Self-Paced Homeschool: SchoolhouseTeachers.com Review

Note:  this post has affiliate links.

Homeschooling is not an easy task once you first decide to take the lead in your child's education. I started homeschooling many years ago to curtail germs as my youngest was prone to severe asthmatic episodes when sick with a cold. Throughout the years, I have tried many curriculums, both in book form and online classes, to no avail.  I truly believe the best system is one made of different mediums which is why I gravitated towards SchoolhouseTeachers.com. When I read that the Homeschool Review Crew was seeking new reviewers, I jumped on the chance to apply. As a member of the Homeschool Review Crew, I received the Yearly Membership to SchoolhouseTeachers.com in order to write this review.

The ability to access online classes and video components as well as access to downloadable and printables with over 360 courses for all ages and levels in every subject, drew me into having to be a member of the Crew!  The online electives are vast and full of great topics to those that are already interested in those subjects or to some that may not even realize they might love that direction such as drama. The best part for me is the ability to plan my children's schedules as to how I feel meets their individual needs. The fact that it's self-paced was critical as having one child with learning disabilities, I found online schools were too rigid with timelines and due dates. I have another child that is advanced, so she's not bored with waiting for these due dates to pass. This is perfect and I'm very happy to find non-common core resources.

• Navigation:  As I first became aware of SchoolhouseTeachers.com, I found the ability to navigate between subjects and class levels effortless which cut down on the learning curve and allowed me more time to dive into what was being offered and how I wanted to plan the new school year. 
• Course Information:  Upon selecting a course(s), information is readily available that discusses the course introduction, length of course, age and grade recommendations, an outline of the course, introductory video, certificate of completion as what child doesn't like to see progress achieved on paper?  There are other features to each course when a student first begins but those are just a few.
• Video Library:  Hundreds of videos are available to stream including from such providers as Creation.com, Vision Video, Discovery House and more. Most videos are available worldwide and are accessible immediately from the site.  My pre-k grandson was drawn to the videos immediately as I was navigating through different options.  My middle one, an avid art fan, was drawn to the Art videos. To be honest, there were courses that I'm even going to partake in not only to increase my own knowledge but to further encourage my children into learning more.
• Planning Resources: There are an array of resources ranging from weekly schedules to even sample 9-week schedules to aid in helping you build a custom schedule.  There are schoolhouse homeschool planners, ready-made calendars, printable information charts such as sign language, branches of the government, types of clouds and so much more. The Applecore Recordkeeping feature helps parents in course tracking, grade reporting, report cards, portfolios, attendance keeping and transcripts.
• Resources:  This is another great feature full of many options to choose from whether it's topics such as High School Help, Special Needs, Literacy Center, Just for Parents and much much more.  
• World Book Resource Library:  This resource is separated by Library, Grade and Subjects for a total of 10 libraries that holds an amazing amount of resources to aid in educating children.  It's really a marvel!

Whether you are new to homeschooling or not, the resources, the set-up of SchoolhouseTeachers.com is nothing like I've used before. I would recommend this particularly to the new homeschooling parent in breaking through the nervous barrier on the decision to homeschool.  I would also recommend it to the experienced homeschooling parent as it truly is a one stop website for educating all your children.

I wanted to get started as soon as possible in planning one of the courses for my children, so I chose Elementary Spanish. The course 'How To' and 'Introductory' provides the starting information to get started.  

To the right of the website, is a 'Course Outline' that details every other week video lessons and the weekly worksheets.  To the left, the student clicks on 'Go to Class Lessons' button. 

Once the student clicks on one of the video images (lesson number), the window opens with the video lesson and each week's lesson for that particular video. For the first lesson, there was the video, a downloadable worksheet for week one and an on-your-own review handout, the next downloadable worksheet and a review of last's weeks.  I also like there is a Bible memorization exercise with each lesson.

It's short, concise and not too complicated.  I'm even going to take this course with my girls so I can finally learn another language.

I did glance at the Drive Thru History course and really enjoyed how the first lesson was broken down to the beginning of American history with Christopher Columbus and incorporated religious aspects into the teaching.  The video lesson was captivating and very educational starting out in Spain and moving along the path towards America.

I'm hoping by reading my review, you will be able to learn about the many resources available for homeschooling your child or children. After trying too many different curriculum's and spending a lot of money, I only regretting now learning more about SchoolhouseTeachers.com before now. I am a bit overwhelmed by all the resources and am glad that there is a 'where to start' resource page as well. I initially felt I would need to really spend a solid month getting absorbed with everything that is offered but after jumping in, I realized that it's all very intuitive and easy to use. Since one of my children has difficulty with reading, I sought the information available at the Literacy Center.  Again, I was extremely pleased with all the resources:

• Downloadable books for K-4th grade.
• Trek's Travels series of 12 early readers for PK/K which will be a great asset to my pre-K grandson.
• Welcome to Reading collection of four series of early readers for K-2nd grade.  This will work perfect for my granddaughter in kindergarten.
• The Classics is a collection of nursery rhymes, songs and stories for Pre-K-2nd grade.
• Strategies in working with your child(ren).
• A Getting Started section.
• Comprehensive Skills to include a link to fun comprehensive games in World Book Early World of Learning Library.

I wanted to share what I liked the most after just getting started with SchoolhouseTeachers.com.  It's a great opportunity if you are already homeschooling or if you are on the fence and are thinking about starting.  It covers Elementary Homeschool Courses, Middle School Homeschool Courses and High School Homeschool Courses.  For myself, it has every resource I could possibly use and I am beyond excited to get started with many of the fascinating online electives!

Now through January 31, 2018, there is a sale going on!  The Ultimate Annual Membership is only $90 (normally $179) or $9.95 a month for the Ultimate Monthly Membership (regularly $19.95).  If you renew, you are locked into that pricing!  Use code NEWYEAR18 for the annual membership discount or MONTHNEWYEAR18 for the monthly discount.  New members only.

HORMEL GATHERINGS® Party Trays Perfect for All Gatherings

I received free product and a store gift card in exchange for my honest review. All opinions and content are my own.

I had my first experiencing serving HORMEL GATHERINGS® Party Trays to my guests this year at Thanksgiving and I couldn't be happier with the ease at preparing these plentiful trays full of cheese, crackers, hard salami and pepperoni.  As I planned for my all day event with family, all 15 people in attendance, I knew I had to be creative to ease the use of the kitchen and to alleviate some of my time as I'd be busy preparing the meal.  The HORMEL GATHERINGS® Party Trays are perfect as I chose to offer up one earlier in the day just on in the ready to use tray in the living-room as everyone gathered to watch games.  The second tray was served as an evening snack when everyone was ready to just snack. 

The HORMEL GATHERINGS® Party Trays I purchased had Hormel® Hard Salami, Hormel® Genoa Salami, Sargento® Pepper Jack Cheese, Sargento® Havarti Cheese, Round Crackers and Peloponnese Pitted Olives. 

The variety of tastes went well with my guest's tastes.  I had one who liked olives and the little ones ate the Havarti cheese and crackers alone.  All the adults loved the Pepperjack and Havarti cheeses with the salami.  I think given the quantity of items, it was worth the money even if it does cost a little more for convenience.  I ended up purchasing another one to take on a 12 hour road trip due to the convenience, taste and quality minus the olives due to mess. The other nice feature of the trays is that each item is individually packaged so you can decide not to place all of the items out at once.

    
Unfortunately, by the time the rest of my guests arrived, I was too busy preparing dinner to take a picture with them.  I'd say my step-son was a huge fan of the tray! For the price, quality and convenience, I would recommend HORMEL GATHERINGS® Party Trays.  The combined flavors were perfect, the cheeses had rich taste and the salami was different enough to give a subtle change in flavor but increased the pairing with crackers and the cheese.  My husband was probably the biggest fan as he loves cheese, salami and crackers but I'm not a big fan of the mess he makes on the floor!  

It was a great day of good food, fun times and more memories as it was our first co-family holiday at my house.

HORMEL GATHERINGS® Party Trays are also good for any gatherings, traveling, camping or just a lazy night watching movies.

Looking for more ideas or to be inspired?  Don't forget to check out Hormel Facebook, Hormel Pinterest or Hormel YouTube.



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Rogue One: Our Easy to Replicate Jyn Erso Costume

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After searching for a suitable Jyn Erso costume for my middle child, we decided to put it together ourselves.  Either they were of poor quality or cost a bit more than I could justify. This year, we utilized the Rogue One's images to find a perfect ensemble straight from Amazon mostly because I was not wanting to sew.  We looked up what other people used and continued from there utilizing what we already had at home which consists of black riding pants or leggings would suffice and a pair of brown boots.

We purchased the Frogg Toggs Cascade Classic Vest, a Hanes black V-Neck women's shirt, the KMystic Infinity Loop Scarf and Jyn Erso Belt with Holster.  Although more expensive than I would have preferred, I figured spending a bit more for the belt and holster was okay since we were piecing together a costume that I had no idea how it would look.  You could purchase a more inexpensive holster at a fraction of the cost for the same effect.  The nice thing about this costume, my daughter can still wear it as it turned out to be very fashionable albeit without the holster.  

#Homeschool Trip to an Indiana Meteor Crater 97 Million Years Old

On a trip back from visiting family, we happened upon a rather unique and surprising site to see hidden off away from a major highway near Kentland, Indiana (N 40° 45’ W 87° 24’).  The area, off Route 41 which used to be a busy traveling road until interstates took over the landscape, is home to what is referred to as Kentland Structure, Kentland Crater or the Kentland Disturbed Area or a working rock quarry.  Situated in Newton County, Indiana, it was discovered around 1880 by two farmers who began to quarry crushed rock.  Geologists determined due to the presence of shattered cones and deformed bedrock in the late 1960's that the structure is in a deeply eroded impact structure. 

The circular dome of the structure is about 4.5 miles in diameter that is buried in glacial debris.  They have estimated  it to be less than 97 million years old (cretaceous) and the center, Shakopee dolomite center is around 450 million years old.  The total disturbance area is 7.8 miles in diameter.  It's only been within the past 40 years or so that geologists have agreed it's an impact site.  The current rock quarry owners do allow for educational tours of the facilities.

More information can be found here at Indiana Meteor Crater.

Why Homeschooling Is On The Rise in the U.S.

Courtesy of Ben White Photography

Guest Post

Why Homeschooling Is On The Rise in the U.S.?

The number of children in the US who are homeschooled has grown dramatically over the past 30 years or so. In fact, figures from the National Home Education Research Institute, show that around 2.3 million children no longer learn in a formal classroom setting.

The reason for this increase? Well, there are many. But, for the most part, parents want a better education for their children than they think they get from their state schools.

Homeschooling works for many families

Homeschooling gives families the choice to live their lives the way they want to. In many places, it also gives parents the opportunity to teach their children topics, subjects, and curriculums that aren’t available at their local state school.

Of course, tests and formal qualifications are still important for homeschooled children – perhaps even more so. However, it also gives your children the chance to learn about a wider variety of things and pick up important life skills, they might not learn at their local school.

Practical skills

Even if your local school has an ok academic record, you might not be a big fan of the practical lessons or after-school clubs on offer. Homeschooling means you can include the practical lessons you feel are important, into your child’s learning curriculum. Perhaps running the family food budget is a skill you feel your children should have. It also fits with math and management, so is a good topic to cover and job for them to have at home.

Sewing is another useful practical skill for children to learn that is rarely taught in schools. Being able to sew, make and mend clothes, stitch badges on and create something from scratch is an amazing and useful skill to have. Sewing could easily be added to your home-schooling planning.

Or, perhaps gardening is an important practical subject you would like your kids to learn about. Give them a patch of garden to grow plants and flowers in. Then, let them harvest their produce and help you use it in a meal or meals for the family. Another great lesson that children and some adults, would benefit from.

Traveling and learning

If you enjoy traveling and visiting new places and want your children to experience that too, then home schooling allows you to do this. You can visit places that are relevant to the lessons you plan for your children.

Or, you can go somewhere new and turn it into a fun, but practical lesson for your kids. Travelling around your state, country, continent or the whole world doesn’t stop your children from learning.

Indeed, it teaches them a lot more about the real-life choices they could be faced with in the future. Or, it can help show them a completely different way of thinking and living which can help their brain develop new pathways and become brighter and mentally agile.

Homeschooling isn’t for everyone. But, if it’s your best option you can make it work well for your children and your family.

Enhancing Homeschool Lessons with Media

 *Disclosure: I did not receive any compensation for this post.

I'm a homeschooling mom who seeks new ways of learning and have tried curriculum after curriculum without settling on one that I exclusively use. I have found that there are a ton of resources available via media which I feel helps to break up the day. One of my fondest memories I have from school are the films we used to watch as they were a treat and broke up the boredom of traditional teacher/book boredom we experienced as kids. One of the things that I look for in enhancing my educational resources is movies or other type of programs where they are documentaries or stories based on actual events or lives. Currently, I have utilized Netflix and Amazon to add to my resources but just recently, I found out about Pure Flix.

Pure Flix has entertainment, ministry, blog and homeschool resources and the biggest draw for me was the content is family-friendly eliminating my fear of inappropriate content of nudity or bad language unlike the other two services I currently use.  Other pro's about Pure Flix include:

• Access on many platforms to include Roku, iOS, Apple TV, Google Play, Chromecase, KindleFire and more.
• Exclusive shows such as God's Not Dead 2, Do You Believe, The Book of Daniel and more.
• Educational shows such as Popular Mechanics for Kids, Medal of Honor, The Ultimate Civil War Series and much more.
• Kids choice.
• Programming for all ages.

You can join free for a month and cancelling a subscription later is quick and easy without a hassling phone call with a customer service agent.

See the above infograph for more information.

Bamboo Tree from Commercial Silk Int'l Review

Disclosure: I received this bamboo plant courtesy of CommercialSilk.com in exchange for this review.  The opinions are of my own and were not influenced by the sponsor.

We moved over the summer to a house that we could finally go outside and enjoy the beautiful summer sunshine.  With that move, I decided to purchase plants for the deck in trying to add the warmth of a Florida day since we are completely utterly in love with Florida.  The biggest problem with plants is me.  I am a known killer of anything green that grows so I fretted over purchasing live plants or choosing artificial ones as I can't harm those.  I did choose a few live plants and surprisingly, I haven't murdered them ... yet.  However, I confess that I truly prefer artificial plants due to the need to not care for them.  Artificial plants truly have come a long way from the years of past as now, they are beautiful and very realistic.  My husband and I really enjoy the look of bamboo which is why I chose the bamboo tree from CommercialSilk.com.

The bamboo arrived in a tall box that fit the size of the 4' tree and was protected to avoid any damage.  Once I "fluffed" out the branches, it was stunning!  My husband returned from work and stated how realistic it was.  He was in awe over how real it looked.  It is also nice in that it's not heavy which allows for changing my mind where I want to place it as I moved it at least four times trying to find the right spot for it.  It's now in a place where I can see it whenever I'm in the living room.  The bonus is it requires no water and just a quick dusting every now and then and it will look as good as new as time moves on. The leaves are vibrant, as you can see in the photo, and the trunk is just beautiful in its ornate design.  I would recommend this tree due to the size, the level of care needed (none), the beauty and realistic display it provides.

CommercialSilk.com also has many other products that will spruce up a home or business to include:

• Artificial Trees
• Artificial Plants
• Artificial Flowers
• Artificial Boxwood
• Artificial Topiaries 
• Artificial Floliage
• Display and Other Specialty
• Preserved Trees, Palms, Plants
• Planters

As a large wholesale supplier of artificial trees, plants and decorative silk trees, they are a leading designer, manufacturer and wholesaler for both indoor and outdoor use.

How to Plan a Multi-Generational Family Vacation

GUEST POST

Multi-Generational family vacations are a great way to get everyone together in a single place. But organizing them can be a bit tough because you need to find a location that has enough activities to keep everyone busy throughout a day. 

If you are the one in charge, there are plenty of obstacles in front of you. You might feel stressed at one point but don't worry – it’s possible to organize an amazing family vacation for all age groups without absolutely losing your mind. 

Don't wait and start planning right away

Early preparations are beneficial for several reasons. First of all, you might be able to find a great deal that can save you a ton of money. You will also have more options in terms of accommodation because hotels and resorts will have plenty of vacancies. Give yourself enough time to consult each member of your family and present them with the potential locations. 

Secondly, this is a multi-generational family vacation, so telling your parents or grandparents that you will be leaving in two weeks can lead to cancellation because they might not be able to get ready in time. 

Inform everyone at least a couple of months prior to the vacation and see when they are available. This is an excellent way to ensure everyone is included in your family trip. And finally, if you have a large family, you might even get a group discount at some locations. These are definitely worth looking into.

Don't go halfway across the globe

Far away countries are exciting and attractive but it might be safer to select a destination which does not include layovers and hopping from one plane to another. 

After all, you are traveling in a group and not everyone will be up for this. Spending hours and hours on an airport in an unfamiliar country can be stressful, especially for the youngsters.

This is very important if your family does not live in the same city, but you are all meeting in a single place. There will be fewer complications when it comes to transportation and the general mood should be more positive because everyone will arrive at your vacation spot fairly quickly. 

You will able to check in together and start off the family vacation with a lot of enthusiasm and excitement. 

Make sure everyone is having fun

Even though this might sound impossible, you can actually find all-inclusive resorts that have a wide range of classes and activities which are suitable for every member of your family regardless of the age. 

Do some research and read as much as you can about resorts of your choosing. They will have all the activities listed on the official website so select the one that fits your lifestyle the best. 

Each family is different of course, but everyone loves hanging out on a beach or by a pool. 

Outdoor activities and watersports are popular among all generations so check if a resort you have chosen has plenty of options for everyone before you book it. If you select an all-inclusive resort, see which classes or activities are included in a price because sometimes you need to pay extra for tours and hikes which take place outside of the resort. 

The Caribbean is a great place to look for family resorts. Just make sure that you pay close attention to whether it’s a family resort or an adults-only resort. That will matter a lot for the vibe you’re looking. Usually, this is pretty obvious just by looking at marketing materials or asking the question, but it’s common enough that it deserves to be mentioned. 

It’s okay to ask for help

Organizing a family trip can be overwhelming so if you make a decision to stay at a resort or a hotel, you can ask their concierge team to help you out. Don't hesitate – call them or send an email. They have plenty of experience and will provide you with guidelines that will help you manage the activities for the whole family. 

Just make sure you contact them at least a couple of weeks before you arrive. The concierge team should also provide you with basic information about the country you are visiting and tell you the best route from an airport to their hotel or resort. After all, they know the area and their advice is quite valuable, especially if this is your first trip to that location.

Turn it into a tradition

If everyone enjoyed their vacation, you should definitely do it again. Once you arrive home, ask the members of your family about their thoughts and suggestions. Don't focus on the things they liked only, but accept the criticism as well. This will help you do better next time around. You should also take another location into consideration just to make it interesting.

You might even start thinking about exotic destinations. Keep in mind that they might require more organizational skills because you need to make sure everyone is on board with this idea. On the other hand, if your family insists on returning to the same place every single year, change your accommodation. This will make things more exciting and add new activities to your itineraries. 

CUJO Smart Internet Firewall Scores a Win in Providing Peace of Mind for Myself and Children

The reviewer has been compensated in the form of a Best Buy Gift Card and/or received the product/service at a reduced price or for free.

Safety in today's world expands not only to the exterior life outside of home but with technology, we have to be diligent to what occurs inside our home.  Threats are never ending if you are connected to the internet and when you add children into the equation, it's even more imperative to install protections that will aid in their safety.  It's really confusing as to what you should have installed to protect your family and your children and now that I've discovered CUJO, a smart firewall that connects all our devices in our home, I feel more secure.  It's a business level security system but within my own home. Its convenient with one device that connects to my WiFi router and provides protection by detecting and blocking malicious sites, hacks and viruses on all my devices.  It's a great piece of mind knowing it's providing antivirus protection for my entire network and as a bigger bonus, CUJO allows me to also control what my kids are accessing online further protecting them.

CUJO has another feature I love that allows me to access and control CUJO with my smartphone app.  With it's build in 1GB ethernet, it provides blazing fast speeds catching all those tricky viruses and hacks before they can cause havoc.  Installation was easy and although I had some issues setting it up, the CUJO support team was phenomenal with wanting to help and I have a good sense that they are merely a video call/phone call away should I ever need assistance.  User error in setting it up was my only issue as I found out!  I was able to activate and get it moving along all on my phone.  Note, the threats detected photo was taken right after I connected so there would be no threats found at that point.

This screen quickly alerted myself that all was ready and I could proceed.

The menu allows you to access all the features via your Smartphone which is convenient and great!

This screen allows me to see all the devices that CUJO is monitoring.

If you do have children, you will like features such as:

• easy parental controls for all devices
• internet filters to allow you to control what your children access
• time limits equate to no more monitoring and tracking time
• social media monitoring because we know this is a growing issue with bullying and more
• pause internet capabilities 
• alerts and reporting
• remote administration for those times you can't be home or near where your children are
• user profiles and settings

Overall, I found the CUJO easy to use, quick to set up and activate and I feel more confident that our personal information is safe from hackers and our children can play online without fear of malicious viruses, hacks or even unsafe information they might find.  Being able to control time online, content and more is truly a blessing for myself.  Even though I found the CUJU face cute, my grandchildren were a little afraid of the cute little glowing eyes at first. It's easy to just turn it around so they won't see the glow.  Given it's small appearance, it blends in anywhere and the cords are good lengths to allow it to be plugged into the wireless router and electrical outlet.  I highly recommend the device.