Journey to Excellence

Probably you know this already, but perhaps you don't ... our Eli, age 8 1/2, is on the autism spectrum. Although we have never had him officially diagnosed (why, really?), he has all of the characteristics of Asperger's Syndrome. I would imagine it's a mild case, but it's there, alright. One area of stress for Eli has been reading. Give him a math problem, and he's done in a flash! Give him a book with more than one line on it and he can't hardly begin to read for being stressed about the number of words on the page. (He is actually much better about this than he used to be, but that is always the first thing he says about a book when he opens it to read it.) Enter the Eye Level Reading Ruler by Crossbow Education . What a marvelous tool! How I wish we would have had this tool when Eli was first starting to read! How does it work? It looks like a ruler with two separate guide lines: one for reading one sentence at a time and one for reading a pa...

In my quest for a better grammar solution for my two 2nd/3rd graders, I came upon an app for my iPad called Skoolbo . (I was wanting some kind of fun technological gamish type thing involving grammar, to use in rotation with their book work and/or worksheets and Rainbow Sentences because I have seen how much they have learned about geography using Stack the States and Stack the Countries and how much interest they have in the presidents using Presidents vs. Aliens . They actually play these games in their free time.) "Skoolbo is a literacy and numeracy program with more than 50,000 questions designed to assist 4 to 10 year olds in their journey to mastery of essential reading and mathematics skills." ~ from the website. It is not only a FREE app, but can also be downloaded to a PC or Mac. At first when Brynne tried out Skoolbo, I didn't think it looked like something that would interest us. It doesn't just cover language arts, but also math, and you never...

I am joining Marcy at Ben and Me today to share a Quick Tip on this Thursday . I have already posted about the Grumble-Meter , but I thought it was awesome enough to deserve it's own post. Eli is a grumbler. It really doesn't matter what you announce that you are getting ready to do, good or bad. His initial response is a grumble. That makes for a LOOOOOONG homeschooling day! I knew that I did NOT want to listen to that all day every day. Eli also does not respond well to losing privileges. That means, it really just doesn't affect him. But he THRIVES on EARNING things! So that's where the idea of the Grumble-Meter and award system came into play. The Grumble-Meter is a fancy contraption made from half of a paper plate colored in green, yellow, orange and red. It has a black construction paper arrow attached with a brad. I am currently selling these for $50. Just kidding! It is attached with an ever-so-fancy clothespin to a sketch pad sitting on an ...

We are doing a unit on Penguins this week, inspired by a product we are reviewing for the Schoolhouse Review Crew. My friend e-mailed me a great resource called A to Z Stuff . She thought I would be interested in the Space unit, and I am, but while perusing the site I found a section on Polar animals, including Penguins . It has some amazing resources, lesson plans, and activities. We are using some of them this week. The site also linked to SeaWorld/Busch Gardens . Did you know that they have entire unit studies on marine life?? There are about 12 different complete lesson plans, that include science, spelling, vocabulary, math, art, and more. And there are lesson plans for different age levels. I chose the K-3 lesson plans on Penguins, and my entire week of lessons were planned for me. It is some really great stuff! I love it! If you are doing any marine biology studies, it is certainly worth a look.

Oh, what a better day we had yesterday! Mostly, I give credit to the Grumble-Meter. Here it is. It's made from a paper plate colored with markers, a black construction paper arrow, and a brad. Pretty fancy. For each "set" of work Eli and Brynne complete without Eli them grumbling enough times to get to RED (it moves up a color with each grumble I hear), they earn a letter in the Secret Word. The Secret Word is a reward. This week's reward is a GOOD one! Our neighbor gave us free circus tickets in a nearby town, so the Secret Word is CIRCUS. They have the opportunity to earn enough letters through Thursday for us to go to the circus Thursday night. We will have a set of work in the morning and a set of work in the afternoon each day. There can be two grumbles in the morning and two grumbles in the afternoon to still earn their letters. (Believe me, that's a whole lot less grumbles out of Eli than if we didn't have this system.) But we made it throug...

I am needing a good dry erase board to use in our office for school this year. However, because of the room's configuration, using a wall board won't work well. So I started looking for a nice (not child-like) dry erase board on a stand. Wooowwwwzer! Have you checked the price of those things? The cheapest one at Office Depot was $500! So I hit the worldwide web to see what my options are. And a company on Amazon has a 29" x 40" dry erase board with an adjustable stand for $48.88 plus $13.58 shipping . It was regularly $249.99. You know how these deals go ... get 'em while they are hot! And that's exactly what I have done. There's one major component of our school year taken care of, and for a fraction of the cost.

Well here's a little gem! You can get a FREE eCookbook called "50 Favorite American Recipes by State" from Recipe Lion today! When doing a States study with my children, I always like to get in the kitchen and cook up something for which that state is known. Now it's easy!!! This will be VERY useful to us this year! Go grab yours , too! I don't know how long the "free" will last. So, don't delay! Thanks, Sherri!

Well I am really excited about a resource I have come across. It's called Bitstrips for Schools . It is a comic strip creator based on various lessons. As we will be studying Current Events and U.S. Government this next year, I was wanting to find something interesting for Dawson to do to use his creative and artistic abilities. He loves to tell stories. At first I thought I might have him write a political cartoon every week based on something we had learned. But, that might require a lot of brain power to come up with something and be too difficult and time-consuming. I want what he does to be fun, not stressful. Bitstrips has lessons for many different Civics topics. For instance, there is one called "Vote for my Party" that asks the student to research one of the political parties in an upcoming election and try to convince classmates why their party is the best choice. There are three different levels of difficulty: Primary, Intermediate, Secondary. Th...

  This calendar is being offered as a FREE download from Joy at Five J's . This will be perfect for me, especially because Dawson will be on a different school schedule than Eli and Brynne. I can use a highlighter for their days of scheduled school and an "x" for his days of scheduled school. It will be an easy way to keep track of our 180 days.

For History next year, Dawson will be studying Current Events first semester and then U.S. Government second semester. The presidential election is a PERFECT time to study these two events. This year we have done an exhaustive study on American History from the inception of our country to the 1930's. And now The Colonial Williamsburg Foundation has opened up an opportunity to tie the two together!! For the entire month of September, with an easy registration, you can receive COMPLIMENTARY access to the Electronic Field Trip entitled "The Will of the People".   The Electronic Field Trip, “ The Will of the People ,” examines the presidential election of 1800, one of the most bitter in U.S. history, and provides a surprising lesson for a 21st-century student. Thomas Jefferson explains how negative campaigning, partisan politics, and contested elections have been a part of our political system since the earliest days of the republic. Available online 24/7 f...

I love to plan. I don't like to keep records. But, it's necessary in homeschooling. Thankfully in Oklahoma there are no laws regarding homeschooling other than on the number of days and/or hours you have to have "school" when providing an "alternative education". But, I want to keep records. I like to have them "just in case". And, I always feel like we haven't done much until I look back and see exactly what we have done. I keep records in three ways: 1. My Planner. I do a lesson plan page for each of the kids for each day we do "book school". It is a simple page that my husband created for me. It basically just has a place for the date and a slot for each subject so I can write down our plans for the day. It keeps us on track. It is simple but very effective. I even write the "scores" next to the assignments after I have graded them to make my gradebook-inputting more efficient. 2. My Gradebook. I don'...

When we received the Amazing Science! Volume 1 dvd, I was very excited! I have some budding scientists in my home, and I knew they would love them. I also knew that I would love having some guidance in this area that is not my passion. Little did I know how great the dvd series would be! Volume 1 contains two dvds. The first experiment we chose was Experiment 13 - Floating Eggs . I just wanted to get a feel for the dvds and to gauge my children's response to watching the videos. My first observation was that the video was short, concise, informative, clear, and had a "wow" factor! The experiment is introduced and a materials list is provided. The materials were simple and were items we already had at home. Then Jason Gibson (the scientist behind the series) proceeded to conduct the experiment. It was easy to follow and fun to watch. And something happened that doesn't normally happen here: The experiment actually worked! (That is usually a major problem...

Earth Day is Sunday, April 22nd. Do you have any lessons prepared to celebrate this very important day? If you don't, you need look no further than TEACHERS Pay TEACHERS (TpT), an open marketplace for educators . Each week I receive an e-mail notifying me of 10 Free Downloads . This week, there are some great Earth Day downloads! Brynne and I will be incorporating: The Great Kapok Tree ~ Celebrating Earth Day by Cooperative Learning 365 Earth Day Report Card by Runde's Room Lorax Earth Day Craftivity by Mel D On Friday afternoon, after we get home from Co-op, we are going to watch the movie, The Lorax . We will also be going to the zoo on Saturday because our local zoo is having an Earth Day celebration . If you want to do different activities, TpT has 789 Earth Day Materials you can choose from. Some are free, some are at a minimal cost. I encourage you to stop by the site, look it over, download some great materials and SIGN UP FOR THE WEEKLY E-MAILS...

I remember being in elementary and high school and feeling at such a disadvantage because I didn't have a set of Britannica Encyclopedias. There was no way my family could afford that luxury. When a teacher would assign a research project, my heart always sunk because I knew I had to do all my work at school. My friend up the street had a set, and I was so jealous. Well now is my chance to have my very own set of Encyclopedias (well, on cd anyway). And you can have a free set too, if you hurry to this site . You will NOT be asked to give any credit card information. It is completely FREE.

Do you live in Oklahoma, or near Oklahoma? Our state has a FREE educational opportunity through Oklahoma's Oil and Natural Gas (OERB). And I found out today that their kits and classes are available for home educators as well. The OERB site for Educators says: The OERB is committed to education in Oklahoma. Providing free training, materials, educational trips and in-class presentations, the OERB is helping Oklahoma teachers reach their students through entertaining activities and experiments. From safety at well sites, to seismic activity and energy conservation – OERB gives teachers the tools they need to teach students about the oil and natural gas industry. Petro Pete is the mascot. There are curricula for Little Bits (K-2), Fossils to Fuel (3-5), Petro Active (6-9), and CORE Energy (9-12). To receive the free educational materials, you must attend an all-day workshop. The workshop is free. There is a workshop in Yukon, Oklahoma, on July 19th, and one in Tuls...

If you have followed Journey to Excellence for any length of time, it is no secret that our year has been permeated with our American History studies. Over a year ago, many of us home educators received a complimentary DVD series from The History Channel called "America: The Story of Us" . Since we typically shy away from textbooks when it comes to Dawson, I knew that I wanted to use this series as the spine for our American History studies this year. So, I got to work. I spent ALL SUMMER last year watching each video and planning Dawson's lessons for the year. I have never been more in love with American History as I am right now, and it is ALL because of the prompting of that amazing dvd series! There are twelve episodes, each 45 minutes long. The graphics and sound effects are AWESOME! They are lively, interesting, and so easy to watch! What I really love about them is that they touch on some aspects of history that I have NEVER learned about, instead of j...

I got my wisdom teeth extracted yesterday, so my wrap-up this week is going to be a little short. Daddy stayed home from work yesterday to take care of me and to act as substitute teacher. We are calling today a Sick Day because, well, I'm sick. There will just be lots of reading and educational computer games today, and even more playing. For me, I'll be in bed. I have some paresthesia because of an exposed nerve during the surgery, so I am praying that I will regain the feeling to that part of my lip and chin soon. For now, I look like a chipmunk. And, I'm pretty miserable. Here is what our week looked like in the form of a collage: 1. Brynne continued learning about dogs this week: Portuguese Water Dogs, Boxers and Border Collies. 2. We were back into our books pretty heavy at the beginning of the week with grammar, copywork, handwriting, and math. 3. She also started a fairly significant chapter book (for her) called Poodle and Hound , and spent each afternoon ...

Well, let's just call this Freebie Friday! Sherri at Luv a Bargain has come through again! In a listing of 20 Fun Freebies, I came across this Easter Lapbook download by Scripture Adventures . I always love to pause the week or so before Easter and focus on Jesus' death and resurrection in our homeschool studies. If you would like to take advantage of this free lapbook, just click here . All you have to do is provide your name and e-mail address. Thank you, Sherri , for helping me teach for FREE!

Here is a Study America Saturday prequal! (Remember, tomorrow I will have my third installment in the "America: Story of Us" lesson plans we have used this year.) My friend Sherri at Luv a Bargain posted about this freebie opportunity through RewardsGold . If you register, refer two friends, and take a short survey about breakfast, you can receive a FREE one-year subscription to Newsweek magazine! This is especially enticing to me, because next year for American History, Dawson will be studying Current Events and Government . With the election coming up, Newsweek will be a valuable resource! In fact, one of my plans was for him to read the magazine weekly and write short summaries of what he has read. I was planning to purchase Time Magazine , but now that I was able to get Newsweek for free, guess what we will be using instead!! So, hop over to RewardsGold if you would like to sign up for this magazine. You will not have to give any credit card information, ju...

I think Joyce Meyer calls it "Stinkin' Thinkin'". You know it ... all that negativity that floods your mind and thoughts. We all do it, at one time or another. The mind can be a bad place to reside. It can convince us our circumstances are insurmountable. The stresses of being a mom, thinking other moms "have it all" and "do it all" is one place where "Stinkin' Thinkin'" can certainly come into play. When posting my Day in the Life post the other day at Simple Homeschool , Jamie Martin's new e-book, Mindset for Moms , caught my eye. I looked at what it had to offer and considered purchasing it for some reading on my iPad. What is "Mindset for Moms"? Jamie Martin says this: "In time I realized that much of my negativity stemmed from my thinking. I slowly discovered that my happiness had less to do with my circumstances and more to do with my thoughts about those circumstances. As I began to learn how to c...