ACT Mom Test Prep (Review)

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

Somehow we went from our first year of homeschooling him in first grade to having a high school sophomore in the blink of an eye. Suddenly, I have to think about college, scholarships, transcripts, and college testing. I am not sure how time went so quickly, but I am grateful there are people and products out there designed to help me through this process. This month we have been reviewing the ACT Mom Online Class, a product from ACT Mom designed to help him prepare to take the ACT.

ACT MOM Overview

This online course is broken down into the four categories of the ACT:

-Science

-Math

-English

-Reading

Inside of each category are multiple lessons breaking it down into different topics. My son decided to do science first. There was an introduction to the course at the beginning (it is available in each category but only needs to be watched once.)

ACT Science Prep

Then there were seven sections. The sections were fairly short and he mostly completed a section each time he did a session. The first one was about how the science test worked and test taking strategies. There was a section about outside information questions, which are the science based questions that are testing your prior science knowledge.

Some examples of the test taking tips were reading the questions first to help you find the right information in the reading and stay hydrated, drink water and have protein bar in between the 2^nd and 3^rd sections

There were quizzes that checked for understanding of this material. Those were completed and graded online.

The rest of the science sections were broken down by the five sections that will be on the test. Each section had a science based reading selection and a set of questions. There was a 10 Minute video with each one that went over what section was about and then a timer for you to complete the section.

The course came with a three ring binder that had laminated sample answer sheets, graph paper, and other materials. When you came to these sections of the science lessons, you fill out the answers on the laminated answer sheets with a dry erase marker. This gives students a chance to get familiar with the layout of the answer sheets.

Students would answer questions for that section while the timer ran. They had 6-8 questions per section, and then there was a 2^nd 4-5 minute video that explained the answers and where the answers were found.

Test Prep Overview

The other categories were set up similarly, with each one being broken up into different sections. For the math there were explanations of various math concepts with the digital quizzes and then at the end there is a practice ACT section. For that one she did videos that explain the correct answers and broke it into 10 questions per video so that you only had to go back and look at ones that you had trouble understanding.

Final Thoughts

Overall, while my son wouldn’t tell you that he enjoyed ACT Mom Online Class, he did feel like it helped him have a better understanding of what to expect when he takes the ACT. He felt like it was going to help him be more prepared and consequently score better. We plan for him to finish the program over the course of this semester prior to taking the ACT next year.

We do recommend this program for any high school student who is preparing for the ACT. I think it would be somewhat helpful for the SAT as well but it really targets the ACT set up and style.

Many of the Review Crew families took a look at ACT Mom Online Class and started with different sections. So be sure to click on the graphic below to see what they thought.

A Day in the Life… of my Homeschool High School Student

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We are starting our 10^th year of homeschooling this fall. In some ways it seems like just yesterday that I was sitting down with my first grader and trying this ‘homeschool thing’ for a year or two. Many things have changed over the years; we have added two more children to the family, changes our style and curriculum, and the children have gotten older (obviously) and more independent.

When people talk about their concerns about homeschooling, high school is a topic that comes up frequently. Even those families that have a strong desire to homeschool all the way through, often worry about how to homeschool high school.

Having only successfully completed one year of homeschooling high school (with 15 more to go altogether), I do not claim to have all of the answers. However, I thought I would share what homeschooling high school looks like in our home.

Something Stay the Same

Somethings look the same in our homeschool for high school as they did in earlier years. We still try to start our day as a family with Bible, hymn study, and read aloud. I do not include most of this on my sons records, but I think the time together is still valuable.

As in years past, we use a variety of curriculum and materials for our courses. For everyone’s sanity we switched over to online math for pre-algebra and beyond. (We have used several different programs but the two my son liked best are Thinkwell Math and Unlock Math).

We are using a variety of courses from SchoolhouseTeachers.com for him this year, just as we have the past several years. I love that I can use their literature courses to give him a good foundation in literature while allowing us to continue to use discussions as a big part of the literature process.

We are also still enjoying the opportunity to set our own schedule and have flexibility in when we ‘do school’.

Some Things Look Different

I mentioned above that we have flexibility in our schedule, but I do find that we need a bit more time in our school day to get the high school level work completed. For us that is about 20-25 hours each week. My younger students can get most of their work done in about 3 hours a day.

Instead of doing all of our courses throughout the year we are doing a hybrid block schedule. Some courses we do all year long. These include courses like music performance where he is counting hours towards completing and also literature to allow him a bit more time for reading the novels. Other courses, such as history, science, and math he is completing in a semester. This allows him to spend more time on each course each day.

Another big change is that every course is graded. Prior to high school most of our work was done and worked on until it was completed well and I felt like the material had been mastered.Some of the grades are assigned by the curriculum (his online math), some I grade with a rubric, and others such as his online course from Journey Homeschool Academy include grades done by them as well as components that are graded by myself.

I track all of his final grades in Fast Transcripts so that they are ready for sending in to colleges or scholarship applications.

For us high school basically has a bit more structure than earlier years. I track the number of weeks he works on his courses, keep track of grades, and require him to be a bit more independent.

Counting the Extras

One big key that we have found to balancing it all, is turning his hobbies and extra-curricular activities into a part of school. This frees up some time and keeps us from being too busy (though we still feel plenty busy these days).

For my son this means that he is taking Music Performance as one of his electives and that involves his Practice Monkeys lessons, worship band practice, and some additional course work that I am assigning him.

He is also taking Animal Science this year which will include his 4-H presentation, raising animals for the livestock show, and additional course work.

Additionally, I will be using the paper he writes for North Carolina Junior Historians as one of the papers he needs for English. This way he is still getting the writing done, but he gets to count it towards school and an extra-curricular.

By incorporating those hobbies into his electives, it helps to lessen the amount of time he has to spend on schoolwork while still ensuring that he gets a good overall education and is well prepared for college or the work force.

Overall, for us high school involves spending four to five hours a day on school work and then devoting additional time to projects and hobbies that all work together to create a well rounded education. We needed a bit more structure than we had in younger years, but still have much more flexibility than a traditional school environment.

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Deals and Freebies

If you have not tried SchoolhouseTeachers.com, you don’t want to miss this sale!

Last Minute Back to Homeschool Solutions and a Giveaway

Every year, sometime in August, I get at least one family who decided last minute to homeschool and wants to know how to make the switch. Maybe school starts in a couple weeks (or days), and you just know it isn’t right for you, or maybe you started back to school and really want to bring your children home.

You CAN do this!

Take Your Time

First, take some time to breathe. Do what you need to do to register as a homeschooler in your state, bring your child home, and take a few days to enjoy time as a family and get prepared to start. You do not have to keep the same schedule as the school system and it is OK to take a few weeks to prepare.

Spend some time making goals for your homeschool, researching homeschool styles and philosophies to see how you want to set up your curriculum. Talk to your students and get their input. It might make you feel like you are getting behind, but the time you spend preparing will save you time and frustration moving forward.

Curriculum

I am often asked, “What is the best homeschool curriculum?” There is no single right answer to that question. The best is the one that works for your family. I have spent hundreds of hours reviewing curriculum, and I can tell you that there are many wonderful programs available, and what works for one child may not work for another.

When you are getting started, I recommend buying used curriculum. When you buy used, you can resell and get most of your money back if you find it does not work for you. This often helps give families flexibility as they determine what will or will not work for them. I also highly recommend doing a little research into homeschooling philosophies to help you narrow down your options. There are some great free tools to help with that in our How Do I Get Started Homeschooling? post.

Find a Flexible Program

Another great option is to try a program like Schoolhouse Teachers. We love Schoolhouse Teachers because, with only one membership, we have access to a wide variety of courses (over 400 from preschool to high school). If we try one course and it is not a good fit for us, we can simply switch to a different course within the membership.

The membership is also good for the budget because it covers all of the students in your household. There are text-based courses, video-based courses, grade-specific courses, and family-style courses all included. We are using our membership for several courses for each of my students this year.

Final Thoughts and Encouragement

There are links to some great homeschooling resources at the bottom of this post, but mostly I want to leave you with the knowledge that you can homeschool. If you are being called to homeschool, God will provide you with what you need to make it work. You taught them how to eat, speak, and walk, and you can teach them academics.

Reach out if I can be of any help getting you started, and make sure to click on the graphic below to read the posts from all of the other Crew Members and enter the giveaway for a free Schoolhouse Teachers Membership.

Resources:

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Deals and Freebies

If you have not tried SchoolhouseTeachers.com, you don’t want to miss this sale: Buy One Year Get A Second Year Free!

Our 10th Grade Homeschool Curriculum (2021)

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My oldest will be in 10^th grade this year. It feels almost unbelievable, as it feels like just a few years ago he was in first grade and we were starting our first year of homeschool. Last year we learned a bit about what worked well for us and what did not for high school level courses.

As always, there are many great options, you just have to find the ones that are right for your family and your child’s strengths and goals.

Math

First, we were blessed with the opportunity to review Thinkwell Math for geometry last year. This went really well for us and I loved that he could go to office hours to get help each week if needed. They also allowed for a flexible schedule so that we could take our breaks on our schedule.

We enjoyed the combination of support with flexibility and are signed up for Algebra II with them this year. I purchased the self-paced course and we will add in the office hours if we see that he needs the additional help.

I love that while I am available to answer questions, he can complete this course with very little input from me (it has been a few years since I have taken upper level math courses.)

Literature

We used Schoolhouse Teachers last year for literature after our original plan did not work well and plan to continue that for this year. Last year he took a course focused on Tolkien and this year he is doing a course that covers a variety of British Literature. For literature, he will read and answer the questions that come with the course. We will then discuss the questions together.

History

He is going to take a Modern World History Course from Schoolhouse Teachers. We did ancient history last year and wanted to make sure he had a good foundation in modern history before we move on to US History and Government. This course is set up with readings, writing assignments, maps, and activities.

He will complete most of the assignments on his own and I will grade them. We will also have some discussions about what he is learning and add in a few documentaries.

Electives

He wanted to take Horticulture and Animal Science for two of his electives. These courses tie in very well to the hobbies and extra-curricular activities he was already doing. They also fit well with his college goals. To facilitate this, I am using 4-H and FFA materials as a guide.

We will also be adding hands-on projects including raising animals for the livestock show, growing a garden, and doing a 4-H presentation about one of those topics.

In the spring, he will be taking Culinary Arts. We are still working on the exact syllabus for this course. However, I know that we plan to use some of the course work from the Home Economics course at Schoolhouse Teachers and some episodes of Good Eats with projects based around the different techniques that he learns.

Music

Last year he took Music Performance I and he really enjoys his music so we are doing Music Appreciation and Performance II this year. We plan to continue using Practice Monkeys for his guitar lessons. Last year he did guitar and violin but is planning to focus on guitar this year.

In addition, we will be using Schoolhouse Teachers Advanced Music Theory and SQUILT Music Lessons for theory and music appreciation. He also has the opportunity to play with our youth group band which gives him the opportunity to perform for other people.

Science

Last but not least is chemistry. Last year we reviewed the biology course from Journey Homeschool Academy. My son really enjoyed it, so we decided to try their new chemistry course this year. The videos were interested and easy to understand but also thorough.

There were tests that they graded and discussion questions and lab reports that I graded. It was so simple and required very little time on my part, which was important with everything else we had going on.

They have elementary, middle, and high school level science courses. All of their courses are done from a Christian world view. (If you are interested in Journey Homeschool Academy science courses their open enrollment ends at the end of August.)

Family Studies

He will be joining us for our Bible and hymn study time in the morning, but that will not count as a course. I still feel the family time is an important part of his development.

Overall, we are looking forward to a great year. Since my son wanted to be able to take a few extra days off this fall for hunting and fishing, he has already started some of his courses. We will stay flexible throughout the year as always and change if needed but I think we have a good plan for the year.

What courses or programs do you love for high school? Anything you are trying to find or need suggestions for?

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Deals and Freebies

If you have not tried SchoolhouseTeachers.com, you don’t want to miss this sale: Buy One Year Get Another Year Free!

Not Consumed is offering 15% off everything in their store! Great Bible studies, hymn studies, missionary curriculum and more. Use Code: 2NDCHANCE

Evan-Moor is having a 25% off sale one all of their resources!

Use this link to get 15% off at Thinkwell Math! It was a lifesaver for us for Geometry and I look forward to using them for Algebra II next year.

Journey Homeschool Academy is offering a FREE Virtual Open House August 24 at 9pm. This is a great way to find out more about this science program and see if it is a good fit for your family. Get signed-up today!

Fallacy Detective (Review)

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

In a world of catch phrases, social media memes, personal attacks, and news reporting that often has significant political leanings, it is important that we teach our children good logic and reasoning skills. This is something we had been working on with our children, especially the teens. So I was grateful to check out the book, The Fallacy Detective by Hans and Nathaniel Bluedorn.

The Fallacy Detective has 38 lessons that help students understand logical fallacies. The lessons are short, each one being just a couple pages of reading and then a short worksheet to practice the skill. It took us about ten to fifteen minutes to complete a lesson.

How Did We Use the Book?

This book could be used independently by a teen and self-checked or checked by the parent (answers are in the back of the book). However, we wanted to make this book more of a place to start the discussion in our family.

Therefore, we did the lessons together as a family. I would read the lesson aloud and then we would go through the questions together. Each of my teens would give the answer they thought was correct, we would read the answer from the back of the book, and then we would discuss it as a family.

Several times we did lessons while were traveling. We were in the car a lot this summer for summer camp, vacations, etc and I wanted to use that time wisely. Another benefit of doing them in the car was that my younger children were hearing the lesson and discussion. I do not think the younger children are old enough to fully understand but I think it is good for them to start hearing the information.

What is a Logical Fallacy?

You may be wondering what I mean by logical fallacy. One example was Ad Hominem Attacks, which is where people attack the person with the opinion instead of the opinion itself. They gave examples of how this might look, and even explained that questioning someone’s honesty because of a history of lying was different than discrediting someone’s opinion because of their character.

Once they explained it and gave several examples. Then they followed it up with 13 1-2 sentence examples and had students determine if those examples displayed bad reasoning.

When you have finished all thirty-eight lessons, there are instructions for playing a game using the different fallacies. I think that will be a fun way to reinforce what we have learned.

Conclusions

Overall, we have been enjoying this book. I love that we were able to use it in a laid back family style approach. I feel that understanding logical fallacies is a very important life skill and I would recommend this book for any middle or high school students. ( A bit of a bonus is that the book was written by two homeschoolers and is a great example of a homeschooling success story.)

We plan to continue using the book by doing one or two lessons a week together until we have completed all thirty-eight lessons.

You can check out other reviews of the Fallacy Detective by clicking on the graphic below. Members of the Review Crew also reviewed another book by Hans and Nathaniel Bluedorn: Archer and Zowie. You can see those reviews by clicking on the graphic as well.

Homeschool Encouragement, Incentives, Awards (For Students and Moms) + Giveaway

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This week the Review Crew is sharing different ideas for providing encouragement and incentives in your homeschool. I have gathered ideas for encouraging both your students and yourself. (Yes, sometimes even us moms need a little encouragement and incentive.)

Homeschool Encouragement For Moms and Students

For Students

One of the biggest motivators for my children is free time. When their work is done they can play, explore, and be creative. The understanding that working hard means more free time is really motivating for them.

For some students, grades are an incentive. We do not do a lot of grades in the younger years because I did not need grades to know how my students were performing. However, in middle school my daughter started an online math program that gave her feedback via grades. She was actually very motivated to keep that grade high and worked very hard to maintain an A average.

His Certificate for Completing a Level in His Reading Curriculum

My seven-year-old loves to be recognized for his accomplishments with certificates. If there is a certificate of completion with a book or program, he wants to do whatever it takes to get that certificate. We also give our children the chance to show good work to dad at dinner time or to grandparents when they come to visit.

Finally, set goals with your student. Allow them to set reasonable goals (with help from you) for what you will accomplish in a given time period. This might be over the course of a year or broken down into semesters or even each month. It can be powerful to set a goal and accomplish it and it often helps them to see the growth that they may not realize is happening in the day-to-day.

Encouragement and incentives do not have to be a big deal, sometimes it really is the small stuff that encourages students.

For Moms

I think homeschool moms often need encouragement more than our students. Homeschooling is worth all that we put into it, but it is not easy and it can sometimes feel overwhelming or fruitless (but it is not fruitless.)

Scripture: Find a verse or two that you can lean on when times get hard and the days are long. Galatians 6:9 is one of my favorites. This post from A Diligent Heart has some other great verses for homeschool moms.

Books: There are many encouraging books for homeschool moms. A few of my favorites are Read Aloud Family by Sarah MacKenzie, Lifegivng Home by Sally Clarkson, Help! I’m Homeschooling! By Tricia Hodges. Check out all of my book reviews and reading list posts for more great book ideas.

Facebook Groups: Finding support from other homeschool moms can be crucial on those difficult days. Facebook groups can be a great way to have easy access to encouragement, ideas, and support. I love being a part of large like-minded groups and also smaller local groups that allow for facilitating field trips and events. If you are looking for a large group of encouraging homeschool moms check out the Schoolin’ Swag Facebook group to connect with thousands of other moms in a safe supportive environment.

Combining Mom’s Night with a Chocolate Dessert!

Moms Night Out: My friend Jen over at Homeschool Fanatic is great about setting up monthly local mom’s nights. We get to go enjoy good child free conversation and yummy dessert once a month. It is a great time of encouragement and refreshing.

Secret Chocolate Stash: Finally, do not underestimate the power of a good piece of chocolate on a challenging day. Take a quick minute, close your bedroom door, and enjoy your favorite treat. Sometimes, that can make all the difference in keeping a day from totally falling apart.

How do you encourage your students or yourself on difficult days? Share your ideas in the comments! Make sure to hop on over to the Review Crew page and check out all of the other ideas and enter the giveaway for a free Homeschool PAK!

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HomeScholar High School Solution (Review)

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!

Our Second Grade Choices (2021)

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I love sharing with you what we are using in our homeschool each year! No two years ever seem to be totally the same for us as we adapt to current circumstances, grade levels and interests.

I hope this gives you some great ideas as you plan your year, but always remember that these are not the only great programs. There are many wonderful curricula to meet the needs of your individual students.

Language Arts

For my rising second grader we are going to be finishing All About Reading Level 1 and moving into All About Reading Level 2. He was not yet ready for phonics during his kindergarten year, so we stopped and waiting until his first grade year.

During his first grade year he completed All About Reading pre-reading and about half of All About Reading level 1. We are really enjoying the program and he is making great progress.

We are adding in spelling this year with All About Spelling level 1. Both of my older children went through the All About Spelling program and it made such a huge difference for them. I am excited to do it paired up with the All About Reading program.

Math

For math he will be continuing with Math for a Living Education. He did their first grade level book last year and it worked really well for him. This year he will be in the Math for a Living Education 2. I love that it incorporates real life scenarios for the math and has a Christian worldview. It has some review and practice but not so much as to feel boring.

Science

Our family enjoys the Apologia elementary series and my son has requested to do the Swimming Creatures book this year. This was a favorite for my older children and I am excited to work through it with him. (At the time of this writing it happens to also be on sale!)

We are blessed to live close to the coast and plan to take several field trips to the river, ocean, and aquarium to supplement this curriculum.

History

We will be doing Story of the World Volume 2 for history. This volume covers some great topics including castles and knights as well as the Lost Colony. He will be doing this with my 8^th grader and we will be incorporating food projects and discussions as a family.

I highly recommend both the book and the activity guide for Story of the World because it makes it so easy and fun. I also have a book list for extra book ideas: Story of the World Volume 2 Book List

A Lady Bug from his You Are An Artist Lessons.

Art and Music

For art he will be doing lessons with our You Are an Artist Chalk Pastels membership. Some of the lessons he will choose and some will go along with our history lessons as well as books that we are reading together. We love these fun and easy lessons with Nana.

There are so many to choose from and they can be tied into many different curriculum areas such as history, literature and science. We are looking forward to doing castles and knights as we cover those in history. She even has some great lessons to accompany our hymn studies.

For music he will be continuing his violin lessons from Practice Monkeys as well as doing some music appreciation lessons from SQUILT music. We love the live lessons as well as the monthly listening calendar.

Bible, Physical Education, and Spanish

We will be doing Bible lessons together, but I am still finalizing what we are going to use. I want to do something that my three-year-old can listen to as well. There are several great options and I just have to decide which one I want to use.

For physical education we are going to be doing a combination of kids workouts from Fit2B and some lessons on Schoolhouse Teachers. I love that I can turn on the Fit2B workouts, especially on rainy days, and he can do it right in my living room.

The Physical Education course on Schoolhouse Teachers has some great resources for teaching age appropriate physical skills. I am hoping these programs help him to get the extra energy out before we start our other programs as well as making sure the he is using his body in ways that help him to grow strong and healthy.

He has also requested to learn Spanish. I am not sure how much time I will have to devote to teaching him, but we are going to try using Elementary Spanish from SchoolhouseTeachers.com. It is a video based course that should not require a lot of time on my part. We will also supplement with the free Salsa: Spanish for Children videos.

Final Thoughts

In addition, we will have a morning time where we work on scripture memory, hymn study, read aloud and more together as a family. I will be sharing more about that in a few weeks when I have finalized my selections.

Have you tried any of these curricula? What are your favorite options for 2^nd grade?

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Deals and Freebies

Use this link to get 15% off at Thinkwell Math! It was a lifesaver for us for Geometry and I look forward to using them for Algebra II next year.

SchoolhouseTeachers.com is running an amazing BOGO sale, 2 years of over 400 courses for the entire family for only $179. If you want to know more about SchoolhouseTeachers.com you can check out our review. SchoolhouseTeachers.com Review 2021

Making Back to Homeschool Memories!

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Are We Missing Out?

We started homeschooling the year my oldest child entered first grade and one of the things that worried me most was the loss of the fun back to school memories and moments. It sounds silly now, but I knew that we were going to do great academically; I had researched enough to be comfortable that socialization was not a problem, but I thought we were going to miss out on the ‘back to school’ pictures and such.

However, over the years we have created our own fun ‘back to homeschool’ traditions. We have done a variety of things to make the start of our school year fun and memorable.

Kindergarten Date

First, we take each child that is entering kindergarten out to dinner a night or two before they begin. It is a date with just the new kindergartener, my husband, and myself. They get to choose a nice restaurant and have some special time.

We actually started that tradition before my son went into public school kindergarten but have continued it with our other children before we start what we call their kindergarten year in our homeschool.

Back to Homeschool Supplies

Next, we purchase our new school supplies. While I obviously don’t have a school supply list I have to purchase like public school parents, it is always nice to have a few new supplies. The back to school prices make it a great time to stock up on crayons, pencils, etc. You might even want to grab a backpack while the deals are good. You can learn more about why homeschoolers need backpacks in this post.

In addition, we love to get homeschool t-shirts. Sometimes we get new ones each year and sometimes they keep the same one for a couple of years. These are always fun and great conversation starters. Homeschool Style Co. has some great t-shirts that are really good quality! (This is a great reminder for me that I need to get this year’s shirts ordered because my little boys have outgrown their shirts from last year.)

First Day Traditions

While the public schools in our area go back in August, we like to wait until the day after Labor Day for our official start. On that day, I like to print out signs that say “First Day of ___ Grade” and we take pictures with our signs in our homeschool t-shirts or all dressed up.

We also love to have a big breakfast that morning. Typically we have chocolate chip pancakes and bacon on the first day, but I let them decide each year what they want for the special day. It is something we look forward to each year and helps them to get excited about the day ahead.

Over the years, I have learned that we gain far more than we miss by homeschooling. For everything memory I thought they would miss out on, we make dozens more at home. We enjoy doing these simple things at the beginning of the year to make the first day of school special and to make memories together as a family.

Do you have any special ‘Back to Homeschool’ traditions? How do you make memories at the beginning of the year? Be sure to click the graphic below and see how other Review Crew families make memories at the start of their homeschool year. There is also a fun giveaway for free printable first day of school signs.

Resource Library and Affiliate Disclosure

Resource Library

Deals and Freebies

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Illustrated Would You Rather Book (Free on Kindle)

Grove is offering 30% off your first order of cleaning and beauty supplies!

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

Dyslexia Gold (Review)

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.