Never Forget 9/11

Today we remember that awful day 17 years ago. It is definitely a day we will never forget.

GrammarPlanet ~ A Homeschool Crew Review

For the past few weeks we have been reviewing a free comprehensive online program called GrammarPlanet. GrammarPlanet is geared for kids aged 10 to 99, and it covers grammar, punctuation, and usage.

I was super excited to review this program, because I love grammar, and my kids do not. The fact that it was all online, and free was very appealing to me. (You can pay for an ad-free version if you prefer) I thought this would be a great way for my 7th grader who isn't a fan of grammar to get some good practice in. I made a teacher/parent account and immediately got Gavin all set up to start working. It was fast and easy to get started, and also very easy to add my student. He will have his own access to the program through his user name and password.

After logging in, your student will be brought to his/her dashboard. This is where they will go through each unit, and as of right now there are 13 different units available. The first thing you are to do is print off the notes for each unit. My printer is acting up, so we just had to pull them up on the computer. It would be good to have a folder or notebook of some sort to keep all of these notes handy for your student, even if they aren't working in GrammarPlanet.

Once the notes are printed, your student is ready to watch the video that coincides with that unit. It will introduce the topic such as nouns, articles, pronouns, etc., and even pause in the middle to make sure your student is paying attention and understanding what is being taught. It will ask a question about what is being discussed. and your student chooses the correct answer. 

 Some of the videos seemed to overwhelm Gavin with information. I could tell he was confused a little bit, so we would watch the video again. It was almost too much information for him to soak in at times. We moved on anyway so he could start the practice portion.  This is where he started getting frustrated. The first unit on nouns wasn't hard for him at all. I felt since he's in 7th grade, most of this would be second nature, and I was right. As we moved on, I could tell he was a little overwhelmed because the labeling process of the program made him completely flustered. What you were to do is go through and label the parts of the sentence. So in unit 3, the student was labeling articles, adjectives, common and proper nouns. If he labeled something wrong, especially with what they called wings, it would count against him. The wings hurt him a lot, and completely frustrated him.

If you get too many wrong, it will tell you that you need to review the video and notes, and even lock you out of the level. The parent/teacher will have to go in and unlock the level so that the student can move on. I am not a fan of this. I would have to log him out, then log myself in, unlock the level, then log myself out, and then him back in. It just seemed like a waste of time to me. I would have much rather it just not let him move on to the next level until the current level is mastered. Once you have completed the practice, and gotten most of them correct, you will take a test over the unit. I did like that it counted some parts of the sentence correct, and it wasn't just all wrong if a label was missed or missed labeled. It also lets you look at what your child missed on each sentence, so that's another plus.

We reviewed GrammarPlanet as a Beta testing. I ended up taking Gav off of the review due to him getting completely frustrated and overwhelmed with it. I think it has great potential, but I also think it is geared more for older kids like high school or college aged. I think it's just too confusing for younger students, especially those who struggle with grammar. I will say it was a great review for me since I took it over, but even I as an adult, I found some of it to be overwhelming. I failed Unit 3 THREE times before I got to move on. I was ready to throw in the towel myself! If they tweak things, and make this program a little less confusing, I think it can be fantastic. Until then, we probably won't be using it much.

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Jasper in a hat, and he's not happy about it!

Happy 17th Birthday Edyn Rae!!

Roadrunner in our yard!

We caught this guy walking all around our backyard. Took me a bit to figure out what he was, but my first instinct was roadrunner. Come to find out, I was correct!

God Schooling: How God Intended Children to Learn by Julie Polanco ~ A Homeschool Crew Review

I love a good encouraging homeschool book to read. For the last few weeks I've had the pleasure of reading God Schooling: How God Intended Children to Learn by Julie Polanco.

There are so many different ways to homeschool. You have your Charlotte Mason method, Classical style, Relaxed/Eclectic, and School at Home just to name a few. At some point or another along our homeschool journey, they have all intrigued me, and we have even tried a few different methods ourselves. The one that has always been a bit controversial, but that I also find super interesting is Unschooling. No, Unschooling is not being lazy and letting your kids do whatever they want to do. To me, if you're doing it right, it's almost the hardest style of learning to go with because as a parent, you have to be very pro-active in your child's learning. Most homeschool parents are pro-active, but this takes it to a whole new level.

This is where God Schooling comes in to play. First, let me tell you a little bit about the author, Julie Polanco. Julie, a wife and mom, has homeschooled her four children from the beginning and graduated their first child in 2016. She is a regular contributor for Old Schoolhouse Magazine and their Homeschooling With Heart blog. She has regular involvement in the homeschool community and teaches science and writing classes in her home and co-ops.

In her book God Schooling, Julie explains what unschooling or natural learning means to her and her family. The book, as the title states, is her views on how God intends for us to learn. It is broken down into two parts which are Dispelling Myths and Practice. When it comes to natural learning, or unschooling, I have found most people to either understand it and believe in it, or think that it's crazy. See when this type of learning is put into practice, there is no set curriculum. Your child learns on his own and learns about the things that he/she finds interesting. As a parent, you do everything possible to provide your child with what they want to learn about. Julie starts off the book by telling us how her children did not like being forced to learn what they were "supposed" to be learning. Through a lot of prayer God led her to Christian Unschooling.

When you get to the second part of the book, the author breaks down each stage of development. She will cover teaching children under the age of 8, teaching children ages 8 to 12, and then on to teenagers. For each section Julie will give you ways to incorporate learning into your child's life. My favorite chapter was Giving Teens the Wings to Fly because I have only teenagers now. I love the examples she gives of the teenagers who invented or did great things at such a young age! My two kids left at home who homeschool are very different learners. Edyn does not like to book learn. In fact I did mostly interest led homeschooling with her. As she became a teenager and I watched her grow more  and more into the young woman she is now, I let her have a little bit of lead on her education. She has never wanted to go to college, and I am not the type of parent who would ever make her, or make her feel like she's less than if she chooses not to go. I always left the option open for her. She would say "Mom, I have no need to learn Biology. I don't care to learn it because it will not help me in any way of what I want to do." See, as she grew and learned, and I gave her a little more authority over her own education, she realized that she wanted more than anything to be a realtor. It makes total sense. It's literally the perfect job for her. I totally think God led her down this path for a reason.

Now with my son who is 13, he has decided that he wants to be either an architect or an engineer. He realizes that he will have to go to college for this, so we will make sure that he is also set on the right path for that. Unlike Edyn, he doesn't mind learning about things he may not use in real life. He is not as much of a people person as Edyn, so he will definitely not be taking the same path as she will.

I love that the book is filled to the brim with scriptures that promote Christ led learning. Julie also gives you some discussion questions at the end of each chapter so you can write down your thoughts.

Now here's how I feel about it. I loved the book and found it to be an easy read. Is unschooling or natural learning for everyone? No. I think that everyone who was called to homeschool will do what's best for their family, or even each individual child. There were so many things that I agreed with, but I have trouble letting go completely. I will definitely let my children continue to have some say so in their education. I do want to emphasize that Julie is not promoting radical unschooling. That is an entirely different movement. I think this book is well worth the money and would be a great read for anyone who is even remotely interested in natural learning.

If you are interested in reading the e-book version of God Schooling, it will be on sale for half price until August 22!

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New book! Girl, Wash Your Face!

Started a new book this week, and will hopefully have time to write a review when I'm done. One chapter in and I'm hooked!!