This post contains affiliate links - using affiliate links from Homeschool Coffee Break helps fuel this blog and our homeschool - thank you!
Welcome to Homeschool Highlights!
This weekly link-up is your opportunity to share some highlights of what is happening in your homeschool and in your world each week. If you write a wrap-up post at the end of each week, like I've been doing, we'd love to see what you're busy with from week to week. If you'd like to pick a favorite post from your week that spotlights a resource or activity in your homeschool that you'd like to tell others about, we're interested in those too. I'm keeping the guidelines as simple as I can, and they will appear at the bottom of each post, along with the link tool. I look forward to getting to know you, and I hope this will be a source of encouragement and good ideas for all of us.
If you would be interested in taking over this link-up, please let me know! I've loved hosting you, but because my youngest has graduated and my schedule is changing, I would love to pass the baton to someone else.
If you would be interested in taking over this link-up, please let me know! I've loved hosting you, but because my youngest has graduated and my schedule is changing, I would love to pass the baton to someone else.
Grab a cup of coffee and let's get started!
This week's news . . . I'll keep the news section very brief this week, because I want to leave room to talk about the Homeschool Review Crew year in review, and also because I don't think there was a lot that happened during the week that was newsworthy. We went to church. We worked. We went to college and to co-op. And that about sums it up!
Our car is still in the body shop, so I am still playing chauffeur for Kennady. (She's too young to legally drive a rental vehicle in our state.) This week all her classes were cancelled on Wednesday, so instead of college that day, we went to get our hair done in the morning. Then after a quick lunch at home, we picked up Meaghan and had a girls day out shopping at the big Community Aid Thrift Store!
Our car is still in the body shop, so I am still playing chauffeur for Kennady. (She's too young to legally drive a rental vehicle in our state.) This week all her classes were cancelled on Wednesday, so instead of college that day, we went to get our hair done in the morning. Then after a quick lunch at home, we picked up Meaghan and had a girls day out shopping at the big Community Aid Thrift Store!
The leaves on the gingko tree outside my workplace all fell at once, it seemed.
And the weather got noticeably colder this week, with frost a couple of mornings and a few snowflakes sighted!
What I'm Highlighting . . . I'm highlighting a few favorite Crew review products from 2019. As the Review Crew year comes to a close, Crew members get to vote for their favorite review products in a bunch of different categories. The official results are on the Crew blog today, and many Crew members will be linking up their posts sharing their favorites too. We didn't do a whole lot of reviews this year, but here are the ones that were real standouts for us:
Creating A Masterpiece ~ Drawing Lessons ~ - Art lessons have always been well received in our homeschool, and our most recent experience with Creating A Masterpiece has been a lot of fun! Kennady and I have both working on drawing lessons using this awesome online instruction.
As with the rest of the Creating a Masterpiece program, this is an impressive art instruction program that helps students produce beautiful high quality art. It's enjoyable and personally rewarding, which makes it even easier for me to give it my warm recommendation. Take a look at the free Sample Project and see what you think!
**********
Adventure in Jerusalem - We've been able to review all of the Heirloom Audio adventure stories (except the very first one) and have loved each one! We got to review the latest, For The Temple, early this year and it was so good. I really don't think there's an age limit on these audio adventures!
Adventure in Jerusalem - We've been able to review all of the Heirloom Audio adventure stories (except the very first one) and have loved each one! We got to review the latest, For The Temple, early this year and it was so good. I really don't think there's an age limit on these audio adventures!
We have never been disappointed in an Heirloom Audio Adventure, and For The Temple was another exciting ride through history that entertained us while teaching history and some important Bible and character lessons as well. I continue to recommend all of these stories for intriguing add-ons to history study, and for entertaining the whole family on road trips!
**********
A Drive Thru History of the Early Church - The Drive Thru HistoryⓇ series is another past favorite that made an appearance in our 2019 reviews. The latest set of DVDs, "Acts to Revelation", is an exciting ride through the history of the early church of Acts, the New Testament epistles, and the book of Revelation. My husband and I thoroughly enjoyed the whole series and recently used it for an adult small group study at our church. Entertaining and educational!
Victus Study Skills - A System for Effective Study - This workbook and student planner set is probably the most useful product we reviewed this year. Victus Study Skills System provides much-needed instruction on HOW to study, and helps students develop good study habits, learn time management, set goals, and stay motivated. And there are great pointers and helps for note taking, test taking, comprehension, and information recall. It's available for all ages from elementary through college. Kennady mostly enjoyed going through the workbook and definitely saw the value in learning these skills.
Getting Ready to Write at the College Level - Although this online writing course was much more intense, and therefore had less fun factor, I think it's an incredibly valuable resource for college bound students! College-Ready Writing Essentials™ was hard work and Kennady wouldn't say she enjoyed every minute, but it was so helpful and provided excellent preparation for her college writing.
Fixing Grammar With IEW - And finally, another favorite in our homeschool has been Institute for Excellence in Writing (IEW). We've enjoyed many of their products, and the Fix It! Grammar series was one that was very well-suited to Kennady's learning style. So yes, even as a high school senior, she benefited from the short story-book style of learning grammar and punctuation.
A Drive Thru History of the Early Church - The Drive Thru HistoryⓇ series is another past favorite that made an appearance in our 2019 reviews. The latest set of DVDs, "Acts to Revelation", is an exciting ride through the history of the early church of Acts, the New Testament epistles, and the book of Revelation. My husband and I thoroughly enjoyed the whole series and recently used it for an adult small group study at our church. Entertaining and educational!
Drive Thru HistoryⓇ is a fast-paced video series in which host Dave Stotts takes driving trips through the places where major historical events took place. His commentary provides facts and interesting background information about the geography, history, and significance. There's witty asides and humorous observations throughout, and he also tells you about the vehicles he's driving. Dave likes to try out local foods, so every now and again he'll tell you about a great local specialty. History is presented in story form, along with the places and artifacts connected to it. Dave is enjoying every minute of the road trip and he keeps viewers entertained and engaged.**********
Victus Study Skills - A System for Effective Study - This workbook and student planner set is probably the most useful product we reviewed this year. Victus Study Skills System provides much-needed instruction on HOW to study, and helps students develop good study habits, learn time management, set goals, and stay motivated. And there are great pointers and helps for note taking, test taking, comprehension, and information recall. It's available for all ages from elementary through college. Kennady mostly enjoyed going through the workbook and definitely saw the value in learning these skills.
If I'd had this system earlier, I would have started off each school year with this as part of our educational boot camp. It would be an awesome introduction to a new school year, giving kids those study skills and time management tips in time for them to establish good habits right from the start. I'm really hoping that the Student Planner and College Student Workbook will be valuable tools for Kennady as she moves on in her education.**********
Getting Ready to Write at the College Level - Although this online writing course was much more intense, and therefore had less fun factor, I think it's an incredibly valuable resource for college bound students! College-Ready Writing Essentials™ was hard work and Kennady wouldn't say she enjoyed every minute, but it was so helpful and provided excellent preparation for her college writing.
This is an excellent intensive course that would be very suitable for a high school senior, a motivated high school junior, or for a summer preparation course for a high school graduate. It is not light or casual, but takes a serious approach to building the necessary thinking and writing skills for students who want to be well prepared for college academics.**********
Fixing Grammar With IEW - And finally, another favorite in our homeschool has been Institute for Excellence in Writing (IEW). We've enjoyed many of their products, and the Fix It! Grammar series was one that was very well-suited to Kennady's learning style. So yes, even as a high school senior, she benefited from the short story-book style of learning grammar and punctuation.
I really like the easy conversational method of teaching grammar using Fix It! Grammar and lessons that could be completed in short chunks of time are pretty valuable in our hectic schedule. It doesn't feel like a boring grammar drill when we can talk through the corrections and the vocabulary, and follow an interesting story as we do it. For an easily adaptable grammar program for a wide age range, Fix It! Grammar is a great choice that should keep the attention of students and teachers alike.**********
Take a look in the sidebar to see all the reviews we did for the Homeschool Review Crew this year. For lots more reviews of these and many other products, visit the Homeschool Review Crew blog. And here they are! The 2019 Blue Ribbon Award Winners as chosen by the entire Homeschool Review Crew! See them all at the Crew blog: Meet the Homeschool Review Crew Favorites for 2019
On my blogs last week . . .
And on my book blog, Just A Second:
Wordless Wednesday - Gingko Leaves
Scripture and a Snapshot - The Blessing
Just A Second is where I share book reviews and other book-related things, and update on what's on my bookshelf. This week I've been reading:
The Friendly Persuasion by Jessamyn West
Penny For Your Secrets by Anna Lee Huber
Undertones by L.S. Popovich
A parting shot . . .
Grab the button and link up with Homeschool Highlights!
Homeschool Highlights guidelines:
- Your blog should be family-friendly content, and your post should include something about homeschooling. If I don't see homeschooling in it, I might have to delete the link, and I feel bad when I need to do that.
- Please link directly to your post, not your blog's homepage.
- Please include a link in your post to Homeschool Coffee Break - you may use the graphic above if you wish.
- Visit a couple of the other bloggers and comment or share.
Don't miss a coffee break! Subscribe to Homeschool Coffee Break by Email! ©2006-2019 Homeschool Coffee Break. All rights reserved. All text, photographs, artwork, and other content may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form without the written consent of the author. http://kympossibleblog.blogspot.com/
We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites.
Posts
1 comments:
it was great to see your favourites. you have me intrigued by victus study skills.
Post a Comment
I love comments! It's like visiting over a virtual cup of coffee.