GrammarPlanet {Review}

I am super excited to share my new favourite home schooling product.  Nathaniel and I have been working our way through GrammarPlanet and are finally beginning to understand how to parse sentences using the different parts of speech.

What is parsing? Parsing is labeling each part of speech in a sentence, and using an abbreviation over each word to indicate which part of speech each one is.

Grammar was not my forte at school or after for that matter.  I could give you the definitions of the parts of speech and examples of each one, but I could not apply my knowledge to every day sentences at all.  When it came to teaching grammar to Timothy and Jane they were handed a grammar curriculum and told to work through it.  I was very grateful for the Teacher Key so I could mark their work because it made no sense to me at all.

We have been using GrammarPlanet for the last month and LOVE it! I'm finally beginning to understand how to apply my grammar knowledge.  I do this daily with Nathaniel and we are both enjoying the journey.

How to get started

• Click on sign up for FREE! and create the parent account. You will need to put in your first and last name. Under role select Teacher and then input your email and selected password.
• GrammarPlanet will send you an email with a link to activate your account.
• Once activated you will be taken to a page to enrol your students, which can also be found when you click on the drop down arrow next to your name in the upper right hand corner. Click on +ADD STUDENT. You will need to add in their first and last name, user name (this will be lower case), a password, under group you will need to select the group you made and you can add in an optional parental email. Click CREATE.

I love the simplicity of the program.  You have the flexibility to group your students or have different classes.

As the teacher you can see each students progress and average percentage score at a glance.

From the class page you select a student to see a review of their personal progress.  This is the page you will need to access to either reset or unlock a unit should the student need this done.

The program is based on mastering the materials they are working on.  Should the student get too many incorrect answers the unit is locked and an alert is emailed to the teacher.

I can look through the unit and see which sentences the student incorrectly labelled and help the student understand which ones were incorrect and why. The unit report button produces a pdf document with a list stating the unit practise numbers and whether the student got them correct or incorrect.

The GrammarPlanet program has been written to asses the students understanding of the work and adapt to their specific need.  Should the student need more practise it will provide more practise questions. For example in Unit 1 Nathaniel was given fourteen practise questions and five Test questions whereas I was given eleven practise questions.

When a unit is locked you have the option of either unlocking the unit or resetting the progress. I have chosen to RESET PROGRESS on the units so that he can redo the unit he has not successfully navigated and gain proficiency before learning the next part of speech.

Resetting a unit is done by clicking RESET PROGRESS, upon which a pop up window appears stating Reset Student Progress with a drop down box for you to select the unit needing to be reset.  Select the unit you want reset and click RESET.  GrammarPlanet will then double check and ask if you are sure.  If you are click on YES and the unit is reset back to the beginning.

One word of caution when doing this be sure to select the correct unit to reset as the whole program will delete everything achieved by the student from the unit you select and includes all units completed after the selected unit.

When the student logs in they will be taken to their dashboard, from here they can see their progress at a glance. They can go back to completed units or continue forward by clicking on the green CONTINUE PROGRESS BUTTON.

• On launching the program opens up the next unit being studied.  In this unit we can see at a glance on the top right we are studying Pronouns.  
• The orange button on the bottom left is where we access the unit notes which are provided in PDF format and are to be printed.  We have been printing these and will be comb binding them upon completing the program.   The notes are concise and beautifully presented.  I'm looking forward to having a complete grammar reference book upon completion. You do not need to read the notes to your student as Erin (the teacher) will fully explain the grammatical part of speech within the video referencing the notes on hand.

Erin speaks clearly and slowly carefully teaching the concept at hand. If you hover over the video an outline of the class will appear on the left hand side of the screen.

After a concept has been taught,  the video will auto stop and a small multiple choice quiz question will appear. If you answer the question incorrectly you have the option to replay the last section or continue. Upon completing the video teaching the student then progresses onto the unit practise questions.

From here you then commence the practise questions for the unit you are working on.

Each word in the sentence is contained in a box.

A pop up box containing the parts of speech already learnt opens.
The student selects the part of speech relevant to the word they have selected.
The parts of speech within the box are shown in order of operation as taught by the teacher.

Once they have selected the part of speech pertaining to the word.
The word is highlighted and the part of speech selected is added.
Once you have finished all the words you want to mark  you hit submit.

GrammarPlanet then marks the work submitted.
Students receive instant feedback on work submitted.

Any incorrect or missed selections are highlighted in red.
Correct answer is indicated above the word in a green text box.

How long does it take?
The recommendation is for students to work on a lesson for 15 minutes a day. I found that doing a longer lesson or multiple lessons left us both feeling overwhelmed.

• Our routine now is to listen to the lesson and answer the video questions on day one.  
• We then attempt the practice questions the following day.  
• If we don't pass the practice questions I reset the progress and we redo the practice sentences the next day. I keep resetting the unit until we pass.  
• Once we pass the practice questions Nathaniel then does the test the next day.  

Scope and Sequence
GrammarPlanet currently has 13 units available.  New units are being added weekly and the total number of units will be 60 upon completion.  Sentence diagramming starts in unit 7.  Once we reach that level I shall add a screen shot to this review for you to see.

Cost of GrammarPlanet

• You can sign up for FREE!  The free version of GrammarPlanet is supported through advertising.  
• Purchasing GrammarPlanet removes the advertising bars (this option is currently under development and will be available shortly).

Recommended Age Range

• GrammarPlanet is aimed at students from 10 to 99 who want to improve their English. It can be used by students in school, students at home, or adults individually or as a group.

About GrammarPlanet

The creation of GrammarPlanet is the realisation of a years-long dream to be able to make grammar education … REAL grammar education … available and affordable for anyone, regardless of the type of school, the economic background, the location, etc. While there are a lot of homeschoolers who will benefit from it, I also hope low-income schools, students who go to schools that don’t teach it, and adults who never learned it, will be able to finally learn HOW our language works and therefore learn how to speak and write it correctly.
The core philosophy behind GP is my mother’s creation: Analytical Grammar, a book-based program that has been on the homeschool market for more than two decades. Mom passed away more than three years ago, but before her death we were talking about how cool it would be to have a website like this. It’s SO exciting to me that the dream she (and Jerry!) and I discussed back then is now real. Her way of teaching grammar is just SO GOOD. I want as many people around the world as possible to have access to it, and digital is by far the way to go to achieve that dream.

- Erin Karl CEO Grammar Planet/Owner of Analytical Grammar -

Connect on Social Media


Over All I thought ...
I love this program and am very grateful to the developers for making it available to us.  As a mom who personally struggles with parts of speech and sentence diagraming it's a relief to have someone available to teach each part of speech along with reliable notes.

I like that the program gives instant feedback on each problem and test. Erin Karl is a great teacher who speaks clearly and helps the student understand the part of speech they are working on. Grammar is taught in a logical easy-to-understand manner.  I have learned so much in the first four units I can confidently explain the why behind each grammatical choice I make (thank you Erin!).

I am looking forward to working my way to the end of this program and gaining a fuller understanding of grammar in the English language and would highly encourage you to enrol your students in the Grammar Planet program.

Blessings
Chareen

Classical Christian Education & Charlotte Mason In-depth Guide for FREE

I am super excited to share a new FREE resource I heard about today.  The Old Schoolhouse has compiled a brand new FREE guide for Classical and Charlotte Mason Home Educators.

This beautiful full colour ditial supplement contains:

• 70 pages of encouragement.
• 20 Different articles covering: The Value of High School Latin, Why Teach with Historical Fiction, Learning Disabilities: How to Adapt the Curriculum, Living an Educational Lifestyle with Charlotte Mason and many more.
• Learn from Sonya Shafer from Simply Charlotte Mason, Lee and Robert Bortins with Classical Conversations, Karen Andreola from Charlotte Mason Research & Supply, Dr. Christopher Perrin with Classical Academic Press—and so many more!

I'm always so blessed by the greater home educating community when they give freely of themselves.  I've been a part of the Old Schoolhouse community now for five years and recently read about how Gena and her husband Paul started the company.  I remember years ago we used to look forward to the copy of their magazine arriving in New Zealand and our local support group would share the magazine around for encouragement and news of new products.

Pop on over to The Old Schoolhouse for your FREE copy of Classical Christian Education & Charlotte Mason: An In-Depth Guide.

Blessings
Chareen

Exploring Creation with Human anatomy and Physiology {Review}

Last month was certainly one of the very best happy post days in our homeschool. Apologia blessed us with the complete set of Exploring Creation with Human Anatomy and Physiology. I was so overwhelmed with their generosity!

What we received

Human Anatomy and Physiology Textbook
Begining with a short history of medicine and following into human anatomy from a Christian perspective.

• Author by Jeannie Fulbright and Brooke Ryan, M.D.
• Hardcover
• ISBN 978-1-935495-14-7
• Pages 265
• The book is divded into 14 weeks of lessons:
  1. Introduction to Anatamy and Physiology. Cells, DNA,
  2. The Skeletal System (bones, ligaments, joints)
  3. Muscular System (tendons, musckles, cells, muscle types)
  4. Digestive and Renal Systems
  5. Health and Nutrition (nutrients, water, carbs, proteins, Fats, Vitamins, Minerals)
  6. Respiratory System (nose, lungs, asthma, diaphragm)
  7. Life in the Blood (veins, arteries, plasma, red and white cells, platelets)
  8. Cardiovascular System
  9. Nervous and Endochrine Systems
  10. Nervous system Extended
  11. Senses (smell, taste, sight,)
  12. The Integumentary System
  13. Lymphatic and Immune Systems
  14. Growth and Development
• Each chapter has a practical hands on experiment to reinforce learning.
• These books are a part of Apologia's Young Explorer's Series and uses the Immersion Approach to learning. Jeannie Fulbright the author explains that by examining one topic fully children go deeper so that they can really know, understand learn more fully, this in turn builds their confidence as well as giving them the tools to actually know science via the terminology and processes.

Human Anatomy Notebooking Journal 

• Softcover spiral bound journal 
• Contains 202 pages and an appendix of 66 pages.
• Consumable and intended for a single student use in grades 3/4th level and up.
• ISBN 978-1-935495-15-4

Human Anatomy Junior Notebooking Journal 

• This journal is for beginning writers.  It is divided into 14 lessons.
• Softcover spiral bound journal
• It contains 230 pages
• appendix of 66 pages.  The appendix contains all the mini book cut outs and templates to complete the assignments.
• Consumable and intended for a single student use.  
• This journal is similar to the and intended for use by younger students in years K to 2/3 grade level.
• ISBN 978-1-935495-47-5 

Differences Between the Journals

• The juniour journal contains colouring in pages with the scriptures on them, the older journal does not have these pages 
• Juniour Journal has less pages for notes.
• Juniour Journal contains lines with height spaces to make writing easier.  The lines are also wider apart.
• Older Journal uses crossword puzzles for the vocabulary exercise where as the younger journal uses matchbook mini books.

Human Anatomy and Physiology MP3 Audio CD 

• The CD contains the complete audio recording of Exploring Creation Human Anatomy and Physiology Textbook read by the author Jeannie Fulbright.  
• The CD is not in standard format.  The audio files are in MP3 and you will need an MP3 compatable player or computer to listen to it.  You can download a sample on the Apologia website.  

About Jeannie Fulbright 

Jeannie Fulbright is a mother of four and the author of Apologia’s Young Explorer Series. She is a regular speaker at numerous conventions, conferences, women’s retreats, and other events on all topics related to parenting, marriage and family, homeschooling and science. After her homeschool journey began, Jeannie discerned an immense need for Creation-based, scientifically sound, engaging, and easy-to-use science curricula. And so the Young Explorer Series was born.
Website | Twitter | Facebook | Pinterest

  How we used it
One of the many curriculumns I've had my eye on over the years is Apologia.  I really love the idea of teaching science from a Christian world view. Apologia's mission is "To publish homeschooling curricumlum and resources and host online classes to help families learn, live and defend the Christian faith."  I was thrilled to have the opportunity to look over and begin using their Exploring Creation with Human Anatomy and Physiology.

At times I've been anxious about teaching the sciences as some of the fields are fairly complex.  One of the most inspirational quotes that has given me the confidence to continue home educating is the following statement I read by Dr. Jay L. Wile "Can I teach high school science?  NO As your student gets older, your role changes from teacher to fellow learner."  One of the things I've appreciated about using this series is the conversational tone that the author uses.  She speaks to the person reading the book and as such both Nathaniel and I have learned some interresting things about the human body.  Human biology has long held my interest and I've always enjoyed reading more about it and it's amazing complexity.

Exploring Creation with Human Anatomy and Physiology is the sixth book in the Young Explorers Series.  Your journey begins with a short historical introduction to anatomy and physiology.  From here you move onto the study of the single cell which is the fundamental building block of the human body.  It then progressively teaches through the specific bodily systems such as the skeletal system, muscular, digestive, nervous, respiratory systems et cetera. Integrated into the learning is caring for these systems via life style, nutrition and finally all this is reinforced with hands on activities and notebook assignments.

The textbook is divided into 14 lessons.  Each of the lessons have been designed to be done over two weeks therefore covering 28 weeks of school.  IF you purchase the Notebooking Journal the weekly reading and suggested notebook assignments have been prescheduled out for you. In the sample above for Lesson one you can see four days worth of science.  The readings have been scheduled with narration breaks.  Narration is a Charlotte Mason method to encourage the student to pay attention, think, process and retain the knowledge they are learning. The narration breaks are clearly noted in the textbook.

Interspersed throughout the reading in the textbook are beautiful colour illustrations clearly illustrating what is being taught. Applicable vocabulary words are printed in bold type face.  The Try This! segments are hands on activities helping to reinforce learning.

  
Experiments to enhance understanding (and some are edible making them a true hit around here especially as they are created using highly desirable items 😀) are interspersed throughout the book.  In the introduction section of the textbook is an itemised list of what is needed for each of the experiments and Try This! sections. The items are listed by lesson and most of the items used are common household items we had on hand.

The Notebooking Journal and Junior Notebooking Journals are very similar and contain

• Suggested schedule
• Colouring pages
• Notebook pages to record interesting facts 
• Review Questions
• Assignments
• Scripture Copywork (print and cursive samples to copy) 
• Vocabulary Crosswords
• Project Pages
• Miniature Books
• More to Explore (extra experiments, biblical insights, and book suggestions)
• Field Trip Sheets
• Final Review
• Appendix - contains all the full colour mini books, and personal person resources needed to complete the journal.

The journals are designed to enhance learning and as such you are encouraged to choose which activities to do and which ones to leave so that learning does not become a chore.

The audio CD was a surprising addition we enjoyed. It is beautifully presented and Jeannie reads clearly making listening a pleasure.  We used the AEM MP3 player provided.  This made selecting the correct track for listening super easy as there are over 400 files on the disk.

It looks like a mini iPod on your screen and works in the same manner.  We really ejoyed the music which enhanced our listening pleasure. For example there was music in the transition between history of Anatomy and Ancient Egyptians.  The music had an Egyptian flare.

 The CD contains the complete audio recording of the course Exploring Creation with Human anatomy, it is not always verbatim as on occasion some of the words or sentences have been altered slightly to make it easier to listen to.  The CD is a great compliment to the book and especially helpful if you are not familiar with the pronounciation of the terminolgy in human anatomy.

Apologia has provided a section called Book Extra's which is located on their website.

You will need to create your account and log in. Your homepage will display the books your have registered.  Each textbook comes with a special code word that you use to add to your course list.  Once added you click on the course title which opens a page full of links which Apologia have curated to enhance each of the lessons within the book. Each link has a short discription of what you will find. For example here is a video they shared about skull bones. I really like these extra's as all the work has been done for me, and I know that the information is correct and I do not need to pre-check any of it.

 Connect with Apologia on Social Media



Blessings
Chareen

Princess Cut {Review}

Who would have know that my son would grow into a young person so passionate about everything movie production.  In fact we now remain seated in theatres and read through the credits!  It's quite amazing what you can learn about the movie industry from a twelve year old. We were very excited to see Princess Cut as it was produced by homeschool graduate Paul Munger and Watchman Pictures.

The Story
Princess Cut is the beautiful unfolding love story of a young woman named Grace who has been with her boyfriend Stewart for fifteen months and is dreaming of  the perfect proposal, by her knight as he presents her with a princess cut diamond ring declaring his unfailing love for her. She however learns that true love waits for the perfect time along with some painful life lessons along the way.

As her dreams of the perfect romance fall away to ashes around her, two young men walk into her life - Jarred and Clint.  Two very different young men with two very different hearts and backgrounds.  One wants to get to know her and her family and change the trajectory of his life the other is interrested in a fast romance with intimacy and little else.  Who will win her heart and the love of her family and how long before Grace sees the truth?

Through the many turns that life takes Grace learns that discovering your soul mate and remaining true to your heart is a narrow road but one that is well worth the wait.

Princess Cut  is an old-fashioned romance that emphasises getting to know someone well before entering into a deeper relationship with them.  It encourages young people to trust their parents and enjoy being home.

For the Parent

• The Dove Foundation have rated Princess Cut to ages 12+
• Nudity - None
• Drugs - None
• Offensive Language - None
• Sex - some references to by the therapist who recommends that the young woman move in and live with her boyfriend comparing it to 'trying on a shoe' first to see if it fits, she however rejects this advice.
• Violence -  A young boy is hit by a vehicle but the scene is not shown, you see the badly bent bicycle, the boy is fine. There is a fight scene.
• Other - some tension between characters which is resolved through love and forgiveness.

Cast of Princess Cut

• Grace Anderson is played by Ashley Bratcher and has also appeared in the films War Room and 90 Minutes in Heaven. She was named One of “Top 15 People to Watch in 2015” by Out of the Woodwork. Starring as Jim Anderson is Rusty Martin, Sr., who has been seen in featured rolls in films such as Courageous, Love Covers All, The Carrington Event, The Remaining, A Long Way Off, and War Room.
• (Dad) Jim Anderson is played by Rusty Martin, Sr began his acting career a decade ago and his very "believable" presence on film has resulted in many featured roles in numberous films such as Courageous, Love Covers All, The Carrington Event and War Room.
• Katherine Anderson is played by Mimi Sagadin, who studied improv at The Players Workshop of the Second City before appearing in over 40 projects, most notably opposite John Rhys-Davies in “Return To The Hiding Place.” 
• Rusty Martin, Jr (Robert Anderson) has been acting since third grade when he found his passion.  He has starred in movies such as Courageous, Polycarp: Destroyer of God's, Love Covers All and has received the Best Male Actor award at the CMM awards in 2014.
• Evan Brinkman (Drew Anderson) started his film career at the age of nine as Sam Stein in Doctor Bello sitting through four hours of make up each morning for his character! He has acted in Torn, The Owl and Trainwreck.
• Actress Jenn Gotzon is Brooke McClaren. She portrayed Tricia Nixon in Ron Howard’s Oscar-Nominated “Frost/Nixon.” Since then, she has been in a nu7mber of redemptive movies, and has received the Film Advisory Board’s “Award of Excellence and Outstanding Contribution to the Entertainment World” for her role in “Doonby.”
•  Actor Joseph Gray is Clint Masters. He has had guest roles on such fare as NBC’s “Revolution”, Lifetime Network’s “Drop Dead Diva” & the CW’s “The Originals”. He also ad a supporting role in the National Geographic Channel’s record-breaking TV Movie “Killing Kennedy,” and portrayed ‘John’, a principal role in the Academy Award nominated film “Alone, Yet Not Alone.”
• Cory Assink portrays Jared Cunningham. He has had tenured commercial success, including multiple Super Bowl appearances and working repeatedly with Hollywood’s top directors.

General Information

• Produced by Watchman Pictures
• Written by: Paul & Sheilah Munger
• Director: Paul Munger
• Producer: Paul Munger
• Genre: Romantic Drama
• Runtime: 97 min
• Industry Rating: Not Rated
• Purchase: Princess Cut  
• Official movie resources: Princess Cut Resources

Connect with Princess Cut on Social Media



Over All I thought ...
Princess Cut  is an old-fashioned conservative romance with a Hallmark flare.  As a family we loved  the humour (Little brother Drew advertising his sister in the local paper.  Boy did we laugh at the outcome of that choice!) and the story line.  It was wonderful to know we could watch this movie without fear of bad content or wrong morals. 
Blessings
Chareen