Homeschool Curriculum Review

Video Based Homeschool Art (No Teaching Involved)

May 12, 2016 | 6 Comments
This post may contain affiliate links. For more information, please see my full disclosure policy.

I just couldn’t resist showing you a few more art lessons that Tiny did from Atelier Homeschool Art.

Also, check out his beautiful tropical bird art lesson that he did earlier.

Video based art lessons have been a nice change this year because we have used book based curriculum in the past.

I’m loving the part where I don’t have to teach.

Tiny learned about how the Greek put their art on everything and then he did a lesson about the Olympics.

Also, there is an art lesson about positive and negative space and how to create mirror images, which I found fascinating.

Also, he did some opt art.

He found it pretty cool using hexagons to cover the page and then pick the colors though he tried to stay with the more abstract look and colors.

Homeschool Art (For the Non-Artsy Homeschooled Kid)

Look at this snippet about the videos.

All Atelier art lessons are presented on video, and reinforced by lesson plans.

Not only are the videos a rich source of creative ideas and inspiration, it also clarifies the objectives, materials, techniques and procedures of each lesson.

Abundant instructional coverage, as well as that of students in a virtual art class performing the lesson and displaying their finished artwork, consistently produces exceptional student results and learning, regardless of the art background of the parent teacher.

You can try a free preview of the curriculum by clicking here.

I have a review coming up soon, but just had to tell you about this if you’re considering art curriculum for next year.

How do you fit art into your day?

Hugs and love ya,

5 Year Holidays List (2016 to 2020) Homeschool Planner Page

April 12, 2016 | Leave a Comment
This post may contain affiliate links. For more information, please see my full disclosure policy.

Today, I’m updating the 5 year holidays list to include the years 2016 to 2020. The permanent page for the 5 year holiday list is kept on Step. 2. Choose Calendars/Appointment Keepers.

Curriculum Page for Planner

This has been one of the most handy reference sheets I have used in my 7 step homeschool planner, blog planner, unit study planner and my free student planner.

Basically, this one page (or two if you want both color choices) fits in any planner.

I created this handy reference page because everybody plans differently and having a heads up notice of holidays and observances helps you plan not only your homeschool day, but to plan your year.

In addition, another way I use it is to plan my long-term homeschool schedule. Having one page to look at 5 years worth of holidays and observances keeps the pages and calendars I need in my planner to a minimum.

Also, some people like to write their own dates on their calendars, like I do.

The bottom line is that this one page holiday page is streamlined and can be used for planning short-term or long-term.

Grab your free copies below!

Download Passion Pink and Turquoise Gem.

Hugs and love ya,

Did you grab my other recent free planner updates?

Free Homeschool Academic Year Calendar – 2016 to 2017
Free Homeschool High School Planning Sheet (and pssst help for high school too)
Free Scope and Sequence Divider Page – Free 7 Step Homeschool Planner

Begin build your FREE and UNIQUE 7 Step Homeschool Planner!

7 Easy Steps – “Tons of Options & Pretty Color”

Step 1. Choose a Pretty Front/Back Cover

Step. 2. Choose Calendars/Appointment Keepers

Step 3. Choose Goals/Objectives

Step 4. Choose Lesson Planning Pages Right For You!

Step 5a. Choose Unique forms JUST for You! Not a kazillion other people

Step 5b. Choose MORE Unique Forms JUST for You!

Step 5c. Choose MORE MORE Unique Forms Just for You!

Step 6. Personalize It

Step 7. Bind it! Love it!

Don’t forget to follow BOTH of my Pinterest accounts for more AWESOME pins.

Visit Tina Robertson’s profile on Pinterest.

Visit Tinas Dynamic Homeschool ‘s profile on Pinterest.

True Heroes History iPad App – Pssst!! Another Sweet Giveaway. Giveaway Closed.

August 26, 2015 | 71 Comments
This post may contain affiliate links. For more information, please see my full disclosure policy.

This Giveaway is Now Closed. Thank you for scooting by and please visit my other links and stick around! The winners are listed at the bottom.

I was given a free download of True Heroes History App and I was paid for my time. However, paid for my time does not mean paid off. ALL opinions are my own and for sure I will always tell you what is on my mind. Your experience may vary. When I do accept a review it’s because I am excited to tell you about it. Read my full disclosure here.

When I heard history and interactive, I was excited about Tiny using True Heroes 1781 History iPad App by Jolly Books.

I say it often, but I always want you to know that I don’t accept all the numerous requests for reviews that I get. I have to get giddy and it has to be something you or I will want to take a closer look at.

Okay, it doesn’t hurt either when I can giveaway some sweet things to you too.
So for the last couple of weeks, Tiny has been playing True Heroes 1781 History App and the first thing that caught my eye was the year. Tiny, not so much, but that is the beauty of interactive play.

Through the years, I have tried numerous ways of gently introducing key or significant dates to my sons without resorting to humdrum put you to sleep memorization.

Right away, I recognized 1781 as a key year or turning point in the American Revolution. Picture association with a key date helps a visual learner or even history hater to at least be aware of that time period.

History Mystery Interactive iPad App

As home educators we know we have to teach dates, but committing key dates to our child’s memory, not so easy.

Though the app says it is for K-6, you know how I feel about history. It is a content subject and grades can be subjective.

One of the gems that I really liked about the app as we went through it was that the focus was not just on George Washington, but it starts off with stepping back in time and experiencing things that people of that time period experienced.

There is a lot of play time before you even get to the story of George Washington. At first, we were looking too quickly to get to the part about George Washington.

But I had to catch myself thinking that way because really the sequence of events follows the way I think history should be taught, which is to get the full flavor of life at that time period through a character’s eyes.First, you step back in time to a village complete with barn, a colonial house, store, print shoppe (yes, I loved how they used time period spelling), a tailor and an inn to name a few.

You start off by collecting water, building a fire, planting seeds, gathering your crops and buying a basket.
Too, I loved the word list definition game because the game not only piques interest for that time period, but it gives a list of words like dishonest, thoughtful and brave to build moral virtues.

I really want to let you know something right now that is a little off the path of what I am talking about because it is important to me and that is the developers are indie app developers.

This stirred me to support them because they can weave things like teaching moral character and values into their apps, something that would probably not be important to a great big huge company.

After playing a game about defining character building words, Tiny used items from the inventory or saddle bag to buy a basket. But first, some math is involved like fractions.

Learning about planting and storing crops in the cellar is a fun part about learning about everyday life. Buy a shovel head and it turns dry corn into corn for the chicken.

Benefits to an Older Child

One thing the game touts that also had me hooked was intuitive reasoning.

In other words, not all actions have specific directions and laid out directions. They have to deduce some of the actions through interactive play.

I feel this is a great tool to use for an older child as he investigates and reasons out what he needs to do next.

Too, the facts he gathers along the way through hands-on play feeds a budding history buff who may be allergic (okay, okay) to books.
I find too that even though girls love this type of play, boys really benefit from the media center.

Did I tell you that Tiny couldn’t resist showing me when he was shooting bottles at a shooting range?

However, there are some things that I feel may be a bit above a Kindergartner’s head.

The visual layout of doing day to day activities will appeal to the very young, but one part we noticed is where you hear a chicken cluck.

The child knows then to go the barn and is told that chickens need dry corn.

He is then asked, “How will a chicken eat corn that way?”

A child has to deduce that he has to go the store, buy a shovel head and when it’s in his inventory/saddle bag, he has to tap on it and the corn turns into feed.

That part, I feel is above the way a Kindergartner would reason to find the answer.

Help from an older sibling or mom would help him to get past that part. Then again, some Kindergartners have the patience of Job and might be able to find out quicker by tapping on all the items.

Canning, preserving and even recipes are some of the nifty little things that your child will also learn about. Cutting vegetables are just too cute when you cut them to put them in jars.

There is even an element of mystery to find out who is “Q”.

Of course, I don’t want to spoil all the surprises like at the museum or at the end.

History That Sparks a Love for Auditory Learners

There is one part that though we were pleasantly surprised at toward the end when it got to the part about George Washington.

It switches from an interactive game to an audio story telling mode.

From the time George Washington was born to being the first president, the audio story telling mode is a nice plus if you have an auditory learner like I do.

Tiny really liked sitting back and having the story read to him.

Don’t forget, I have a free American Revolution unit study and lapbook that would fit so well with this app.

Mystery, intrigue, fun in everyday mundane life and absorbing facts about the first president, this sweet little find of an app is a great compliment to any unit study about colonial life, the American Revolution or George Washington and the best part is that you can use it with all of your kids.

Guess what? I love that my sponsors love you and want you to try it out.

So today, I am giving away 3 of these apps. You have a chance to win, so don’t think you won’t win because I have to give them to somebody.

Would you like it?

Look at the details below and don’t forget to connect with Jolly Books because they have another app about Pocahontas coming out soon!

Yippeeeee! Giveaway Details – Easy Rules – 3 Winners

Begins: August 26, 2015. Ends: September 2, 2015 @ 8:00 a.m. CST

Just comment here on my blog.

3 winners will be selected using random org and will be notified afterwards.

Also, because you can’t be a once a month email reader, if a winner does not respond to my email within 24 hours, I will choose another winner.

1. Open to any resident because this is a download. You will not be shipped anything.

2. You have to be a blog follower. You can comment twice.

Comment in your first comment letting me how many kids you have that will enjoy this and in your second comment, let me know what you want me to blog more about this next school year. That’s it. Keep it easy, I like easy and uncomplicated.

Go Down to the Bottom of this Post and leave your comment where it says LEAVE A REPLY.

Let’s get this party started!! Hope You Win.

Connect with Jolly Books

Do you want to know when the Pocahontas app is ready? I do. Sign up for their newsletter at the very bottom of the page.
Pssst! They even have free Colonial life lesson plans on their new blog! Give them some love and follow to get the latest.
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/jollybooksfun
Twitter: https://twitter.com/jollybooks
Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/jollybooks/
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCi-uf1rAhnfaKohxaOpBIIw
Google Plus: https://plus.google.com/u/0/+Jollybooksfun/posts

Congratulations to the Winners!

Winner 1. Christina Baxter Winner 2. Kasha Winner 3: Amy s

Company Name: Jolly Books
Website: Jolly Books
Product Name: True Heroes 1781 George Washington App
Grades: K-6
Type of Format: iPad app
Price: $2.99

Hugs and love ya,

All product information is correct and accurate as of the date of this review.

Linking up @ these awesome places:
A Little Bird Told Me|Mommy Solutions|A Little R&R|

A Child’s Life in the Andes & Psssst. It’s a Giveaway!

May 19, 2015 | 33 Comments
This post may contain affiliate links. For more information, please see my full disclosure policy.

I was given a free copy of A Child’s Life in the Andes and I was paid for my time. Compensated for my time does not mean paid off. ALL opinions are my own and for sure I will always tell you what is on my mind. Your experience may vary. When I do accept a review it’s because I am excited to tell you about it. Read my full disclosure here.

The Giveaway is now closed.

Learning about the Quechua language and culture has been one fascinating aspect about us living here in South America.

So when I was asked to use the ebook, A Child’s Life in the Andes by Daria Marmaluk-Hajioannous (yes she is Quechua), I was delighted to use a resource that could capture some of the things we have been experiencing while living here.

Music of the Andes for Kids

Quechua is the language of the Andes. Though I knew Spanish was a dominating language here, I had no idea that the ancient language of Quechua was alive and thriving.

The Quechua language had its start in the Andes Mountain in Cuzco, Peru, which was the ancient Inca empire.

The empire was huge and ruled over many parts of present day countries like Argentina, Bolivia, Chile and here in Ecuador.

When we moved here, I didn’t realize that many of the parades that I saw and foods we have tried have Quechua origins.

Tickled to be able to find a resource that had some quick tips about South America along with some fun hands-on history and geography, I was eager to get started using it.

The ebook A Child’s Life in the Andes is a 35 page pdf that gives a glance at the people of the Andes.

Included with the ebook are 5 cancioncitas or (little songs) that we loved listening to.

Right away, with the first song Alturas (high mountains), we heard some of the traditional Andean musical instruments like zamponas (panpipes), flutes and rainsticks.

Listening to the music, from a traditional folksong to a carnival song is really the highlight of this sweet little gem.

We started off using it by listening to all the songs and read the ebook, which gives background information about each song.

The sections of the book are:

Where are the Andes Mountain?
About the songs
A Child’s Life
Animals
Food
Language
Coloring pages, make your your own activities and a word search puzzle.

Depending our mood, we like to skip around when using new resources and this one was no different.
Tiny wanted to do the word search puzzle next because it had a Quechua word we have heard while living here which is YAW and it means Hey.

From there we moved on to including a fun and easy hands-on wind instrument called a Zamponas.

With just a few household items and a few minutes, Tiny made the easy wind instrument called the zamponas.

Hands-on History

He ended up really liking that easy musical instrument and I actually got my shy guy to try out the instrument while I recorded him for a few seconds.

There are 8 coloring pages in the ebook, which are animals indigenous to South America.

Of course being from Texas and thinking that armadillos are only critters that hail from Texas (aren’t they), we were surprised to know that many are here in South America.

The body of the armadillo is used for the body of the charango, which is a stringed musical instrument here in South America that looks like a guitar.

Then we had never heard of Chapchas, which is a very unique rattle because it is made from the toenails of goat or sheep.

We really have to look for one while we are here now that our curiosity was piqued.

I think you will really love A Child’s Life in the Andes if you :

Want to use it like a supplement to a unit study on South America;
Want your children to appreciate the music of South America;
Have elementary age children;
Have children who like to learn hands-on without activities that are complicated;
Want a few sweeping details about life in the Andes; and
Want your children to be exposed to another culture without being overwhelmed with too much detail.

Guess what? Would you like to win a copy? I have a copy to give away.

Yippeeeee! Giveaway Details – Easy Rules

Begins: Tuesday May 19, 2015. Ends: Friday May 22, 2015 @ 8:00 a.m. CST

Just comment here on my blog. The winner will be selected using random org and will be notified afterwards. Also, because you can’t be a once a month email reader, if my winner does not respond to my email within 24 hours, I will choose another winner.

1. Open to any resident because this is a digital download. You will not be shipped anything.

2. You have to be a blog follower. You can comment twice.

Comment 1 x time letting me know how long you have been following (best you can remember or if you are a new follower) and comment the 2cd time with anything about the product or how you will use it.

Let’s get this party started!!

Connect with World Music for Children

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/dariasmusic
Twitter: https://twitter.com/dariasmusic
Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/dariamusic/
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/DariaMusic?feature=watch

Company Name: World Music for Children
Website: dariamusic.com
Product Name: A Child’s Life in the Andes – Ebook
Grades: elementary
Type of Format: Download
Price: $9.99

Hugs and love ya,

Ancient Egypt Homeschool Unit Study – Hands-on and FUN!

May 6, 2015 | 1 Comment
This post may contain affiliate links. For more information, please see my full disclosure policy.

Studying Ancient Egypt history has been anything but boring for us because I have been determined to keep it hands-on. Also, look at my page Best Homeschool Unit Studies for more unit studies.

I have to admit though it is not always easy.

When I find homeschool history programs like Project Passport: Ancient Egypt from Home School in the Woods that fits what I think history should look like, I am always delighted to share about it.

Your kids will love this Hands-on Ancient Egypt Unit Study at Tina's Dynamic Homeschool Plus

I was given a free copy of Project Passport: Ancient Egypt and I was paid for my time. Compensated for my time does not mean paid off. ALL opinions are my own and for sure I will always tell you what is on my mind. Your experience may vary. When I do accept a review it’s because I am excited to tell you about it. Read my full disclosure here.

Hands-on Homeschool Ancient Egypt History

Though we are history lovers in our home, I know that teaching Ancient Egypt history can be quite boring if you don’t find the right resource.

Passport Project Ancient Egypt Interactive and Hands-on Unit Study @ Tina's Dynamic Homeschool Plus

Using Project Passport: Ancient Egypt from Home School in the Woods over the past few weeks has been by far the best curriculum we have used for studying about Ancient Egypt.

Look at some of these things that makes us swoon over this curriculum.

Hands-on activities like mapping Upper and Lower Egypt, creating post cards and preparing a newspaper and recipes.
It means a lot to me to have high quality clip art and not babyish looking quality printables for middle school kids. The printables are high quality and are all labeled so that you can match them to the correct projects.
There are a variety of activities to choose from to suit any learning style. Tiny is my strongest auditory learner of all of my boys and he really was engaged by the beautiful sounding Mp3s like Touring Down the Nile, Interview with an Embalmer and Building a Pyramid. I haven’t really used the curriculum the way they suggested by picking and choosing. We tried to cram it all in because each project sounded as fun as the next one. We just had to taste a bit of everything. Along with creating minibooks, we created a passport, created a luggage folder (so cute), a travel itinerary, prepared the scrapbook of sights and snapshots of moments in history (timeline).
It’s all laid out Stop by Stop. Even the text you need to read for each lesson is included. This makes it easy to pick up and go when you are short on time.
The teacher’s keys are very helpful and Tiny was able to check his work on his own. I love that part.
I REALLY appreciate a scope and sequence being provided so that I can plan or see what will be covered. I have to create objectives and lesson plan and the teacher in me finds this part extremely helpful.

Look at some of these things that you will want to know before you use Project Passport: Ancient Egypt.

Ancient Egypt Homeschool Unit Study - Hands-on and FUN!

Details are important to history when you want to analyze them. Topics are covered with an eye for details and not broad strokes. If you want details, then it’s a great fit.
It requires a good amount of time for start up because you will want to take time reading through all the directions for both laying out the projects and how to print them. The payoff is rewarding but don’t look at speeding through the set up process. This is a savor the time curriculum.
Like high quality printables should be, you will want to use high quality materials like cardstock and color printables. You can print gray scale too and have the option to color. I think it’s always an advantage to have both options of coloring or gray scale printing though. Because this curriculum is sold by CD or downloads, your printer will be busy.
Though I thrive in organization, having four sub-folders to navigate between might seem overwhelming. It took me a few minutes to figure out that the Itineraries folder in the PDFs sub-folder was the place that I needed to visit at each Stop. It has the instructions for the activities for each stop. There are a total 25 Stops.
It is important to remember that the printables cannot be shrunk, which a lot of printers do. If you do this, like the instructions specifically mentions, it throws off all the printables. An important detail that is easy to forget when you start printing at each Stop. Avoid precious ink and high quality paper by minding the details on each page.

Like a comprehensive unit study should be, you will want to let go of whatever else you are studying about so that your children can enjoy the creative writing, arts and geography weaved throughout each Stop.

Tiny is just about out of the dress up stage but he fondly remembers our hands-on activities with Ancient Egypt (fun with cartouche and Lego pyramid) as we have used Home School in the Woods products through the years.

With this unit study, my focus was on reading the content and listening to the MP3s to prepare him for high school.

Of course, doing as many of the other hands-on activities that we could cram in is also my objective.

Ancient Egypt Unit Study 8 @ Tina's Dynamic Homeschool Plus

Because I couldn’t wait to share with you about how this unit study sparks a love for learning about Ancient Egypt and because of my love for pictures too, look at my first post Ancient Egypt and look at my second one Ancient Egypt Unit Study Part 2.

I have used many laid out unit studies.

Too, you know I have created my own lapbook printables because it has been hard to find history curriculum that has all the things I demand, which are detailed content, pristine clip art, high quality printables, an overflowing amount of hands-on activities and that can be used with multiple ages.

Project Passport: Ancient Egypt receives my highest praise and I can’t wait to grab the other projects in this series.

Thank You Home School in the Woods for the obvious time, care and detail that went into this curriculum. I am proud to be a reviewer of such an amazing product.

Ancient History Series

Company Name: Home School in the Woods Publishing
Website: Home School in the Woods
Product Name: Project Passport: Ancient Egypt
Grades: 3rd to 8th, but I found that it could be tweaked up or down because of the numerous activities. Check out their scope and sequence to see the events
Type of Format: Download
Religious perspective but can be tweaked for a more secular version if you choose.

You’ll love these other hands-on history for studying about Ancient Egypt:

Hugs and love ya,

Homeschool Curriculum Review

Video Based Homeschool Art (No Teaching Involved)

Homeschool Art (For the Non-Artsy Homeschooled Kid)

5 Year Holidays List (2016 to 2020) Homeschool Planner Page