. I found this great free family book club guide from The Read Aloud Revival to go along with the Secret Garden, and I’m excited to get started.

Next, we have been talking about reading Wonder and just have not gotten around to it. I plan to read it together and then have a family movie night to watch the movie. Finally, a couple weeks ago, I shared about how much we love the Mr. Lemoncello books.

When I went online to share the link with everyone, I found out that a new book had just been released: Mr. Lemoncello’s All-Star Breakout Game. This should be a great light summer read that will make us laugh. I also have a few other books that we may find the opportunity to read, and, of course, I’ll be reading lots of picture books with my younger children.

Independent Learning

Finally, I plan to have each of my three older children pick a topic or skill of interest to work on independently this summer. I really want to cultivate the skill and love of lifelong learning in them. I want them to experience the joy and satisfaction that comes from deciding they want to learn about something and figuring it out.

I believe that my daughter is going to learn more about photography with her new camera. We have some resources that she can use in our SchoolhouseTeachers.com membership as well as some free online resources. My 13-year-old son is wanting to take beekeeping classes to further his skill in that area. I’m not sure about the five-year-old yet, but I’m sure we will come up with something fun for him to work on.

All in all, we are excited about summer. I am hoping that this flexible plan of fun with a little structured enrichment will keep things on a smooth track. We can further some skills, get some rest, and make some memories. I would love to hear more about your summer plans.

Resource Library and Affiliate Disclosure

When you sign up for the Schoolin’ Swag free resource library, you will get a link and password to the library, we are adding to the library each month with new items. You will also get a bi-weekly newsletter email to keep you up to date on what we have going on.

Resource Library

This post may contain affiliate or referral links, including Amazon affiliate links. As always, I will never recommend a product that I don’t believe in, and you will never be charged more for purchasing through our links. It does help pay for the costs associated with the blog.