Sex by Design from Abby Ludvigson ~ A Homeschool Crew Review

If there is one subject that can be stressful to discuss as parents with our children, it's sex. Add in the fact that we are trying to teach them to lead a lifestyle that involves purity, and it becomes more than just a talk about the "birds and the bees." We have had the chance to review a home study course that helps you tackle this sensitive subject called Sex by Design written and taught by Abby Ludvigson.

We have a very open floor when it comes to talking about sex with our teenage children. I have always said that I want them to feel comfortable in coming to us with any questions that they might have. Teaching them to wait for marriage and backing it with Biblical support is something that a lot of parent's are faced with. Right now we have a 16 year old daughter who is just starting to date so this topic has been at the forefront of a lot of conversations lately. Abby Ludvigson helps parents approach this subject because she not only teaches about it, she has lived a life of purity herself.

Who is Abby Ludvigson? Abby is an urban missionary who had a strong desire to understand the issues youth are faced with today. She is also very passionate about living out the life of purity for herself, and to be a role model for today's youth. She understands what it's like to wait for your true love and the trials that come with that. Abby decided to design a curriculum to support and encourage parents of teens to help them along with this important topic.

I know as a parent that this can be a sensitive topic. Every day our children are exposed to sex. It's on TV, all over the Internet, in books, and certainly talked about in their schools. As parents, we want to make sure our children are prepared for this as they come into their teen years. We want them to have a plan before they are put into situations that require them to make what we call adult decisions. With Abby's help, we can put a plan in place, and hopefully arm them with knowledge to help them focus on purity and feel prepared.

Sex by Design is made up of multiple components, but the three main parts are the video series, the Parent Edition, and Teen edition books. Abby is very open with parents about what is being taught, and that she isn't trying to replace them, but support them. She gives parents a video to watch beforehand and tells you that the first thing you should do is watch her videos and get a feel for what the program is about.

The curriculum is broken down into seven segments or topics.

• Segment 1 ~ Plan Ahead: Living Pure in a Sex Saturated Culture
• Segment 2 ~ Counting the Cost: Every Decision has a Price Tag
• Segment 3 ~ Dating: Doing Relationships God's Way
• Segment 4 ~ Sex: God's Purpose and Plan
• Segment 5 ~ Modesty: God Cares What I Wear
• Segment 6 ~ Pornography: Its Deception and & Steps to Get Out or Stay Out
• Segment 7 ~ Secondary Virginity: Running Back to God

Some of these topics may seem a little intimidating, but honestly Abby is very sensitive in how she covers each topic. This program is not meant to be something that is taken at a fast pace. Abby wants you to take time to cover each topic in depth and really dig in to it. There are two approaches to it. You can do a run through of all topics and then go back through it a second time and dig deeper. Or, you can take the approach we are, and take it slow on the first round, digging deeper into topics that you feel are most important as you go. 

We have worked through the first two Segments. We are still actually on Segment 2 because I feel it's a very important topic. When we sit down to have a lesson, we first talk about what is going to be discussed, and then we watch the video. I love the videos because the teens get to hear Abby herself teach each topic. Like I said before, Abby does a great job in covering the topics in a sensitive manor, but also really grabbing the teens attention.  

While watching the video, Edyn likes to use the Film Outline in her book to take notes. This gives her something to look back at for quick references. The book even has a full Film Script that she can go back over and read again if she needs to. We then move on to the Follow Up/Discuss It questions. This is where you can really dig deep and foster some great conversations with your teen about the subject that is being discussed. The next part of the segment called Personalize it is where your teen can take what was being taught and apply it to their life. They can take some time to themselves and work on the Bible study that Abby includes in the back of the book. It even gives them time to really read, apply, and memorize some of the scriptures that are in the book to apply it to their lives. Lastly Abby has a section called Apply It. There are additional resources added in, and even other books that Abby suggests that follow along with the topic at hand. 

Here's a little overview of what we've done so far. In Abby's first Segment she talks about planning ahead. She wants teens to have a game plan before they are put into difficult situations. She talks about when she was 12 and making a personal pact with herself to live a life of purity. She even took steps to make it more concrete in her life such as signing a purity pledge, getting a purity ring, and even having a special picture frame for her future husband. Edyn had already started this process herself, because she too at a young age decided that she wanted to live a life of purity. She has a purity ring that she wears daily, and it means a lot to her. It says True Love Waits, and it's a constant reminder to her WHY she wants to wait for marriage. 

The second Segment is all about the cost of having sex before you're ready. Abby covers topics such has pregnancy, STD's and even the emotional toll sex can take on you if you're not ready. One of the things that has embedded itself into Edyn and Gavin's mind is the "Sexual Exposure Chart" that Abby shows. This chart gives you numbers and what it looks like to have multiple sexual partners. It's pretty scary to see it like that. Every decision that's made involving sex can have a consequence whether good or bad.

The five Segments following continue to talk about important topics in a teen's life. I am looking forward to digging into the next one because it talks about dating someone with the same values and sticking to your convictions. 

Sex by Design has been a very welcoming curriculum, and couldn't have come at a better time. Taking the time to talk to our teens about the importance of waiting and living a life of purity is so important in this day and age. I love having the support from Abby Ludvigson in the form of this program to help the discussion move along a little smoother, and help me to give my teens the knowledge they need to live the life that God designed for them. 

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Time at our favorite park...

We love to take a day and head out to our favorite park! It was a beautiful day today so we decided to ditch our books and get out into nature!

This next series of photos is me trying to get them to look out at the water...you can see how well it went. 

Reading Eggs ~ A Homeschool Crew Review

Every once in awhile we will do a review for a product that I didn't even realize we would use every single day. Gavin has had so much fun playing online learning games using Reading Eggs.

I'm always looking for anything that is educational, but also fun. Unfortunately Gavin isn't a big fan of reading, so I love to introduce programs to him that he can use to reinforce his reading, vocabulary, spelling, etc. Reading Eggs does all of this plus so much more. I thought Gavin would be too old for this program when I first read about it, even though it said that it went up to age 13. I was very wrong because each lesson that he has done has not been easy, but challenging for him!

Reading Eggs is available for ages 2 to 13. The levels are age appropriate with different engaging games, songs, and activities. In addition to the online activities they have just released their new program guides for grades K - 2nd grade that specifically support homeschoolers! These 36 week guides provide week by week detailed overviews so that you are able to track your child's learning. They can be found in the Parent Dashboard under the Bonus Material section.

The program is broken down as:

Reading Eggs Junior ~ This is what they call First Steps and it is for ages 2 to 4 years old. Games, videos and even books will help your toddler start building their pre-reading skills.

Reading Eggs 4-5 years ~ The skills here are geared for your child as they get ready to start school. It will include phonics, sight words, and essential reading skills that are age appropriate.

Reading Eggs 6-7 years ~ At this level your child will have lessons that focus on spelling, vocabulary, and comprehension.

Reading Eggspress for ages 7-13 ~ This is the level Gavin has been working on. Here they will have more structured comprehension lessons, spelling, and live games. We also LOVE the library that comes with it.

They even have an additional program called Mathseeds that they offer to reinforce your childs math skills! Mathseeds is geared for ages 3-9 and teaches your child the core principles of math using fun and interactive lessons.

How did we use this in our school?

Like I said, we have been using this every day. Gavin loves to do it and spends about 30 to 45 minutes on it a day. When we first started Reading Eggspress, I had Gav take the placement test, and it set him right up where he needed to be. He soon figured out that he had an avatar that he was going to be able to design and personalize. He loves doing this sort of thing so he dove right in. His avatar has an apartment that he can also design and personalize. The way it works is he will do his lessons for the day and he is rewarded with gold eggs. The gold eggs are used as currency to continue personalizing his apartment with decor, pets, furniture, and more! He LOVES this!

The dashboard that he starts with each day is brightly colored and easy to navigate. He can get to where he needs to be with the click of a button. As you can see he's already got 567 gold eggs saved up to buy some cool stuff at the mall!

He starts his day with the English Skills portion and right now he's working on spelling. The spelling takes him through different spelling rules such as homophones, plurals, vowels, and more. He's a decent speller, but has definitely been challenged with some of these words!

Next he moves on to his lesson. Each lesson is broken down into parts talking about a main book in general. It will take him through all kinds of different skills. He may look up a word in a dictionary and learn what part of speech it is. He may read an excerpt from a book and then answer reading comprehension questions about it. When he's done with that day's lesson, he will continue on down the path until he gets to the end where he will take a quiz. After each section of the "map" he will get a reward of gold eggs. This of course is the part he loves!

When he's finished with all of the lessons on that "map" he moves on to the next one.

When he's done with his lesson for the day, he heads to the library. This feature is super cool! There are hundreds of books here that he can read to earn more gold eggs! They offer different genres such has comedy, adventure, myth, Earth Science and so much more. He can even start a book and if he doesn't finish, he can book mark it for the next time he comes back. They even give you suggestions for the Book of the Day!

When he's finished with everything, he can go to the mall and spend his eggs, or he can save them which is what he's doing now.

I have to say again, this is an absolute amazing program. It is not only completely educational, but also so much fun for your child. Reading Eggs challenges your student and will improve their reading skills with fun and adventure! Right now they are offering a FREE 4 week trial, so you can test it out yourself! We love Reading Eggs and I am so happy we have found it!

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Single Membership from CTC Math ~ A Homeschool Crew Review

Finding a math program to fit your child's needs can sometimes be a daunting task. I had the chance to review this wonderful program last year, and Gavin loved it! You can imagine my excitement when I found out I would be able to review CTCMath's Single Membership this year, and that they are offering 60% off plus 6 bonus months right now!

Math can be a very stressful subject for some kids. With CTCMath, your child will have short and to the point lessons that are engaging and easily understood. The child is able to work at their own speed and can even stop and rewind the video if they need to. There are over 1400 math tutorials that teach the concepts of math in a step by step process. We love that the lessons are short enough to hold Gav's attention, but are very well laid out so that the concept is explained in full detail. You will have access to every grade offered with your membership! No having to choose just one single grade. Also, there are placement tests to see where your child falls in their program.

Are you homeschooling more than one child? I love CTCMath because with the Family Subscription, you can have math for everyone. It can be utilized as a full curriculum up until grade 8. They offer high school math along with it, but it becomes more of a supplement which is also wonderful. With CTCMath you will have 24/7 access to all of it everyday so that there is no rush to get it all in.

How do we use it in our school?

This is such an easy program to use, and getting it set up only takes minutes. One thing that I like when using an on-line program is that when they give you a parent/teacher log in and a student log in. CTCMath gives you both of those options.

While logged into the parent log-in, in a glance you can see your child's overall grade, activity, awards, and weekly reports. There is also an option to get a pdf in order to print out their grades if you need it.

Another option that is offered to you is setting up daily tasks for your child. We personally do not use this option because Gav just knows what he's supposed to do next. This is a great option to have though. For example, you could go in and set up the task that you want your student to do for Monday. You could even name it Monday's work. When they sign on under the student log in, it's ready for them to go under the tasks section and see their daily work. All the student has to do is click on that specific task and it will take them to the lesson. If you have the family subscription, then you can do this for multiple students. I can see where that would be a great help for keeping it all straight. 

So for Gav, this program is used daily. After he logs in, he goes to his daily lesson. Unless he had issues on the lesson before hand, he starts a new one. If he didn't understand the previous lesson, or just needs some extra practice, we redo it. 

The lessons are laid out one right after the other, and he can see what they are plus his grade/progress on each one from the student dashboard. He can even customize the colors of his dashboard which he loves. 

The lesson starts with a short video somewhere in the neighborhood of 4 to 9 minutes. This is where the concept that they are working on is explained in full detail with plenty of examples. He has watched quite few lessons, and has not had to come to me for extra help hardly at all. The lessons are clear and very easy to understand. He loves his "Australian teacher" and even asks to do his math lessons. That's a first for us!

When he's done with the video, he moves on to his questions. He keeps his pen and paper handy next to him to work out all of his problems, and then he adds his answer in to the computer. It's very straightforward and simple for him to do.

If he does good, which he normally does, the next day he will move on to the next lesson. If we feel like he needs additional help, he will redo the previous lesson. When he's finished with the entire group of lessons on a specific topic, I have him take one of the tests to make sure that he understands it all.

The only thing that I wish they could add is maybe an option to print out extra worksheets on each topic. I think it would make it easier to add extra reinforcement to each topic being taught. I don't think this takes away from the program at all, it's just something I would love to see as an extra option.

What did we think?

Well when your child asks to do math, and actually enjoys it, you love the program! He is doing so well right now, and has strengthened all of his math skills using CTCMath! I highly recommend this program to homeschoolers, or even public schoolers that need some extra supplemental help!

Don't forget that they are offering 60% off plus 6 bonus months right now! That is a fantastic price for this program!!

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Maths Online (Australia only)

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