Disclosure: I received this complimentary product through the Homeschool Review Crew

As I educate my children, I have found that it is important that I continue to learn and grow. Coming from a public school background, I tend to think of it like needing staff development days and workshops. However, as a homeschool mom I don’t always have built in work days or trainings.

I have found that summer time is a great time to work in a little extra learning for mom. Sometimes this is as simple as reading a book. This summer I had the opportunity to get my training through a review of the High School Solution from the The HomeScholar LLC .

The High School Solution is set up as a combination of videos, handouts, audio recordings, blog posts, and monthly webinars. Aside from the new monthly webinars (which are included for the first month and then for a small monthly fee thereafter) all of the information is available for you to access in any order on your own time schedule. Once you purchase it you have lifetime access.

When I first logged in and started to look around I had two conflicting thoughts. “Wow, there is so much great information.” and ” This is so much, where do I start, how do I get through it all?”

Thankfully, there is a video that explains how to get started and what is available. I went thought as much of it as I could before I shared with you, but even still I did not get through all of it. However, I look forward to continuing to work my way through it over the next few months.

There are courses for different grades (middle school, freshman/sophomore, junior, and senior) that talk about planning, when to take certain tests (PSAT, SAT, etc), college applications and admissions, etc. I love that in addition to academic help, these courses help me to fill my role as guidance counselor for my son as he considers his options for higher education or career training.

There are also resources dedicated to struggling learners and gifted learners. Resources that cover college scholarships, which I know is really important to us as we look at the potential of four students who may choose to go to college.

Next, there are resources for different subject areas to help you plan and choose the resources that will work for you and your child. There are templates to help you with course descriptions, resources that discuss the importance of different subjects, and resources to show you different options.

The course includes an entire supplemental pack of tools and templates. This has planning guides, sample reading lists, transcripts, grading guides and more.

The next part of this program that I plan to explore is the motivation pack. This pack includes three webinars, several posts, and a handout all related to motivation in teens. I am looking forward to getting some great ideas and hopefully a good reminder that I am not alone in this struggle.

There are also packs on Taming the Technology and Finding the Faith. Surprise Bonuses include a scheduling pack, Finding the Balance pack, Beyond Academics, and even a bundle of ebooks! There really is a wealth of materials included in this course.

Overall, I feel like there is a lot of great information for any parent who is currently homeschooling a high school student or who is planning to homeschool a high school student in the next couple of years. Since it comes with lifetime access you do not have to worry about the parts that do not yet apply and can look over what you need as you need it or watch it to plan ahead.

In addition to the High School Solution Crew Members reviewed the Total Transcript Solution, Comprehensive Record Solution, and the College Launch Solution from The HomeScholar LLC . You can click on the graphic below to see what they thought!

Disclosure: I received this complimentary product through the Homeschool Review Crew.

When you hear the name Dyslexia Gold you might think that it is a program only designed to help students with dyslexia. However, the program is great for any student that is struggling with reading.  I had the opportunity to review this product over the summer and I believe that it could be really beneficial to families with struggling readers.

The Dyslexia Gold program consists of six different components. A child’s age and abilities would determine which of those components would be available and most beneficial to them.

We looked over the program with my seven year old who is a very beginning reader. He had access to Engaging Eyes, Reading Unlocked, Spelling Tutor, and Times Table Tutor. They also have a dyslexia screening and Fluency Builder which is a reading program that is above the Reading Unlocked program.

Reading Unlocked

Reading Unlocked started with a pretest to determine where my son was with this reading and then moved him forward from there. There were several different activities included in the lessons. For example, he might need to listen to a word and then click on the picture that rhymed with that word. I appreciated that they also said the names of the pictures aloud so that there was no confusion on what they were depicting in the picture.  This is a UK based program so there was a distinct British pronunciation.

The program kept track of progress and there is an easily accessible report to show how much growth the student has had in his reading. This is tracked with an age (year and month) score.  Since it was summer and we had some camps and vacation we did not use it every day as we would during a regular school year, however, my son still showed 5 months of growth in reading while using the program.

Spelling Tutor

The spelling tutor program works on the 1,000 most commonly used words. For parts of the program the student typed the spelling of the words into the program for it to score. In other parts of the program, the student was instructed to write the words onto paper and then checked the words, marking which words were correct and which were not into the computer for scoring.

This program works on memorization through repetition of words.  There are reports with-in the program that will show you which words your student is struggling with and their progress towards mastering them.

This program is generally recommended for ages seven and up and I felt like it was a bit difficult for my son with his reading delays. I do think that it could be very beneficial for other students whose reading was a bit more advanced.

Times Table Tutor

As a rising second grader my son has not yet covered multiplication. However, I went in and tried out the Times Table Tutor portion of the program and found it really quite well done. Students take a pre-test to determine what they know and then the program picks up from there.

There are movable digital lego style blocks that students move around as they learn how to group objects into sets as a visual representation of multiplication. It also shows them how the blocks, repeated addition, and multiplication all get you the same answer.

I think this is a great way to work on strengthening multiplication facts with a student that was just learning or was having a hard time with memorization.

Engaging Eyes

In my opinion Engaging Eyes is what makes Dyslexia Gold stand out from other computer programs for struggling readers.  Instead of just working on the reading/phonics portion of the issue, it focuses on visual tracking.

Studies show that many students who have dyslexia or otherwise struggle with reading, have difficulty focusing both eyes on the same letter and tracking across the text. This portion of the program is comprised of visual exercises and games that help train the eyes to focus in the way needed for reading fluently.

A set of 3-D glasses is included with the program and they are used to while the student works through the Engaging Eyes program. My son thought that this was a lot of fun. I love that this program is getting down to the root of the problem for many students.

Conclusions

Overall, if you have a student that has signs of dyslexia or is otherwise struggling with reading you should check out Dyslexia Gold. We really liked that it worked towards helping with the visual problems that are the root cause of many reading struggles.  The other components support that and also help students who are struggling for other reasons.  I think that the Times Table Tutor could be used with students who are struggling but also with students who are just learning multiplication to make it more fun and easier to learn.

Be sure to click on the graphic below to see how other Crew Members used Dyslexia Gold.

*The links in this post are affiliate links, shared because I truly believe in the Fit2B program and use it myself. *

Almost all of the reviews that we do on the blog revolve around homeschool curriculum, but sometimes I like to branch out and review products that are focused on moms. Today, I have the privilege of telling you all about Fit2B’s new Proactive Perimenopause course. And, while you’re never supposed to ask a woman her age…it is a real thing that ladies between 35 and 50 have to face.

This course is a series of lessons that include blog posts, instructional videos, and even workouts. They are designed to help you understand perimenopause and to give you strategies and information that will help you go through it with strength and function.

I have been enjoying working my way through this course. There is so much wonderful information and it is done in a way that makes it very easy to skip to the sections that I am most interested in and to start and stop as needed. As a busy mom of four children, that is really important for me.

The course is divided into the following sections:

Workouts

This section includes 10 different workouts to help you get strong or stay strong. The workouts align well with the content of the course and give you options for getting started at an easy pace and working your way up to more challenging workouts.

Rehab

This section features Kelly Dean from the Tummy Team. I have had wonderful experiences with online Rehab from the Tummy Team and highly recommend their programs. In this course she does not go into a lot of rehab specifics but talks about why you might need rehab or prehab (work to strengthen yourself now before the effects of menopause and aging). She has lots of great information and some recommendations for workouts and other resources to help.

Fitness Over 40

I absolutely love this section because Beth takes the time to dispel many myths about fitness and aging. She talks about how fitness can help you, things you can do as you get older to continue to stay strong and functional. My favorite quote from this section is, “You need to eat and exercise to be strong and sturdy and confident in your own skin, because we can’t afford to set any other kind of example for the next generations.”

I want to stay strong and active and set a good example for my children. I want to be able to hike with them and play with my grandchildren one day. I love that this section gives me fitness strategies to make sure that I can do those things.

Skin and Scars

Confession: I have not spent a lot of time taking care of my skin. I know that I should do more, but I just use sunscreen at the beach and do a basic face wash. I am excited to learn more about how I can care for my skin as I age in this segment. I want to be able to feel good in my skin without spending hours with special creams and potions. I love that her tips focus on healthy skin and not just appearance

Fighting Foods

I have not finished this section, but I am excited about it. I have been working hard to lose a bit of extra weight and increase my health over the last few months. I have been talking to my husband about how much more challenging it is now that I am older. When I was in my twenties, I could easily modify my diet for a bit and add in some extra workouts and any extra weight seemed to just melt away.

As I approach forty in a couple months, that is no longer the case. As I looked over this section of the course I was pleased to see good content on fats and carbs that was balanced and did not go to extremes one way or the other (which seems to be the trend lately).

This section focuses on good nutrition for balancing hormones and being healthy after 40. I really appreciate the part on balancing hormones because that has been something I have been trying to work through prior to this course.

Spiritual Self- Care

This section is a blog post full of ideas about how to work in spiritual self-care during busy and challenging times. I really appreciated that it was simple ideas that do not take lots of time or money to implement.

Difficult Diagnosis

While we all hope that we won’t face a difficult diagnosis, it is always good to have resources and strategies to help us face it if we do.  This lesson covers building a support team, advocating for your health care, and self-care during/after a difficult diagnosis.

Knowing What’s Normal

One of the things I have learned from Beth at Fit2B through the years is that just because something is common, does not mean it is normal. In other words, just because many women experience a problem, it does not mean that it is normal and you just have to live with it. Often things that are considered ‘normal’, like bladder leakage, are common but not normal and can be corrected with rehab or exercise.

This section helps us to understand what is normal and what is common but not normal. It also includes strategies and information to help us to overcome those symptoms that are not normal.

Managing Mood and Motivation

This section is one that I am really looking forward to digging into. I know that this is an area where I need some work and I am excited to have some strategies to help. I also really appreciate that they go into some of the physiology behind the changes to help understand why our moods and motivation are affected.

It is really important to me that I work through the challenges with my mood and motivation so that I can be the best mom, wife, friend, etc that I can be to all of those that I care about. I feel like this section will help me work through some of those issues.

Proactive Pelvic Floor

This section is done by a pelvic floor therapist who does a great job explaining the function of the pelvic floor, symptoms that show problems with the pelvic floor, and strategies for strengthening the pelvic floor.

This really goes well with the knowing what is normal section because so many of the symptoms may be considered normal in popular thought. However, those symptoms show problems that can be addressed and corrected which leads to better functioning.

Thank You Gifts

This section is full of great little extra gifts and information for the contributors of the course; including a variety of printable PDFS and even discount codes for a prayer journal and Tummy Team Rehab.

Conclusions

I have been using Fit2B for my fitness for several years and I love how Beth does really fitness for real women. I love that this course tackles hard topics in an easy-to-understand way and a safe environment. So often we assume that the problems we are facing are just ‘a part of growing older’ and that there is nothing we can do to help.

If you are in perimenopause or just getting to an age where you know it is getting closer, I highly recommend this course. There is so much great information that can help you move into this next stage of life with strength and function. Having the knowledge and understanding of the changes in our bodies can make this transition so much easier. Be sure to click on this link to find out more about the course and check out all of the other courses and workouts offered at Fit2B.

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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.

*Some links are affiliate links, see disclosure below*

The ‘dog days’ of summer have arrived. Tomorrow’s forecast has us at a high of 96 degrees with the humidity at 91%. This means it is hot and muggy outside. Some days that means we spend a bit more time inside, but whenever possible I still like the children to spend at least a few hours a day outside.

To stay cool in the heat, we have to be creative. I wanted to share a few of the ideas that we have used to stay cool on these hot summer days and still let the children get outside and burn off their energy.

Water

Before last year, we did not have a pool but we still wanted to use water to keep us cool. When possible we would go spend time at the river. This allowed us to cool off in the water, but also the air temperature around the water is naturally cooler than the temperature a little further inland. So even if I wasn’t in the water, it did not feel as hot outside.

However, many days the river just wasn’t an option. So we got creative at home. We have used water tables, splash pads, and sprinklers to cool off and enjoy a bit of time outside. Of course, no summer in our family is complete without some slip n slide fun!

Our Summer Bucket List! (Free Printable) has additional water fun ideas, as does Our Summer Bucket.

Frozen Treats

We love to eat something cool when it is hot outside. Ice cream is always a big hit, but that can get expensive and has lots of calories. However, we have found popsicles to be a great compromise. Sometimes I buy the natural popsicles from the store, but we often make our own. This allows us to lower the sugar content and make them mostly fruit, yogurt, or juice.

I always loved the little freeze pops growing up, but my son could not eat them because of the food dyes. A couple of years ago we found these reusable tubes to make our own. We enjoyed them, but if you want to make it even easier I have found dye-free freeze pops. This year I found these yummy freezer pops from Juicy Juice that have no dyes in them. They taste great and you can even save on them by adding them to your Amazon subscribe and save.

Fans and Shades

Truthfully, I am generally more sensitive to the heat than my children. My boys would play for hours but I don’t always want to sit out there with them and sweat. My husband has helped me come up with a few solutions that keep me a bit cooler while they are playing.

First, we have an outdoor ceiling fan on our front porch. Honestly, I was a bit skeptical about how much difference it would make but I was wrong. It makes sitting on the porch so much more pleasant during these hot days. I can sit and read while the children play in the front yard. It is like always having a nice cool breeze.

Second, we found these great sunshades and put one up over the playset. The shade lets me sit or play with the children and still have protection from the sun. In addition to making it a bit cooler, it also provides some protection from sunburn. the shades come in different shapes and sizes to fit your area. We have one over the playset and on for our goats in their pen.

Conclusions

All in all, the days are long and a bit hot, but there are plenty of ways to cool down and still enjoy time outside as a family. The more time my young children spend outside, the better their attitudes, the cleaner my house (less time for them to make a mess), and the healthier we all tend to be. I am grateful for the chance to cool off and spend time playing with them outside.

How hot is it where you live? How do you cool off in the summer? You can click the graphic below to see how other Crew Members are staying cool this summer.

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.

Have you signed 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

If your feeling a bit overwhelmed with homeschooling and all the decisions and options, check out this boot camp with Kerry Beck that is live next week!

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

Disclosure: I received this complimentary product through the Homeschool Review Crew.

Our family loves living on our little mini four acre homestead. We grow gardens, raise animals, and have plenty of room to play. While we are not nearly serious enough to raise all of our own food, we do enjoy being able to raise what we can and teach our children about where their food comes from. As a part of this we enjoy finding ways to preserve our harvest. We enjoy canning, freezing, and dehydrating, but we are also learning about fermenting.  We were given the opportunity to review a starter kit from Fermentools to help us with our fermenting.

Last year, we also were able to try out their starter kit to make some delicious kraut. Over the course of the last year, I have played around with the timing of that recipe until I found a combination that was strong enough for my husband’s taste buds but not so strong that my children didn’t like it. I loved that I could make it my own way to work for our family.

With this new kit, I wanted to branch out and try fermenting some additional vegetables. First, since we had an abundance of cucumbers from our own vines this year, I decided to try fermenting my own pickles. I had a hard time imagining that I could truly make dill pickles without vinegar.

In the interest of full disclosure, the first time I tried to ferment this dill pickles, I made a mistake and they ended up soggy and gross. I had to send that batch to the chickens.

 I did a little research and realized my mistake. When I added the salt to the water, I did not mix it well enough and a lot of it settled to the bottom of the pitcher it was in. This meant that there did not end up being enough salt in the pickle jars.

The second time around, I was much more careful to make sure that they had plenty of salt and the pickles turned out much better. I was amazed that they went from cucumbers to pickles in just three to four days.

I love that the starter kit included not only the accessories that I needed to get started but also the right salt for good fermenting. All I had to add were a wide mouth jar, water, and whatever veggies I was going to ferment.  It also included an instruction manual and the Fermentools website has tons of recipes that you can use.

We are currently working on fermenting our own ginger ale and my children are super excited to give it a try. It should be a fun and healthy treat for them.

Overall, we really enjoyed the Fermentools starter kit. Whether you have lots of veggies in the garden that you need to preserve, you want the health benefits of fermented foods, or you just want to try a new hobby, this kit is a great way to get started with fermenting. It is a simple way to start on a small and easily manageable scale. 

I know that the members of the Review Crew tried a variety of recipes with their kits and encourage you to click on the graphic below to see what they tried and how they used their kit.