Mom’s Summer Reading List 2020

Last week I shared some of the books that my children were reading over the summer. This week I wanted to take just a minute and share with you some of the books in my summer reading stack as well as a few I read this spring that you might enjoy this summer.

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

First, on Mother’s Day, I had the chance to read Sisterchicks on the Looseby Robin Jones Gunn. As a teenager I enjoyed her Christy Miller series and was excited to check this one out. It was lighthearted and funny, written for adults but still clean and wholesome. I decided that I would read through as much of the series as I could get to this summer for my light reading.

I often find myself reading non-fiction books for knowledge and growth, but I have been focusing on adding in fun books. I feel that it is beneficial for me to read for entertainment and also good for my children to see me reading for entertainment.

2020 books mom

Currently Reading

I also have started reading, The Book Whisperer: Awakening the Inner Reader in Every Child by Donalyn Miller. This book is written by a public school teacher but I think that much of what she has to say about creating readers applies to homeschool as well.

I am also finishing up Parenting Beyond The Rules by Connie Albers. This book is about helping build and strengthen your relationship with your teens.

Speaking of teens, my fourteen year old son and I are both going to read Debt Free Degree and discuss it together. I am hopeful that this gives us ideas and motivation as we create a four year high school plan that will help him achieve his college goals.

Just Finished

Last month I took advantage of the time that I was watching the children swim in the pool and read Moms’ Night Out. This book is hilarious and completely unbelievable. There were certainly elements of relate-ability to the characters but the premise of all that happened in one night was a bit far fetched. That said, I enjoyed reading it and laughed out loud several times while reading.

Over the spring, I read When Less Becomes More by Emily Ley and Better Togetherby Pam Barnhill. When Less Becomes More is a great book for helping you focus on what matters in your life.

Better Together is a great book about using morning time in your homeschool and helping you create that time for your whole family to learn together. I thoroughly enjoyed both books.

I would love for you to share with me what you are reading 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.

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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

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

If you are looking for a fun way to encourage reading this summer, check out the FREE summer reading materials from Your Morning Basket with Pam Barnhill. The passport and reading bucket list are a great way to encourage reading!

Homeschool Complete is offering a special 10% off discount to my readers! Just use code: SWAG

Evan-Moor is offering their Daily Fundamentals book FREE right now to help out during this time.

Get a FREE Literature Kit from LitWits using Code 11READ4FUN. We are currently enjoying the Heidi kit but have also previously loved the My Side of the Mountain kit.

IEW is offering some great free resources right now.

FREE Baby Yoda Art Lesson from Nana!

Illustrated Would You Rather Book (Free on Kindle)

When You Feel Like Hiding Under A Rock….

2020 has been a tumultuous year. There has been so much going on, so many people scared, hurt, and angry. People worried about getting sick, people worried about their jobs, the flaring of racial tensions and all that entails. I am not here to give you any specific advice on any of those situations. I do not feel that this is the platform for those discussions. However, if like me, all of this sometimes makes you wish you could hide under a rock, I hope that I can share what God shared with me this week.

Life is Hard and Sometimes I Want to Hide

I was feeling really low and just struggling with all of the pain of people I loved that were on all sides of various issues. People that felt misunderstood and abused. I know that we don’t need to ignore the pain in our world, but I also knew that consuming too much news and too much social media was not healthy. I just kept thinking that I wished I could hide under a rock.

In the midst of all of that, I felt God reminding me that He is The Rock. No we don’t need to hide and pretend nothing is going on, but it is perfectly good and right to take refuge in God’s strength and holiness. Time and time again the Bible refers to God as a Rock and stronghold. He wants us to take shelter with Him, abide in him, and then go out and do His work.

The LORD is my rock, my fortress and my deliverer; my God is my rock, in whom I take refuge, my shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.
Psalm 18:2

Be Encouraged: Jesus is Our Rock

I want to encourage you this week, when things feel overwhelming and you want to hide under a rock, to make sure that you are hiding under The Rock. Turn off the news and the social media for awhile and really take some time to seek him. He will give you the strength and the wisdom to get through whatever this life throws at you. This doesn’t mean that we are oblivious to current events or that we never take action, but that first we seek Him and we let him guide our paths. I could spend all day getting news from the television, internet, and social media, but I can also be caught up and informed with just a few minute recap each night.

The Lord is my rock, my fortress and my deliverer;

my God is my rock, in whom I take refuge,

my shield and the horn of my salvation.

He is my stronghold, my refuge and my savior.. 2 Samuel 22 2-3a

We Can Hide In God Our Rock

All of this to say, I pray that as you navigate this world, not just today, not just in 2020, but whenever things are stressful or scary, remember that God is our Rock and he wants us to turn to Him in times of trouble. He wants to bring us peace and comfort. If I can pray for you today, please don’t hesitate to reach out to me. You can leave a comment or send me a private message and I promise to pray for you by name.

Resource Library and Affiliate Disclosure

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Critical Thinking Co (Review)

Disclaimer: I received a FREE copy of this product through the HOMESCHOOL REVIEW CREW in exchange for my honest review. I was not required to write a positive review nor was I compensated in any other way.

who is that kid

I started homeschooling when my oldest was in first grade and he will begin his ninth grade year in the fall. I remember teaching him to read and now he is reading the works of Tolkien and C.S. Lewis. Time has moved quickly and it is hard to believe that it is already time to be planning for college and his future. As we work towards coming up with a good four year plan and helping him prepare for college, I was excited to get the opportunity to review Who Is This Kid? Colleges Want to Know! from The Critical Thinking Co.™.

critical thinking college

I received the e-book version of this book for this review and was able to print out the sections that my son was working through. We did just a few pages each week as we began to work out way through this journey and the discussions that arose from it. The first section was helping the student work through thinking about themselves and learning how to describe themselves well for colleges and interviews. It was really interesting for me to see what characteristics my son thought describes him and what other family members had to say when they chose.

The next portion of the book helps students explore a variety of college options. It helps them find out more about colleges they might already be interested in as well as looking into other colleges that they may not have considered. The worksheets help them gather information and compare the various schools. This section also walks them through asking questions about the colleges, in person and virtual tours, and other aspects of finding the right college fit.

Part three walks them through college applications, essays, and interviews. Part four gives a calendar of monthly actions that should be taken by juniors and seniors as they work through the college admissions process. Finally, part five is a glossary of terms that students need to know during this process. It includes such terms as humanities, pass-fail, resident advisor and more.

We worked our way through part one and plan to continue to work our way through the book as we go through this process of getting him ready for college. I would recommend the book for any high school student, and ideally start it not later than your junior year in high school. However, if you have a rising senior it could still be beneficial.

Overall, I think this is a great resource for helping students learn more about the college admissions process, helping them learn more about themselves and find the right fit for a college.The less than $15 you pay for this book could easily save more than that in helping them find the right fit before they pay application fees and in increased scholarships because of well written applications and essays. In addition to this title, the Review Crew had the opportunity to review a wide variety of titles for various ages. I highly encourage you to click on the graphic below and check out all of the different The Critical Thinking Co.™ products that the other reviewers tried with their families.

Math Shed and Spelling Shed (Review)

Learning is always more fun when you can turn it into a game. Math Shed and Spelling Shed do just that. These two computer programs turn math facts and spelling into a game. I received these products to review and over the last month my six-year-old son tried out Math Shed and my daughter used Spelling Shed .

When I received my subscription to review, I was able to go in and set up each child as a student. This allowed them each to work and get their own ‘honey pots’ or points if they scored well in the games. However, since each one was doing a different subject and they were working on the same laptop they ended up deciding to save one log-in in the laptop and use the same account to work from. Thus they were able to score more points quickly. Since I was not using the points for anything other than motivation for them, this worked well for us. However, if you wanted to track more data or have students competing against each other, they would each need to use their own log-in.

ed shed 1

My daughter enjoyed the spelling program. When she went into Spelling Shed she could choose the level of the words and the level of difficulty of the game. In the lower levels on the easy setting, it would give you only the letters you needed for the word and you just had to put them in order. When you chose more difficult settings, it would give you lots of letters to choose from and you had to determine which letters were in the word and their order. As a parent I could have gone into the parent dashboard and assigned her certain spelling lists, however, I chose to allow it to just be random practice.

My son did most of the math, though my daughter also tried it out once or twice. There were a variety of different types of math problems to choose from including: number bonds, times tables, add & subtract, powers of 10, and negative numbers. Since my son had just finished up kindergarten level math, we chose to focus on addition and subtraction. When we went into that section, he could choose to focus on addition, subtraction, or both. He could also choose how high the numbers would go for the problems. We stayed with the 0-10 range and worked on those basic facts. From there you could choose the level of difficulty. He typically went with easy which gave him three answers to choose from. Each round of the game lasts for one minute and he had to answer as many questions and possible by clicking on the correct answer choice. This program reviews and reinforces concepts that have already been taught but does not have an instructional component.

ed shed collage

Overall, my children found these games to be engaging and fun. I thought it provided practice with important skills and was a good way to get them engaged and enjoying schoolwork. If you wanted a program to give your child extra practice with math or spelling skills in a fun and engaging way,Math Shed and Spelling Shed might be a great fit. I highly encourage you to click on the graphic below and check out the other reviews to see how different families used these programs in their homes.

Summer Reading List 2020

I’m still working on determining my own personal summer reading list, but I thought I would share with you today some of the books my children are reading this summer in case you still needed some ideas.

summer reading 2020

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

This year I decided that both my twelve and fourteen year olds were going to be responsible for reading three ‘classics’ over the summer. I had a fairly broad definition of classics and I let them choose as long as it was one they had not yet read. They, of course, also both have stacks of fun books that they intend to read over the summer. Current favorites include anything about Duck Commander, The Callahan Cousins, Nancy Drew, and anything by Robin Jones Gunn.

Goldtown

My twelve year old daughter has chosen, The Hobbit, The Lion, the Witch, and The Wardrobe, and Little House in the Big Woods. She wanted to read the Hobbit so that she could watch the movie with us and her older brother. She has started reading it and we have also started watching the movie so she is getting the experience of both at the same time. This is a good book, but a little dense so I don’t’ recommend it prior to middle school. The movie is rated PG-13 because of the violence so I do not recommend it for younger children. We do not watch many movies with that rating in our family, but felt that the overall plot was worthy of watching with the older children.

The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe is a family favorite and my daughter has listened to it on audio but had never actually read the book for herself. I personally think you can never get too much of C. S. Lewis so I was happy to have her choose that as her second book.

Finally, I’m not sure how she managed to get to seventh grade without having read the Little House series, but I think she will fall in love with the series when she reads the first one and I expect she will end up reading the rest. We have the collection of them because my son read them all.

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My fourteen year old is still working out all of his selections but he wanted to start with Moby Dick and Fellowship of the Ring the first book in the Lord of the Rings trilogy. He read the Hobbit this year and enjoyed it and is looking forward to getting more of the story. He may also read the Father Brown Mysteries. We have been reading the abridged versions as a family and he really enjoyed them.

He is also reading Debt Free Degree by Anthony Oneal. This is the second summer that we have chosen to each read a book and discuss it together. As he is entering ninth grade this year and making plans for college, I hope that this book will give us some great ideas and strategies for helping him achieve his college goals without student debt.

My six year old and two year old will be enjoying a variety of picture books and audio books as we go through the summer. Some of the current favorites are the Goldtown Beginnings Series and Albert Whitman Boxcar Children readers. We have plenty of picture and simple books on hand, but if anyone has a new favorite to recommend I may pick up one or two special ones for the summer.

If you are looking for ways to help you incorporate reading into your summer, you may want to check out the free summer reading programs from Not Consumed or Pam Barnhill. I will also include links to a few posts to help you incorporate reading into your days.

Please share with me in the comments what you are reading this summer! Also, check out the other Review Crew summer reading lists here.

Reading Posts:

Our Summer of Reading!

5 Days of For the Love of Reading

Creating a Book Club Culture (Read Aloud Family)

Read All the Books: Free and Discounted Online Literature Resources

Library and Educational Services LLC (Review)

You can also check out the books section of my Reviews page.

Resource Library and Affiliate Disclosure

Resource Library

Deals and Freebies

If you have not tried SchoolhouseTeachers.com, you don’t want to miss this sale! I have multiple reviews on the blog about different courses we use from them. This is an amazing price for an entire year for your whole family and lots of really neat bonus gifts! Simply click on this link and use code: 19GIFTS

Homeschool Complete is offering a special 10% off discount to my readers! Just use code: SWAG

Evan-Moor is offering their Daily Fundamentals book FREE right now to help out during this time.

Get a FREE Literature Kit from LitWits using Code 11READ4FUN. We are currently enjoying the Heidi kit but have also previously loved the My Side of the Mountain kit.

IEW is offering some great free resources right now.

FREE Baby Yoda Art Lesson from Nana!

Illustrated Would You Rather Book (Free on Kindle)

Page a Day Math (Review)

This post contains affiliate links. See below for more information.

My son finished up his kindergarten math book in April and we were both excited and grateful for a break. I didn’t want to start a new curriculum until the fall, but I knew that he needed to have some practice and review to keep everything fresh. Page a Day Math was a perfect fit for being simple, short, and easy to use. We received the PreK Math Starter Kit, Addition and Counting Kit, and Subtraction Starter Kit to review.

I looked over all of them and decided to have my son start with the Addition and Counting Kit. As the name of the company says, you simply do one page a day. These pages are relatively short and only took him five to ten minutes to complete. For the addition, each page started with a new addition fact, and shows that fact as counting, tracing, and copying. Then each page has addition facts for them to practice, starting with several repetitions of the fact of the day and then mixed review of the facts that were previously covered. The numbers are done in a box that has been marked off into a four square grid to help with proper number formation.

One thing I noticed and appreciated about this program is that it is split into manageable chunks. In addition to each day’s work being one page (front and back), the worksheets are split into books that each cover fourteen days. We reviewed this program in a digital format and I could choose to print the whole book or just the pages I needed for each day. However, if you were using it in a physical book format the shorter books may help keep it from feeling overwhelming to a young child and give them a sense of accomplishment by being able to quickly complete a book. There is also a progress tracker which allows them to mark off each book when they have completed it so that they can track their progress through the kit.

There are ten books in the addition kit (not including bonuses), taking you all the way from 0+1 to 10 + 10. The subtraction kit works the same way but goes through subtracting twelve. We have not gotten there yet, but intend to work our way through it once we finish the addition kit. The books feature cute pictures of funny dogs that my son enjoyed.

page a day review

In addition to the books and progress chart, there are a variety of bonuses included in each kit. There are assessment pages that help you check for fluency, flash cards for extra practice, and even handwriting sheets. Some of the handwriting sheets practice print and some cursive.

All in all, I thought this was a great way to keep my son’s math progress for slipping away, without feeling like a burden during the ‘lazy days of summer’. We will continue to use them 3 or 4 days a week throughout the summer to continue to build fluency with his basic facts. I think this program is great for anyone who is looking for a simple way to increase math fact fluency in children. I did not review them, but Page a Day Math also offers multiplication and division kits that various crew members reviewed. I highly encourage you to click on the graphic below and check out the other reviews.

This post contains affiliate or referral 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.

Hymn Study: Just As I Am

This hymn may be best known from the Billy Graham crusades but it was written in the 1800’s by Charlotte Elliott. Elliott wrote over 150 hymns but this was the first time I recall hearing of her and her story. She was a preacher’s daughter and granddaughter who became ill in her early 30s and was sick and considered ‘invalid’ for the rest of her life.

She became bitter due to the pain and the story goes that she made a rude comment to a preacher (who became a mentor for her) when he was talking with her. After she apologized, he told her that Jesus loved her just as she was. This conversation is what later inspired the now famous hymn.

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

Just as I am, without one plea,
but that thy blood was shed for me,
and that thou bidd’st me come to thee,
O Lamb of God, I come, I come.

This hymn is one that really resonates with me because so often I have heard people talk about needed to ‘get their life together’ so they can go to church or come back to Jesus, but Jesus wants us just where we are. He doesn’t leave us that way, he changes us to be more like him, but he wants us to come just as we are. There are many scriptures that could be used when studying this hymn, but one of my favorites is Mark 2: 17. ^“On hearing this, Jesus said to them, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.””

As we study this hymn there are some really beautiful versions to enjoy, everything from Alan Jackson’s county sound to Mahalia Jackson’s strong gospel voice. It is a wonderful opportunity to talk with our children about how God can take us where ever we are and bring us back to him.

justasiam

If you would like to add some art to your study this month, Nana has this wonderful chalk pastel painting of the Apostle Paul shipwrecked to match this Just as I am hymn. Verse three says, “Just as I am, though tossed about with many a conflict, many a doubt”. Paul was literally tossed about in his ship, but we can often relate to feeling like life is tossing us about.

I pray you enjoy time with your children studying this hymn this month. I would love for you to share your thoughts on this hymn in the comments.

Hymn Study Resources:

Just As I Am (Lyrics and Music)

Just As I Am ( Alan Jackson)

Just As I Am (Selah)

Just As I Am (acappella)

Just As I Am ( Willie Nelson)

Just As I Am (Mahalia Jackson)

Just As I Am (sang with stringed accompaniment)

Just As I Am (piano instrumental)

Download Your Freebies Below!

Hymn Study Fact Sheet

Resource Library and Affiliate Disclosure

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Deals and Freebies

Homeschool Complete is offering a special 10% off discount to my readers! Just use code: SWAG

Evan-Moor is offering their Daily Fundamentals book FREE right now to help out during this time.

Get a FREE Literature Kit from LitWits using Code 11READ4FUN. We are currently enjoying the Heidi kit but have also previously loved the My Side of the Mountain kit.

IEW is offering some great free resources right now.

FREE Baby Yoda Art Lesson from Nana!

Illustrated Would You Rather Book (Free on Kindle)

Simple Strawberry Turnovers

The Review Crew is sharing summer recipes this week and I decided to share the Strawberry Turnovers that I made last week because they are super simple, tasty, and perfect for this strawberry season.

A friend of mine shared a picture of some she made a couple weeks ago and I decided I wanted to give them a try. She gave me a general idea of how she made them and I decided to try my hand at making my own. It took me a couple weeks because I needed to get fresh strawberries and puff pastry in the house at the same time and with grocery ordering and social distancing, I am limiting my trips. However, I was able to get them added to an order and we went and picked some fresh strawberries last week.

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

Strawberry Turnovers

I took half a block of cream cheese and let it come to room temperature, added about a quarter cup of sugar and mixed them together. Then I diced up about one cup of strawberries and added them to cream cheese mixture. I think you could probably sub in peaches, blueberries, or blackberries depending on what was in season.

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Putting it All Together

Next, I laid out the puff pastry (you could make it but easy is the name of the game these days) on my sheet pan and cut it into six squares. Then, put a spoonful of filling in each square and fold it over into a triangle. Press the edges down with a fork and bake using the directions on the back of the puff pastry (it varies a bit depending on the brand). You can also use an egg wash, and a few sprinkles of sugar in the raw, to give them a more brown finish if you would like.

While they bake, mix a quarter cup of powdered sugar with about a tablespoon of milk to make a glaze. You could also use strawberry juice for the glaze if you wanted a pink glaze. Once the turnovers are done drizzle on the glaze and serve. These are good hot or cold, expect your glaze to ‘run’ a little if you pour it on piping hot pastry.

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Strawberry Turnover Recipe

Ingredients

1/2 block cream cheese
1 cup cut up strawberries
1/4 cup sugar
1 pack puff pastry
1/4 cup powdered sugar
1 TB milk

I hope you enjoy this simple treat and encourage you to click on the link below to check out all of the other fun summer recipes!

https://www.linkytools.com/thumbnail_linky_include.aspx?id=297726

Resource Library and Affiliate Disclosure

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Deals and Freebies!

Tuttle Twins is currently offering a HUGE sale of 75% off their books, workbooks,and audios. This is a great series for teaching about economics and government.

Homeschool Complete is offering a special 10% off discount to my readers! Just use code: SWAG

Evan-Moor is offering their Daily Fundamentals book FREE right now to help out during this time.

Get a FREE Literature Kit from LitWits using Code 11READ4FUN. We are currently enjoying the Heidi kit but have also previously loved the My Side of the Mountain kit.

IEW is offering some great free resources right now.

FREE Baby Yoda Art Lesson from Nana!

Illustrated Would You Rather Book (Free on Kindle)

Boredom Busters Round-Up

I know many folks are starting to feel the strain of being at home and are looking for creative ways to keep their children engaged. We have honestly been so busy at home that bored is not a word that comes to mind. We have been spending some extra time getting our school year wrapped up, gardening, riding bikes, and going to zoom meetings.

Most of our extracurricular activities didn’t entirely cancel, they just switched to zoom. I can’t say that I recommend the zoom meetings as a boredom buster but I have found that many of the other activities work great for keeping everyone engaged. I am sharing a few general ideas for keeping boredom at bay and will also include some links to other ‘themed’ posts that have more specific ideas if one of these areas appeals to you.

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

Outdoor Time

The recommended amount of time for children to be outside is four to six hours a day. Sometimes this seems a little unachievable with everything else that is going on but during the slower summer months you may be able to get some extra time outside. You may be wondering, what would they do outside for three to four hours a day? There are many options depending on the ages of your children and your location.

My children love to ride their bicycles and scooters, color with sidewalk chalk, play ball, and work with their animals and garden. Gardens have the double benefit of providing science lessons and food for our family in addition to the outside time. In the past we have also enjoyed sprinklers and kiddie pools. As my children were getting older, we decided to get a larger pool this year and they plan to spend many summer days swimming.

Homestead Homeschool: Gardening

Our Summer Bucket

Take a Child Outside Week!

Our Hiking Adventures

Books

When the weather is poor or during the heat of the day you may not want to be outside. That is a great time for reading (though we also take our books outside for reading when the weather is nice.) You can read aloud to younger children or have older children read independently. I have also found that audiobooks are a great choice for younger children that cannot read fluently, or struggling readers.

For audiobooks there are three resources that have been very beneficial to our family. First, we love audible! I can purchase the books with credits or at a discount throughout the month (always use your credits on the more expensive books and pay directly for the cheaper ones for the best deals), then we can listen as a family or I can send them directly to my children’s kindle libraries so they can listen on their own time.

Focus on the Family has some wonderful free streaming options. Their radio theater productions are some of our very favorite audio dramas. We also enjoy Adventures in Odyssey and the Pond.

Finally, while our family does not normally take advantage of our local library, my six-year-old has been loving listening to the Boxcar Children on audio using overdrive and his library card.

Read All the Books: Free and Discounted Online Literature Resources

Our Summer of Reading!

5 Days of For the Love of Reading

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Hobbies

Finally, I think hobbies are great ways for children (and adults) to increase knowledge and skills while keeping themselves engaged. For our children they spend an hour or more most days practicing their music lessons. There are many resources to help them get started with music.

We also enjoy a variety of crafts, from coloring and painting to weaving and sewing projects. These can be lots of fun for a variety of ages. You can start with basic art supplies and their imaginations, use online art lessons, or purchase fun kits to put together. There are also a variety of online resources to teach most any craft your child would like to pursue.

Finally, there are many other hobbies from coin collecting to square dancing. With the internet at our fingertips we can help our children research and get started on a new hobby that will keep them interested and engaged.

Adding Fun to Your Homeschool: Incorporating Hobbies

Adding Music To Your Homeschool (When You Aren’t A Musical Mom)

Keeping Children Engaged and Active During COVID 19

Exploring Hobbies on a Time and Money Budget

I hope these ideas will help you through the rest of these days at home and through the summer. If all else fails, you can always offer chores and a remedy for boredom. You would be amazed at how quickly boredom disappears when dishes are the antidote. I would love to have you share your favorite boredom busters in the comments and you can check out ideas from other Review Crew members here.

Resource Library and Affiliate Disclosure

Resource Library

Deals and Freebies!

Tuttle Twins is currently offering a HUGE sale of 75% off their books, workbooks,and audios. This is a great series for teaching about economics and government.

Homeschool Complete is offering a special 10% off discount to my readers! Just use code: SWAG

Evan-Moor is offering their Daily Fundamentals book FREE right now to help out during this time.

Get a FREE Literature Kit from LitWits using Code 11READ4FUN. We are currently enjoying the Heidi kit but have also previously loved the My Side of the Mountain kit.

IEW is offering some great free resources right now.

FREE Baby Yoda Art Lesson from Nana!

Illustrated Would You Rather Book (Free on Kindle)

No-nonsense Algebra (Review)

Normally, when I agree to review a product, I am not really sure what to expect or what I am getting, but this review was a little different. My oldest son was already working through No-Nonsense Algebra by Math Essentials and I was excited to get the newest edition for my daughter to use.

$No-Nonsense Math Pinterest$

If I am being completely honest, I NEVER liked algebra. Not when I took it in eighth grade, not when I took Algebra II in high school, not when I helped tutor it later. I just never found it to be easy and I was not looking forward to teaching it in our homeschool. I would much rather sit and read aloud or do a science experiment. However, I know that algebra is an important part of my children’s education so I set out to find a curriculum that would help me through this process as painlessly as possible.

My son is very bright but struggles with the attention to detail needed for upper level math. He does not like a lot of frills and wanted a basic laid out approach. I needed something that could help teach him the concepts each day. No-Nonsense Algebra is a text book that provides written instruction and a short video tutorial (typically about 3-5 minutes) for each lesson. Then there are 12 to 18 problems for the student to complete related to that lesson and four review problems covering concepts from previous lessons. This provided enough practice and review to ensure understanding of the concepts without feeling like there was a lot of ‘busy work’. Often in math curriculums I see every practice problem similarly worked in an example. With Non-Nonsense Algebra the practice problems tended to be of increasing complexity, forcing the learner to ‘take the next step’ in solving the problem.

One issue we had with the older edition were occasional mistakes in the answer key (which is located in the back of the book). These simple mistakes were causing us a lot of problems, because I was not working out the problems and thus would not realize that it was wrong until he had tried it again several times and my husband would work it out later. However, when we received the 2nd edition, I was pleased to find out that those mistakes had been corrected. There are also some extra chapter quizzes included in the 2nd Edition to help with review and retention.

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No-Nonsense Algebra did not make my son fall in love with algebra. He would have still rather letters have never been included with math. However, he did like the way it was laid out and I feel like it was an effective program for him. Many days, especially once he started following the directions and writing down the practice problems with the video lessons, he was able to work through the lessons independently and understand the concepts. Other days, my husband would sit down and help him with the concepts that challenged him. The video lessons were still beneficial for those lessons because it gave my husband a quick review of concepts he hadn’t seen since middle school.

I think this program is great for student that wants to work independently and has a fairly good grasp of basic math concepts. A student that doesn’t need lots of extra practice and instruction can do very well with this program. It is also beneficial for parents who need a quick review. If you have a student that really struggles with math, enjoys long(er) lessons, or needs lots of detailed explanations, this might not be the best fit.

Be sure to check out No-Nonsense Algebra over at the Math Essentials website to get more information. Don’t forget to click on the graphic below to check out the reviews from other Review Crew members who reviewed this program and some of the other math products from Math Essentials.