Adventures of a Catholic homeschooling family in Alaska.
I have to admit that we try to include a foreign language in our homeschool plans. We have tried to incorporate Latin and we’ve made a little better progress with Spanish. However, we often end up setting them aside to focus on the basics when the going gets tough. Thanks to the opportunity to [Read On]
Right before Christmas, we received a DVD for J and I to review from Little Pim. He has enjoyed watching other Spanish educational products in the past and I admit to being rather curious about this series after reading about it on other blogs. Also, the decision to teach your young child Spanish could help [Read On]
Welcome to the 1st week of the 2013 Virtual Curriculum Fair for homeschoolers. This week’s topic: Playing with Words: the Language Arts This theme can include phonics, reading, writing, grammar, spelling, speech, literature, etc., etc., etc. Latin and foreign language studies could also go here. Before I reflect upon changes in our house this year [Read On]
A few years ago, our family was introduced to Speekee for learning Spanish in a fun, immersion manner. J loved it so much that we bought it on DVD and then purchased a region-free DVD player that would play the discs. We’ve watched them in spurts as he’s requested them, but haven’t done much beyond [Read On]
Many moons ago, I took 2 years of Spanish in high school. I remember very little actual Spanish (just key phrases like Hola! Habla Ingles?), but I do have clear memories of the teacher relying upon the tools of her trade (terrible recordings that left a lot to be desired) and not truly engaging the [Read On]
Regular readers of this blog have probably heard me talk about the ongoing battle I have with teaching writing with the boys. To ease the unease in the house, I’ve switched gears when things have gotten desperate. A few years back, we reviewed Write Shop Primary, Book A with D. It was just the [Read On]
When I have looked at foreign language learning materials, I have a few criteria in mind. First off, it needs to be teacher friendly. That means having things laid out pretty well so I can pick it up and run with it. Also, it can not surmise that I have a firm command of the [Read On]
When I think about language arts, I have the basics pop to mind. Younger students are focused on phonics so they can become readers. Slightly older students begin to do more comprehension and vocabulary work on their journey to becoming more proficient readers. And, finally, when they reach high school, the students are moving beyond [Read On]
Earlier this year while we were working on Latin, I got the request from R to learn Spanish. Just him. NOT his brothers. Or, at least he wanted his own program to use and not have to share it with siblings. Great Commission Languages obliged his request when we were tapped to review [Read On]
Since we began homeschooling, we have gone through spurts of studying Latin and then ignoring it. After all, there are many good reasons for young children to study Latin. Yet, we’ve never finished an entire program for a variety of reasons. At first the boys gave me strange looks when I told them we’d be [Read On]
Welcome to The Breastfeeding Cafe Carnival! This post was written as part of The Breastfeeding Cafe’s Carnival. For more info on the Breastfeeding Cafe, go to www.breastfeedingcafe.wordpress.com. For more info on the Carnival or if you want to participate, contact Claire at clindstrom2 {at} gmail {dot} com. Today’s post is about how the mothers before [Read On]
One of the courses highly recommended for high school students planning to attend college is a foreign language. I took Spanish for 2 years in high school. One sister took 3 years of French and 1 year of Latin (something that was added as an option my senior year.) With P about to begin high [Read On]
It is not too often that I compare two very similar products in one review. Actually, I can’t think of a time when I did a review that included comparing a book with it’s competition.For years now, consumers have been able to visit a bookstore and get a book on a topic that provides a [Read On]
Even after months of testing out different online products, the boys still enjoy finding something new. I don’t mind it so long as the product is helping them learn new skills or master ones that need extra attention.Last Fall, D (with R occasionally looking over his shoulder) tested out Talking Fingers’ online Read, Write and [Read On]
We are continuing to learn some basic Spanish in the house, especially the younger boys. Along with other materials I’ve mentioned already, D has been using the Spanish Workbook & CD from Twin Sisters. This product has several catchy tunes to help your student learn basic Spanish vocabulary that then correlate to workbook pages. Beyond [Read On]
This Spring has had our family delving more and more into learning Spanish. I have to admit that I’m enjoying the process of reacquainting myself with the language. As someone who had decent enough Spanish translation skills after a few years of high school classes, I’d love to recapture the ability to understand a larger [Read On]
For the past few months, we have been on a Spanish learning spree. I’m not sure who’s enjoying the process more… the boys or me! Rock N Learn has provided us another way to learn and review Spanish vocabulary in our house. J loves that things are set to music (as it’s his favorite thing) [Read On]
The boys and I have been spending more time with foreign languages this year. Spanish is one that we’ve been doing on a regular basis the past few months, but without a textbook approach. I was so happy to be offered the chance by Debbie from Super Star Speech to review one of her latest [Read On]
Sometimes I suspect there is an unwritten rule stating homeschool families MUST teach their children Latin. That’s not to say there are not some homeschool families we know where the kids are learning a modern language like Spanish or German. Instead, it seems like Latin is THE foreign language many homeschoolers work into their lives. [Read On]
Last year, we started participating in the EDGE program on Fort Richardson. Now that Ft. Rich and Elmendorf have been merged into JBER, the program is being marketed to all military and DoD families. Each day of the week has a different theme with participants signing up for particular packages for the month. Several of [Read On]
As P quickly approaches the high school years, thoughts of the ACT and SAT are already entering MY head. One thing that is top of mind for me with regard to test preparations is finding ways to boost vocabulary. The boys read a fair number of books throughout the year. However, so much of the [Read On]
Every year when I sit down and map out our studies, I have dreamt of adding a foreign language to the mix. Adding it in (we’ve tried Latin and German) has not been the difficult part. Instead, it is keeping the kids going and interested in learning that has been the challenge.Having spent several weeks [Read On]
Now that Thanksgiving is behind us, Angie at Many Little Blessings has the new Homeschool Hints Meme going again. Today I thought I would build off of my first post and talk about a different spelling resource we use in our house. Spelling City has been around for a few years now. At first, it [Read On]
and it’s not hosted by me! Angie over at Many Little Blessings has started this weekly meme where homeschoolers can share with other homeschoolers a little ‘tip’ each Thursday. (Next week is being taken off for Thanksgiving.) This sounded like a fun one, so here’s our family’s participation. I’m going to share about our spelling [Read On]
The study of a foreign language seems to be a goal in our homeschool that often gets short changed. We started trying to study Latin as a family unit. We never got pass the fourth lesson in that program. This year we made it a bit further in the programs with the older boys studying [Read On]
There’s a new family business (Bogart Family Resources)in the homeschool world with new options of copywork ebooks. The two categories are Copying the Classics and Copying the Hymns. I was recently sent a copy of Copying the Hymns: We Three Kings of Orient Are – Traditional Style ZB Manuscript, Level 1 to review. The ebook [Read On]
Talk to anyone you know and they will probably be willing to share what their ‘bugaboo’ subject was in school. For some, spelling has been a thorn in their side for years with relief coming in the form of spell checker in word processing programs. For R, spelling is definitely a struggle for him and [Read On]
