Math Mammoth Review

Finding a math Curriculum that really works with your child is hard.  I am always very excited when I get to try a different company out and their program.  Math Mammoth's Complete Light Blue Series Grade 3 is what we got to stick our hands in.  The program is a downloadable program that you print the sheets as you go. Full set grade 3 download costs $34.00. (part A and B worktexts, answer keys, tests, cumulative reviews, a worksheet maker, and Soft-Pak)  Great thing is once you download it you can print as many sheets as you need or extras in case your child does bad on a sheet and needs more practice.

Kailea is just emerging over to the 3rd grade work so I was a bit worried on if it would be to much to start her.  However they start out with a good review to get you back into the swing and slowly gear you towards the harder work.

The lessons have a teachers guide with them that I was able to read over and get a grasp of what was going to be taught.  This also told what manipulative's could be used and would be needed (mostly things already in your home).  Also this section gave some sites for some games that go alone with the lesson.  That was a nice change of pace to review work we had learned and have some fun.

We do math daily for about 30-45 minutes at a time.  This was a perfect time range to complete our lessons and Fridays we made review game day.

Pro's to this curricula is:

• Most things you need for hands on you should already have in your home
• Printable so you can print as needed
• You can use with other children as needed
• Very affordable for a small budget.  You can even buy each section at a time for cheaper so you don't have to pay the full price upfront.
• They have a worksheet maker.  You can generate more worksheets on a topic your kid may need more practice with.

Con's for this curricula is:

• It is book work driven, so if your child is more hands on this is not fitting.
• Pages aren't full of frills and pictures, just straight to the point work.

Check out the free sample pages!

Math Mammoth Free Placement test!

My rant for the day.

I just need to vent a bit today.  I LOVE being back in the beautiful state of Arkansas but I have to say I am completely disappointed in the health system here.  As you know I am pregnant with no insurance.  I do not have much when it comes to an income either.  I called every OB in this town and not ONE will take you with a payment plan.  How greedy is this world becoming?  Yes I know they need money in order to run their practice but I am not saying I don't want to pay, I just cant pay the WHOLE lump sum up front.  My thyroid does not produce much so this is a big risk factor in pregnancy that can result in brain damage to the baby between 6-12 weeks if not taken care of.  I even had one clinic tell me they wouldn't even prescribe me Synthroid even if I needed it, wasn't their area even though they could and probably would test to see if it was low.  Then no clinics want to see you until your 10-12 weeks at that.  In Missouri I was in the OB with my first appointment by 4 1/2 weeks to make sure all was good and get me started on prenatals and such.  It scares me for what is to come through out the pregnancy and the delivery here.  It is sad that doctors in this age do not care about their patents anymore but the money instead.

Anyways I guess the reason for the posting is to ask my readers for some prayers along these next 7 months or so while I have this child. 

Check out the new Schoolhouse Library!

The Old Schoolhouse Magazine now has another great resource for homeschooling.  It is called  Schoolhouse Library!  For a very sweet price of $25 you get access to all of the following topics:

Art and Crafts

Bible

Economics

Electives

Encouragement

Geography

Government

Grammar

Spelling

Reading

Organization (with several planners)

Nature Study

Special Needs

And many more!

You will have access to 175+ ebooks and/or audio books all of which will help and encourage you through your homeschool journey.  Also pay attention to the fact that the $25 is a ONE TIME fee, you buy it once and its yours for as long as you want to use it!

Times are changing

So I found out I was pregnant the day before Mother's Day!  I was not expecting it at all but still is a welcomed surprise.  But it made me stop and see again that I am not in control of my life.  I do have free will, hence why I am an unwed pregnant mother at the moment, but there is still a power greater than me.  I think sometimes things happen so I will open my eyes up and reevaluate my life and my doings and get back on the straight path that I am supposed to be on.  I am not perfect Christian by any means, I make mistakes and one could argue that I make a lot of them. :)  I am still human and I know God still loves me.  It is funny to me though how many negative reactions I get from people because this will be baby #4 for me not because I am unmarried.  I do not like that I am having a pregnancy before I got married again but it happened.  Though I know that is the way it should have been.  However I have never seen in the Bible where God talks about the limit of kids one should have.

Just a thought...judging never gets you anywhere.

Papa's Pearls Review

I was very excited to read the book Papa's Pearls: A Father's Gift of Love and Wisdom to His Children and Grandchildren by Diane Flynn Keith.  You can buy a signed copy of this book through Homefires for $21.97 which includes shipping or you can get it on Amazon in paperback for $13.97 or Kindle edition for $6.97.

The book is 17 chapters and 112 pages of pure enjoyment.

This book really hit home for me.  Growing up with a father that lead a rough life which lead him to make some wrong choices in life and the things he did.  This is how "Papa's" life started as well. My dad as well as "Papa" made a big change for the better in life and become great men of wisdom and love.  "Papa" worked hard to because successful in his work in order to care for his family.  This words of wisdom were coined to be called Papa's Pearls.  They are what gave the family their strength and encouragement.  Diane is Papa's daughter and she writes about how it was being his daughter as well as some views from his grandchildren.

The book is a great inspirational read.  I did read some parts to my kids that I thought they would understand and enjoy.  They also call my dad Papa and look up to him greatly.  I would have to say he has given us all some Papa's Pearls in our life as well.  I think more people should read books like this to know that some people that come from the worst of ways can emerge into one of the best things on Earth.  We fall short when we look at someones past or their flaws at times and forget to see what they truly are.  I think Diane did an amazing job showing how her father became one of those people.  I am forever grateful to her for sharing her story with me.

Literacy Soft Review

I was given the chance to try out the Phonics and Reading with McGuffey program made by Literacy Soft, for the iPad.  

This program is 52 lessons to get your child reading up to the 1st grade level.

The price is $19.99 in the iTunes store.

The best thing about this program is that it is an app!  Really my daughter has issues with dyslexia and she hates doing anything with books and paper.  If I am ever given the chance to do something using the iPad I jump for it.  She thinks of it as a game instead of homework.  

We used this app everyday because she could not get enough of it.  She still hasn't mastered it all yet but some of it is because of her issues with dyslexia not with the lessons.

When I asked her what her favorite part of the program was she said it was making her own words.  She was given a list of letters then some vowels so she could make up words and make new words.  This was also my favorite part because what ever combos she used it made a word.  She is very soft hearted so when missing something or getting something wrong she gets really discouraged and doesn't want to work anymore.

This app also allows for you to use it with multiple children. They each have their own spot to click their name to get into their lessons they are working on.  I only have one child that needed to be using this so we did not use that feature but it is great for those that have multiples or kids that are learning at the same level. 

The only issue that we had was figuring out what all the lines above and on the letters were.  I had to go in and go through the program to figure it out to let her know what they meant.  Like the c that sounds like a k has a line through it.  It threw her off at first but really helped her out in the long run when sounding out the letters.