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Blogroll
Giveaway Winners!
Giveaway winners are listed below. Thanks so much for entering and especially for those of you who joined us at our baby shower. I will be emailing all the winners as well.
Main Blog Post Giveaway
All entries responded to what they liked most about Zone Cleaning for Kids.
Digital Camera: Julie T.
I love any new cleaning system. Keeps things interesting. I also love the non-toxic cleaning solutions. We have started using a few, and it is great to allow the kids to take some ownership in cleaning with non-hazardous cleaning supplies.
Zone Cleaning for Kids: Sherry Cochran
Loved the Times Tales. Haven’t tried the Zone Cleaning but it would be a plus at my house.
Chaos to Order MP3: Sheryl L.
Our chlidren have really liked the Times Tales. I am looking forward to trying out the Zone Cleaning for Kids. I like the DVD, the flip charts and that the cleaning is broken down into small visual steps. Looking forward to participating in the Baby shower.
St. Patrick’s Day Lapbook: Laurie Hamilton
Like how it is directed to kids and their own stuff. Looks great. Like the flip part!
St. Patrick’s Day Lapbook: Kristin
I love the DVD and what a visual teaching tool that will be for my kids (as well as for me!). I also like the labels for the bins, all ready made! Looks great ladies! Congratulations on your baby!
St. Patrick’s Day Lapbook: Cathy
LOVE, LOVE, LOVE, our Times Tales.
Your new baby looks great! So often it’s easier to just pick up myself and get it done, no wonder I’m always worn out! I love the steps in this system and can’t wait to try it! Thank you for all you do to make our lives a little more organized.
Toddler Bites: Maria
I’m looking forward to checking out your book. I have teenage boys. One will do anything in the house or yard. The other one barely cleans and says everything looks fine. I do have to give this one credit for his tidying skills. He just doesn’t want to dust or even worse (to him) vacuum!
Baby Shower Giveaway Posts
Times Tales Winner : IVONNE NERIA
What is your least favorite chore?
I would say the bathroom!!! scary..
(2) Blank Books: Sheryl
What would you use the blank books for?
Making a recipe book for a wedding.
Grocery Cart Math Winner: Carrie
What is your favorite subject to teach:
I love math because it is so easy to find fun things to do with it, just like science! We cook, go to the grocery, etc.
Response Sheets to Document Learning & Grading Alternatives
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In order to meet requirements for an accredited, graded transcript for my daughter we must log hours and learning activities. Since grades have not been particularly important to me in the past (I much prefer that they master and enjoy learning), it’s been a bit of a challenge for me to give more grades. In our geography/history class we’re spending a few weeks learning about Hitler, Nazi Germany and the Holocaust. I provided Paige with several books to read in a relatively short period of time. Rather than writing book report after book report, I’ve come up with a few alternatives for providing a grade to document learning. I’m stuffing a good bit of learning into a relatively short time period, and would rather have her read and digest as much as possible in this 2-3 week period, rather than spending hours writing reports.
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- After reading Tell Them We Remember: The Story of the Holocaust I had Paige give an oral presentation, sharing what she learned with her brothers. I graded her on her oral presentation.
- Paige has listened to The Hiding Place and read The Diary of Anne Frank and Lily’s Crossing. I will have her write a few paragraphs detailing the similarities and differences in the three stories. If your child needs more specific instruction, you can create a response sheet asking specific questions and leaving space for response. How are Anne Frank, Corrie Ten Boom and Lily similar? What experiences did all three have in common? Name at least two ways each character or that character’s experience differs from the other. I usually try and add a question to make them think about applying the learning to their own life. In this instance you could ask, Which character did you most identify with and why? Often I will ask them if they agree with a person’s response, attitude or conclusions. NOTE: Do not grade this type of question on whether or not your student answers they way you like, but on how well they articulate their opinion.
- I often create a simple response sheet in a Word document for movies that we watch. These will vary, depending on the subject matter. I might have her summarize the movie in 4-5 sentences, discuss the conflict of a particular character or ask a specific question like, Do you think the Great Depression played a role in Hitler’s ability to gain such popularity? Why or why not? In English, Paige read A Christmas Carol and watched several different movie versions. She filled out the same response sheet for each movie, noting the similarities and differences from the original text.
- Paige listened to the audio CD of The Hiding Place by Corrie Ten Boom. Rather than pulling from our daily school time (it was ten hours of listening), Paige listened to the CD’s at night before she fell asleep. She will document her learning on the simple “response sheet” I’ve made available for download below. I simply found a meaningful quote by Corrie Ten Boom (I found this one on Pinterest) and asked Paige to write a paragraph, responding to a couple of specific questions that I typed above the quote. Response sheets are easy to create and customize to your learning, yet easily demonstrate whether the student understood the material or not. You can download the file if you like, but it’s mostly intended as an example. TIP! I email these sheets to her rather than printing them out so that she can type her responses right into the Word document. She then prints them out and turns them in to me for grading.
What we use to homeschool and why
I’m writing this post in response to the following comment I received today.
Hi,
Dear Dena, if you would like to share it, I would be interested in knowing if you have used Sonlight before and are not using it now, what is it you do now, and why you changed, etc. (I am trying to decide whether to go with Sonlight.)
Love,
Ana
Boy! This will be a tough one to answer. I started homeschooling my oldest over 20 years ago, so I’ve been at it quite some time and used a lot of different curriculum over the years. Plus, I worked for The Old Schoolhouse Magazine for over five years, even managing The Schoolhouse Store at one point, so I have probably seen more curriculum options than most.
When I homeschooled my oldest boys there wasn’t near the number of options there are now. At that time, we used Konos and loved it.
With my younger set (Paige 14, Skylar 12, Brayden 10), I began using Konos with my daughter. We used the first several Cores, but I always included the boys in the read-alouds. I absolutely love the Sonlight Cores & Bible. I did try using their science and language and didn’t care for either. NOTE: Just because something is not a great fit for me or my family doesn’t mean it won’t be for yours. I’d planned to combine my two boys in a Core, but even though they were close in age, they weren’t close enough in ability for that to work well and I wasn’t up to taking on three separate Cores. (They are a good bit of work.) I used the equivalent of Cores A-D (they were labeled differently back then) before changing to another approach.
Three years ago we began using Mystery of History and absolutely loved it! I love that it incorporated biblical history right into secular history so that you can see how they correlate. I also like that each chapter offered activities for younger, middle and older children. Though the curriculum does offer read-aloud suggestions, I felt they were lacking and would add a good many read-alouds to go along with the study. I used Illuminations in it’s Beta year and it was great for providing and scheduling read-alouds and the rest of your subjects. It is an excellent resource, but was out of our budget the following year. That year I simply searched for “Mystery of History Vol. 2 book lists” and found several like this. (NOTE: I HIGHLY recommend the book Masada, on this list. I couldn’t believe I’d never heard that fascinating story in history before.) I also looked at the read-alouds for corresponding time periods in Sonlight.
Volume 3 of Mystery of History is a bit different from the prior volumes. After ordering it, I realized it was a bit too advanced for my then eight year old and decided to save it for later. I plan to use it with my two boys next year.
At this point, my daughter was in 8th grade and wanting to go to high school for 9th. We hadn’t decided how we felt about that, but I decided that she should probably try using a more text-based program so she could get a feel for it. We enrolled in Columbia Virtual Academy (a charter school in our state) and she used the Calvert Curriculum. Much to my surprise, she fully enjoyed it. She was largely independent in her studies, while the boys and I worked together using Time Traveler’s History Studies. Again, I added lots of good read-alouds to the program. We also supplemented with The History of US.
This year, we decided that our daughter was not ready for high school. However, since we’re not yet ready to rule it out entirely we wanted her to have a graded transcript that would easily transfer to our local district, should she be allowed to enter at a later date. At first, we could only find high school programs that were completely computer based, which we didn’t want. After some talking with our charter school it was determined that I could create my own courses for each subject. I have to track hours, daily work, assignments and grades in each subject. At year-end, I’ll need to send in a portfolio of her work with samples for each of the learning goals in her learning plan. It’s been a LOT of work. Unless you have a child that might need a graded transcript to enter public high school, I wouldn’t go this route. We could have done less work for a pass/fail transcript, but we wanted the grades for possible scholarships down the road. She is using a variety of different curriculum for each subject.
Skylar decided to try Calvert this year. He’s enjoying it but says he’d prefer to go back to our joint learning. Therefore, the boys and I will start back up with Mystery of History 3 this next year.
Brayden and I are reading from A History of US and a variety of corresponding read-alouds.
I use Teaching Textbooks math with all three. We’ve used Saxon in the past and both are good. Actually, Paige did Teaching Textbooks Algebra last year (as an 8th grader) and is doing it in Saxon this year. Algebra is a freshman math requirement and math is not her strong point, so I felt that taking the same class from a different publisher would do her good. I do find that Teaching Textbooks seems to be a year behind grade-level wise. For example, I would have my 4th grader do the Teaching Textbooks grade 5.
We’ve used a variety of science products. My favorites are Apologia, both their elementary science and jr. high/ high school. The new notebooks for the elementary science are especially nice. We also like Exploration Education (very hands-on) and REAL Science 4 Kids.
We’ve used several different writing/language curriculums as well. I really like Write Source products as they are kid-friendly and easy to use. I absolutely LOVE First Language Lessons for grammar. Skylar is using it along with his Calvert simply because it explains things so much better. I couldn’t even understand diagramming instructions in the Calvert text. First Language Lessons makes it simple. We also really like the programs from Write Shop.
I think that pretty much covers the basics. As you can see our choices ebb and flow over time for a variety of reasons. I’m sure yours will, too. And just because something is a good fit one year, doesn’t mean it will be another.
If you have other questions, please feel free to ask! I’d love to hear your favorite resources in the comments or link up to a similar post of your own.
Celebrate at our “baby shower” and WIN BIG!
~CONTEST CLOSED~
We know it might be a bit odd to liken our new Zone Cleaning for Kids, Clean ‘n’ Flip system to a baby, but after the months of labor we’ve put into re-vamping our program, we feel almost like we’ve given birth. Therefore, we decided to go ahead and have some fun with the idea. Any excuse for a party, right?!
We’re giving away great prizes for entries here on the blog (a camera and printer, chore system, curriculum and more!) AND we’ll be giving away even more during the party. Not only that, but we’re looking forward to answering your questions and getting to know you better! This is your chance to ask us about anything you like: Times Tales, Zone Cleaning for Kids, homeschooling, how Jennie got rid of all her puppies, or whatever!
Where: Trigger Memory Systems Facebook Page
Date: Thursday, Feb. 9
Time: 5:00 p.m. Pacific (6:00 Mountain, 7:00 Central, 8:00 Eastern)
If you want to make sure you don’t forget, sign up for our Education Through Imagination newsletter in the sidebar at the upper right and we’ll send you a reminder.
We are the proud parents who will be visiting with you at the party: Jennie, Marillee and Dena.
And now to introduce our new arrival!
The Zone Cleaning for Kids Clean ‘n’ Flip system is a fun and unique way to help your children help you! Let’s break it down and see what makes it so special.
The basis of the system is the Clean ‘n’ Flip, itself. This fully-laminated flip chart uses step-by-step illustrations to make chores simple. Rather than responding to a vague instruction to “clean the kitchen”, children work through the chart step-by-step, marking their progress along the way. Kids love knowing exactly what to do and Mom will love knowing that the room is actually clean when they hear the words, “I’m done!” Even non-readers can use the bright and colorful graphics to easily follow along. Click the thumbnails below to see larger samples of a few of the pages.
The system allows plenty of opportunity for you to customize the chart to your specific family needs. It’s easy to add additional jobs, assign jobs and zones, or even specify when you’d like specific jobs completed.
Before you start working through the Clean ‘n’ Flip, however, you’ll want to check out our new instructional DVD. The DVD introduces you to the system and provides children with instructions and examples for cleaning each zone. Your children will enjoy watching as their peers demonstrate how to properly clean each area of the home. Click the graphic below to see an introduction to the DVD.
While your kids are busily (and happily) cleaning the house, Mom can be saving money by making the non-toxic cleansers found in our Kid-friendly Cleaning Solutions E-Book. With a few basics pantry ingredients you can learn to make a wide variety of frugal and effective cleansers to fit almost any need.
Once you’ve finished reading, be sure and visit our buyers-only web page filled with fun and helpful home organization and management tips and resources. You’ll find the url and password on the last page of the Kid-friendly Cleaning Solutions E-Book. Here you’ll find all kinds of helpful printables, calendars and tips. We even provide links to printable labels for your homemade cleaning supplies.
Our new Zone Cleaning for Kids system provides everything you need to succeed, right down to removable basket labels and a dry-erase marker.
So . . . what do you think? Let us know what you like most about the system and you’ll automatically be entered to win one of the prizes listed below. Better yet, attend our Facebook party and win even more prizes!
PRIZES:
To enter, leave a comment below sharing what you like most about our new Zone Cleaning for Kids Clean ‘n’ Flip system. Prize winners will be announced here on the blog following our Facebook baby shower on Feb. 9. You need not be present to win (be sure and leave contact info in your comment), however, we will be giving away lots of extra prizes during the party such as Times Tales, Blank Books, and Grocery Cart Math! In fact, everyone who attends the party will receive a link to download our Kid-Friendly Cleaning Solutions E-Book absolutely free!
What new parent would be caught without a camera? Here’s your chance to win this Polaroid 12MP digital camera with instant mobile Zink printer!
One lucky winner will become the proud parent of our new “baby”, the Zone Cleaning for Kids, Clean ‘n’ Flip Chore system. This fun and unique chore system is designed to help children visually and systematically work through cleaning the kitchen, living room/entry, bathroom and bedrooms independently and with ease.
From Malia Russell at Homemaking 911: Win From Chaos to Order: 25 Tools for Bringing Organization to Your Home, MP3 download. This encouraging audio CD, recorded based on our conference presentation is solidly based on the fundamental truth of God’s word, Malia’s personal experiences, and insight gained from working with hundreds of women every year. This workshop session helps turn modern homemakers from overwhelmed to overjoyed! ($5 value)
A Journey Through Learning is providing THREE winners with a download of their St. Patrick’s Day Lapbook. Celebrate St. Patrick’s Day with this fun hands-on St. Patrick’s Day Lapbook with Study Guide! Learn all about Ireland and also some about St. Patrick and St. Patrick’s Day! Topics include Ireland Geography, Who was St. Patrick, The Celts, The Potato Famine, Irish Music and Dance, Castles, How Ireland Got Its Name, Kissing the Blarney Stone, Leprechauns, Gaelic Football, Hurling The Wearing of Green and much more. Each booklet comes with a study page to make filling out the booklets so easy! Plus, we have included a color-coded assembly guide and an easy to follow lay-out so that putting your lapbook together will be a breeze! We also have used actual photos when possible. A beautiful lapbook when finished! ($13 value)
Toddler Bites is providing one winner with a download of their A-Z Toddler & Preschool Curriculum. This complete Toddler and Preschool Curriculum was designed especially for preschool parents. It is set up to cover one letter per week. In addition to a letter a week, it includes a weekly theme that starts with the letter of the week. The same color, shape, and number are worked on all month long. This curriculum begins in August and ends in May. ($10 value)
Linking to Tackle it Tuesday