Reading With Your Ears

I love the feeling of a good book in my hands. I am one of those ‘hold outs’ that can’t quite get into reading on our electronic devices. We do have a Kindle and I use it occasionally for informational reading, but it is just not the same. However, life is busy and I do not have time to read every book we want to read.

That is where audio books come into play in our family. We have found audio books to be a great way to supplement our other reading and give our family hours of enjoyment in situations where traditional reading isn’t really feasible.

How to Use Audio Books in Your Homeschool

There are multiple ways to use audio books. The most common for our family is listening while we ride. Whether a short jaunt to grandma’s house or a long road trip the audio books help make traveling with children a much more pleasurable experience.

We have found that having that story going helps keep them from getting bored and irritated with each other. It also supplements my read alouds and helps to give us that common experience of a story.

Another great use of audio books is during quiet time for children who are not yet reading. As my children out grew their naps I found that it was still beneficial for them to have a quiet time in the afternoon and having an audio book to listen to can help ease that transition and keep them quietly in their rooms.

Audio Books for Struggling Readers

Audio books are also beneficial for struggling readers. You can have them listen to the audio to hear information or stories that they would not otherwise be able to read or to reinforce content written above their grade level. For example, our Apologia Science text is available on audio.

You can also have them use the audio and book together to strengthen reading skills. By following along in their books with the audio their comprehension is increased but they are still getting reading practice which is so important for struggling readers. It is much harder to enjoy something that is a struggle, so increasing that fluency is important.

Where Do You Find Audio Books?

I am often asked where to find good audio books. We use a variety of resources for finding great audio books. One of the most versatile is Audible which is a subscription service that you can use to download audio books. (You can try free for a month and get two free books.

Also, you can cancel at any time and you keep the ones you have already purchased) In addition to the credits we get from our Audible subscription, we can often find additional books on Audible for very reasonable prices. They also download easily onto our Kindle making them very easy for us to take with us and listen on the road.

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Another great resource for audio books is Heirloom Audio. Heirloom does great dramatizations of GA Henty books. These books are rich in history, story, and moral character. The children love them for the excitement and I love them for the lessons they teach.

Focus on the Family radio theatre is another great option for dramatized audio books. They feature mostly classic books like The Secret Garden, Anne of Green Gables, or our personal favorite The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe.

There are many great stories that you could start with depending on the ages and interests of your family. As I mentioned above we love The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe and the entire Chronicles of Narnia series. The Tales of Beatrix Potter is another great one to start with, especially if you have younger children. Recently we have found the Green Ember Series.

What Audio Books Do You Enjoy?

Audio books are a great way to support and supplement your other reading times. Whether you are listening just for enjoyment or education there are many wonderful options available. What is your favorite audio book?

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.

Check out all of the other 5 day blog hop posts over on the Crew Blog: Fostering Independence

Planet 316 Story Bible App Review

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When I asked to be on the review team for Planet 316 Story Bible and the companion Planet 316 Story Bible App I was thinking about my four year old but it turns out that my 10 year old enjoyed it as well. This is a beautifully illustrated children’s book of Bible stories and a really neat app by Planet 316 and WorthyKids/Ideals.

When we first started using it I would sit down with my four year old and let him pick the stories and we would use the app together. My 10 year old saw us looking at the book and app and asked to use it as well. While the stories were geared towards a younger audience she really enjoyed the technology aspect of it and it became something they could do together.

As you chose a story you could aim your phone or certain tablets (apple products) at the pages of the book and make the people and animals ‘come to life.’ They would move and talk on the screen adding an extra dimension to the reading experience. For example on the page where Noah is loading the Ark he says, “elephants check, giraffes check.” and if you touch the animals they make their animal sounds.

In looking at the book itself the illustrations are colorful and beautifully done. My son enjoyed looking through them even when he wasn’t able to use the app or have someone read to him. I also really liked that each story included the scripture reference for where it came from so that you could look it up and read the actual scripture if you chose to do so. Most of the stories are only a page or two which was a great length for keeping the attention of younger children.

We had the benefit of having this book and app for Easter this year so I used the stories leading up to Easter both with my son and on Easter Sunday in my Pre-K class at church. The children loved the stories. My son kept asking me to read them again. When I asked him his favorite stories he showed me the story where Adam was naming the animals and Noah’s Ark first but then he started showing me almost all of them and saying, “and this one.” I think it is safe to say he enjoyed all of the stories we have read so far.
My one complaint is that it was a big difficult to line up and see using my phone. The app worked on the phone but holding the book and lining up the small screen on my phone so that both myself and the children could see the characters on the phone screen was a little bit difficult. I think using a compatible tablet would make that a lot easier but we did not have a tablet that would work with the app at this time.

All in all I found this to be a fun and engaging activity to do with my four year old. I think it would be most engaging for the preschool and early elementary ages though as in our house, older siblings may enjoy using it with the younger children. This would not replace our family Bible time but was a great supplement. Check out the Planet 316 Story Bible and the companion Planet 316 Story Bible App and let me know what you think.

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Where Oh Where Do We Read?

When I was growing up I loved to read and read every chance I had. In the car, on the boat, or at my desk at school my nose was in a book. These days my preferred reading locations are in the swing on my front porch or a chair at the beach (I said favorite not most frequent). Sometimes we forget that if we as adults would rather read somewhere comfortable and happy our children probably would too. I think it is important, especially with those that do not love reading yet, not to make reading something you only do at a desk during ‘school’, we need to ignite the flame of reading passion!

Start those fond thoughts of reading by doing fun family read alouds in a comfortable place at home. My littles like to be in my lap in the recliner, while my bigger children gather on the couch to hear me read. This helps them see reading in a positive light as a fun activity, not just boring schoolwork.

We also love to read outside. Sometimes I read aloud and sometimes it is the older children reading to themselves. During these beautiful spring days, we like to take a large blanket or tablecloth and spread it in the grass so they can lay down and read while getting a bit of sunshine and fresh air. A tablecloth may seem like an odd choice but I find they are often easier to clean than the blankets if the grass gets stuck to them. Sometimes, they use our front porch or string their hammocks from the playset out back.

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We have the benefit of taking a lot of day trips as we travel with my husband on business. This means we get to see a lot of great places but it also means we sometimes spend a lot of time in the car. Reading in the car is a great way to pass the time and get in more reading. Even my four year old brings books to look at the pictures while we ride.

When we are reading during our ‘school time’ and I need the children to stay with me and not spread out into other locations they have comfortable places with-in our school room. They have large pillows or bean bags that they can sit in and for Christmas they received these hanging pod chairs that they can use in their rooms or in our school room. They love being able to just relax and read. One of my favorite parts of our school room is the window seat that my husband built for me to be able to sit and read to our children. It might be a bit silly but I had always wanted a window seat where I could curl up and read.

There are many other places to read. The important thing is to remember that reading does not have to happen in a desk or in isolation. By reading in comfortable places and various times we start to help our children realize that reading is a pleasurable adventure and not just ‘boring schoolwork’. I know that most of my fond memories of reading did not occur sitting at a desk. I encourage you to get out a good book, or your tablet and read! Try a new place, a new time, or maybe a new genre.

Tell us in the comments where you like to read!

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https://www.linkytools.com/thumbnail_linky_include.aspx?id=285486

Keeping the Read aloud Revival Alive

A+ Interactive Family Math Review

With a preschooler and a new baby in the house I have been working towards more independent/self study lessons for the older children. So I was grateful for the opportunity to review the Family Math Package by A+ Interactive Math (by A+ TutorSoft Inc.) with my oldest son. He is a sixth grader who has typically done well in math but struggled some this year with decimals and fractions this year.

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This program provides online lessons and practice questions followed by online quizzes and tests. When we got started I realized that I needed to show him where to take the quizzes and help him with general navigation around the program’s interface. After that initial help he was able to operate the system independently. I loved that the practice questions allowed him to go back and fix mistakes but the quizzes showed me the score he received on his first attempt. If a child does poorly on an attempt, you can have a new quiz created for them to complete. Since we chose the Family Math Package we had the ability to place him in the grade level that we felt best fit his needs and chose the lessons I wanted him to work on. The Family Math Package allows you to use the programmed order or skipped around to work on the areas of highest need.

We have found that it takes my son about 15-20 minutes to do a daily lesson including practice problems. This length of time is nice for us because it fits well into our philosophy of short lessons to keep attention and it is easy to fit into a busy day. He does work through problems reasonably quickly and it could take a bit longer if you have a student that works at a slower pace.

When I reviewed the first quiz result I was shocked that he only scored a 20/100. Normally he’s pretty good at testing, and the first lesson should have been a review for him. So, I asked him about it. “Mom, I thought I could only use the computer. I didn’t use any scratch paper.” Sometimes he does follow instructions! The moral of this anecdote; if your learners are new to online math it may be worth it to encourage them to work their problems out on paper before answering.

Once he understood how the lessons worked and that he could use his pencil and paper to figure the answers things went smoothly. This week he even came up to me all excited, “Mom, I got a 100, that is three 100s in a row!”

I love all of the reports and data that I can access to keep track of how he is doing without having to constantly look over his shoulder. I can see how he did on the practices and worksheets, what his averages are, what lessons he has completed, and other useful reports from the admin panel. You can see some examples of reports that I had for my son below.

We have enjoyed using this program. For our family, I do not think it would work as a standalone math program this year. My son needs a bit more instruction and practice but it made an excellent review for him and helped him understand some areas he had been struggling with. With the instruction, practice, and quizzes it could be a complete math program for many students depending on the ease at which they learn new math concepts. I intend to use this program to continue reinforcing math concepts and introduce new concepts. He enjoyed the immediate feedback of the online grading and the ability to go back and see what he missed.

If you are looking to foster some independence in math or to review skills that your child is struggling with I suggest checking out the Family Math Package by A+ Interactive Math (by A+ TutorSoft Inc.). If you want even more automation they also offer an Adaptive Math Curriculum that has the student go through pretests and then gives them lessons based on the results of the pretests. You can click below to read reviews about that program from some of the other Crew members.

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Help Teaching Pro Subscription Review

When I agreed to review the one year subscription to Help Teaching Pro by HelpTeaching.com I was expecting to use it with my older two children (ages 10 and 11). However, as we got into the review I found that it also had some great printables for my younger son who turned four during the review period.

For my four year old, I printed off lots of worksheets. He loves to ‘do school’ when my older children are doing school and while we do lots of hands on activities he likes to have a few worksheets that he can complete. There were some wonderful worksheets for working on various preschool concepts. We focused mainly on the numbers and shapes worksheets with him because that is something he enjoys learning more about and had recently been working on. They were short and simple which I think is important when you are dealing with preschoolers and he enjoyed completing them. As I look at planning for next year I intend to continue to use these types of worksheets to supplement our hands on activities.

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The older children were more interested in the lessons that are offered as a part of this subscription. There are lessons on a wide variety of topics and subjects but we chose to focus mainly on the various prefix and suffix lessons. These were short video lessons with a quiz that could be taken after the lesson. We worked through them together and the children seemed to enjoy them.

We are also using some of the ready to use math worksheets for review of concepts that they were struggling with this year in math as we prepare for our end of year testing. I have found that printing the worksheets and having the children complete them is best for my students, but they do have the option of online completion which may be a great tool for other families. With that option you can schedule it for a certain day and time and make it timed or untimed.

There are lessons for math, English language arts, science, and social studies. In addition to those categories, the printable worksheets also include seasonal activities, art, music, physical education/health, and vocational education, There are even sections of graphic organizers and study skills.

They have a test maker option that I think could be a great time saver if you are creating tests. You can either use questions from their test bank based on grade level, subject, and topic or you can add your own questions. There is also a worksheet component to this feature that allows you to create math worksheets and games. In the games section you could make a word search using whatever selection of words you want to use. This is a great review for spelling or vocabulary words.

I think there is a wealth of information and resources in this subscription. I do wish that the lesson options were a bit more comprehensive as I think some subjects and ages are covered much better than others. However, there are many great printable worksheets and you can even generate your own tests and worksheets. For most families this is not going to be a complete curriculum but a great supplement. I think Help Teaching Pro would be most helpful to families that were looking for more practice or review or those looking for resources in creating their own lessons.

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Apologia Exploring Creation with Human Anatomy and Physiology Review

I am excited to share my review of Exploring Creation with Human Anatomy and Physiology by Apologia with you today, but first I want to give you a little back story. When I first started homeschooling almost six years ago I started with a ‘box’ curriculum. I figured out pretty quickly that it was not working for us and started creating my own science curriculum. Part of our studies that year included a study of the planets and a family member suggested that I check out Apologia’s Astronomy book as a resource. The children loved it and we ended up using it for the entire semester instead of just the month that we had planned on spending on astronomy. We have been using Apologia ever since. We have enjoyed each book that we tried and Exploring Creation with Human Anatomy and Physiology is no exception.

Apologia sent us the text, Junior Notebooking Journal, Notebooking Journal, and the MP3 CD. When it came in the mail, the children were thrilled to be able to ‘un-box’ their new goodies. My husband has more of a science background than I do and enjoys anatomy so we decided to do this science in the evenings as a family to allow him the opportunity to participate. We all gathered in the living room and my husband would read aloud a section or two of the text and then we would discuss what he had read.

As we went through we did many of the “try this” activities that are included. These are one of my many favorite parts of the curriculum because they provide hands on activities that are quick and easy and often need little to no advance preparation. For example, in the second lesson where we were learning about bones of them simply had the children hit a table with their hands and then hit the table with a cushion between their hands and the table. This helped to demonstrate the cushioning effect of cartilage between the bones.

There are also more in depth experiments at the end of the lessons and in the Notebooking Journals. The first lesson focuses on cells and the end project was making an edible cell using Jell-O and candy. That was certainly a hit with my kids. There are looking forward to some of the other experiments such as testing for Vitamin C and making a stethoscope.

While we did the reading and experiments together, the children worked through their notebooking journals on their own. My 6th grader used the regular Notebooking Journal and my daughter who is 4th/5th grade used the Junior Notebooking Journal. There are some activities and pages that are very similar but the Notebooking Journal is more involved. For example, in lesson one some of the pages are the same but the Junior Notebooking Journal has several coloring pages (which work great for keeping little hands busy while I read) and an extra ‘lapbooking’ style page. The Notebooking Journal has a crossword puzzle and review questions that are not in the Junior Notebooking Journal.

Did I tell you how much I love having the CD that goes along with this text? There are so many wonderful ways to incorporate it in our lessons. Sometimes we use the CDs to listen on the road. This is a great way to get some school done even on those busy days when we aren’t home. Also, my son loves to listen to audio books before bed and he can just put it into his CD player and listen to it, giving him a nice review of what we have learned so far. Since we do science together I have not used it to help a struggling reader, but I know several families that will allow the child to listen to the CD while they follow along in the book. The CD is the book read aloud word for word so this is a great support for struggling readers.

In case you couldn’t tell, we absolutely recommend this product. The science is in-depth and thorough but full of fun and easy hands on projects to make it all stick. You do need to know that it is written from a Christian creationist standpoint. This is a big positive for us and we love how it explains the role of the creator in the science, but we know that some people may wish for a different view point. While you are checking out Exploring Creation with Human Anatomy and Physiology you can also take a look at the books in this elementary series.

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Homeschool Organization: A Work in Progress

Organizing my homeschool is a constant work in progress. As life changes (adding a new baby, changing curriculum, changing schedules, etc) our systems need to bend and change. I am certainly no expert and I’m still learning what works best for our family even after almost six years of homeschool. However, I have found a few tricks that work well for us.

One idea that has made a big difference for us is giving each child a book bag. We have a ‘schoolroom’ that we often use for our schoolwork. However, when we are doing school outside, on the road, or in the kitchen books and papers tend to get strewn around and lost. Having a book bag for those items to be stored in when we are not using our normal room has helped tremendously.

539022_373593769375412_580442425_n — Our schoolroom before we finished setting it up!

Another big help for us in organizing was to sort our huge collection of books by general subject (history, religion, science, chapter books, etc). This helps us to find the books we need a bit easier. We are also using the free Libib App to catalogue our books, so that I don’t buy duplicates. We are still working on book organization but this has certainly made things easier and I think once we get all of the books catalogued it will be a very workable system.

The other major change that we made that was beneficial is giving the preschooler his own little corner of the room. He has shelves which house the special toys and items that he can play with during school time in boxes. Each box has several different activities and he is only allowed to take out one box at a time. This helps keep the mess from becoming overwhelming but still gives him activities to occupy him when I need to be working with the other children. Since we have a new baby joining us in the school room and because we seem to get less organized as the year goes on, I am hoping to revamp and reorganize the room over the summer. I’m hoping to use the book ” Organize Your Homeschool in 20 (ish) Days” which I found in the Ultimate Homemakers Bundle that was on sale last week. You can find the ebook on sale here.

What areas of homeschool organization do you struggle with? I’d also love to hear your favorite organization tips and tricks. Share with us in the comments what works well for you so that we can all learn from each other.

When you sign up for our 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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Homestead Homeschool: Our Livestock Show!!!

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I promised that I’d share the results of the livestock show with you! The children had so much fun and learned so much. This was an all day event as we were there before 9 am and did not leave until almost 9 pm. I think we were all exhausted when it was over but it was a day well spent.

Elizabeth took her goat out in the ring a total of four times, once as a helper in the special needs show, once to be judged on showmanship, once to have the animal judged in the market class, and then for the final ‘auction’. She was awarded Reserve Champion (2nd place) for showmanship and 6th place for market class!

Matthew had three opportunities to take his pig in the ring, showmanship, market, and auction. He received 4th place in showmanship and 3rd place in market class. He did a great job and showed a tremendous improvement in control of his animal from last year. We were so proud of both of them.

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I hope you enjoy these pictures from the show. If you want to know more about their animals make sure you check out, Homestead Homeschool: Our 4-H Goat and Homesteading Homeschool: Our 4H Pig where I interviewed the children about their animals. Their next step will be to complete a project record book detailing their experiences and what they learned in the process. This is a great way for them to practice writing skills, typing skills, and financial math concepts. I love that they get a chance to use the things we are learning in a practical setting. It really helps them understand why they need the skills I am teaching them. Anyone else enjoy 4H projects?

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Deals and Freebies

Don’t Forget Our Giveaway Going On Now at Launch Day and a Livestock Show!

Free Poetry Pack from Write Shop!! 39 page PDF for grades 3-9

Sign-up Now for this FREE challenge that starts Monday! Don’t forget to sign up for the 5-day no-prep crafts challenge from Jamie at Hands On As We Grow. The deadline is fast approaching! It’s perfect for preschoolers to get crafty without the hassle! Click here to learn more!

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5 Days of For the Love of Reading

5 Days...For the Love of Reading!

I’m so excited to bring you a 5 day series, “For the Love of Reading”. Each day I will feature a short post on a different way to encourage a love of reading in your children. We will talk about audio books, a few favorite book series, Historical fiction (including an author interview), book parties, and location, location, location. These will be short daily posts each day that week. If you have any questions about encouraging a love for reading, ask them in the comments and I will try to answer them in one of our blog posts.

In addition I will be part of a blog hop featuring a variety of homeschool topics during those 5 days. There will be bloggers talking about history, books, manners, home ec and so much more. Check back each day for my post and a link to check out all of the others that are participating. If this sounds like fun make sure you subscribe to the blog to get notifications each time a post goes live!

Day 1: Where Oh Where Do We Read?

Day 2: Reading With Your Ears

Day 3:Keep Them Reading…Our Favorite Series

Day 4: History Through Reading

Day 5: It’s Time To Party (and Read)

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PS. On an unrelated but important note the Ultimate Homemaking Bundle for 2018 is out and has some really awesome stuff. There are lots of products I’m excited to read and check out but two of my favorite are “Teach me to Serve, 99 Ways Preschoolers Can Learn to Serve and Bless Others” and “Organize Your Homeschool in 20 (ish) Days” which sounds like a great summer project for me because we seem to be over run with homeschooling materials!! Check out the Ultimate Homemaking Bundle here. If you are not familiar with the concept, these are greatly discounted bundles that are only available for a limited time. This one includes 62 ebooks, 33 courses, 34 Printables, and 8 bonuses. I will never be able to read and use them all but just a few of them are worth more than the discounted price on the bundle!

Princess Cut: A Family Movie Review

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Am I the only one that has a hard time finding movies that are appropriate for our whole family but still interesting for the adults? So I was thankful to have the opportunity to review Princess Cut by Watchman Pictures. While I may be the one ‘officially’ reviewing this movie, we watching it together as a family movie night. The children were thrilled because we went all out and bought pizza to eat while we gathered in the living room to watch the movie.

As we started to watch the movie the first thing that caught the attention of the children was that it took place in our home state at a location that was very near a town where we have visited. The movie portrays a Christian young woman and her journey towards finding real love. Without spoiling too much of the plot, I can say that there are a few twists and turns in her journey that really surprised my children. She had setbacks but as any good romance movie should, it had a happy ending. One thing that stood out to me was how well it portrayed her relationship with her parents and how they were there to help guide her on this journey. It did not make it out to be a perfect relationship where no one made mistakes, but it showed how they could forgive and move forward after mistakes were made. I look ahead into my own daughter’s future and hope that we can one day (many years from now) help her along her own journey to finding real love.

The one ‘flaw’ that I noticed in the movie was that the timeline seemed a bit rushed. The entire course of the movie took place in less than one full crop season but lots of major decisions and relationships took place during that short amount of time. My children at 10 and 11 did not notice, but had they been a bit older we would have had a conversation about how they shortened things for the sake of the movie but in life those processes would take place over months or maybe even years. This certainly did not ruin the movie for us but is something that may be worth a conversation with your teenagers after watching the movie.

So what did everyone think? My 10 year old daughter said, ” I thought is was a good movie but I wish it had shown the wedding.” Before we started watching the movie, my eleven year old son grabbed a blanket and said he was going to use it to cover his eyes if they started any of that ‘kissing’ stuff as he does not much like ‘romantic’ movies. However, when I asked him after the movie what he thought he said that it was a good movie and he liked all of the surprising twists and events. My husband, who prefers historical films, watches these types of movies with me because he loves me. His thoughts were that is was like, a “Hallmark movie with Christian values”.

All in all, our family really enjoyed watching this movie. It was appropriate for the entire family without being boring for the adults. We felt that it shared values that are important to our family in a way that did not come across as ‘preachy’ or dull. I can wholeheartedly recommend Princess Cut to anyone looking for a fun romance with Christian values.

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