Saturday, 8 December 2012

TOSR - Schoolhouse Teachers.com

PhotobucketDid you know that The Old Schoolhouse Magazine has a members only area called Schoolhouse Teachers.com ? I didn't either until this week when I was given my first review assignment on The Old School House review crew for 2013.

TOS magazine is open access, which means it is available for free to everyone through a FREE app on your Apple, Kindle , Android device or PC.

I've spent a delightful evening exploring the website and seeing just what is available to you when you subscribe to Schoolhouse Teachers.com.  I am impressed with the simplicity of the layout and ease of site navigation.  You don't need a degree to find your way around. The tabs at the top are arranged for ease of access.  You can search for information by specific grade ( Pre K - Elementary, Middle School, High School), Family, Dailies, Extras, Samples, Library or meet the teachers creating the content. Each tab has a drop down menu with subject specific links. 

The Cost**
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  • For a limited time you can trial Schoolhouse Teachers for the first month for $1. 
  • After your trial you have the option of a monthly subscription of  $5.95 (via Pay Pal) or you can purchase a one year discounted membership for $64.26
  • Non obligation cancellations are available at anytime.
  • Are you a HSLDA member ? You can receive a 1 year subscription for FREE.
  • FREE 1 Year membership (NEW) for Active, Retired and Reserve United States Armed Forces (Offer expires 31 December 2012) 
** All prices quoted are subject to change without notice and are stated in US $
 
What do you get with your membership ?
  1. Member only access to lesson materials in all subjects listed below
  2. A new daily activity each morning covering over 13 subject areas.
  3. The Old Schoolhouse Magazine delivered straight to your inbox.
  4. All The Old Schoolhouse Magazine digital back issues
  5. Download all five Schoolhouse Planners
  6. All TOS E Books, unit studies during your 12 month membership.
  7. All available TOS Expo-To-Go recorded sessions and future sessions for the duration of your membership.
  8. New teachers and subjects as they are added. 

Subjects (Sample pages)
Click on any of these links to meet the teacher, read a course overview and upcoming lessons. Each page has a key (PK, K, E, M, HS) in the top right hand corner corresponding with which school levels are covered. 
  1. Asia - Bonnie Rose Hudson
  2. Career Exploration - Carol Topp
  3. Chemistry - Joey Hajda
  4. Classical History - Jennifer Courtney
  5. Classics-Based Writing - Janice Campbell
  6. Economics - Mark Sims
  7. Elementary Literature Kits - Lisa Duffy
  8. Figures in History - Cathy Diez-Luckie
  9. French - Greg Shone
  10. Film-making - George Escobar
  11. Geography - Terri Johnson
  12. Beginning Guitar - Jerry Jennings
  13. History - Diana Waring
  14. Home Economics - Malia Russell
  15. Lapbooking - Kimm Bellotto
  16. Literature - Adam Andrews
  17. Logic - Lisa Duffy
  18. Elementary Math - Dr. Peter Price
  19. High School Math - David Chandler
  20. Media Socialization - Dr. Lisa Dunne
  21. Mock Trial - Deborah Burton
  22. Monthly Reading List* - Michelle Miller
  23. Music - Voice* - Joy Sikorski
  24. Reading Lessons - Matthew Glavach
  25. Special Needs / Struggling Learners - Judi Munday
  26. Worldviews - Dr Alex McFarland
  27. Writing - Kim Kautzer
  28. Weekly Science Experiments by "Mr Science" - Jason Lindsey
*Members only content.

Are you looking for a daily drill to compliment your home school ? Add these Schoolhouse Dailies to your regular curriculum or mix and match to suit your need. Under this tab you will find a full list of daily lessons available to you
  • Everyday Games
  • Everyday Astronomy
  • Copy work
  • Explorers (USA, Canada, Australia/New Zealand)
  • Schoolhouse Spelling (Pre-K/K, lower elementary, and upper elementary.,grade levels 6th through 8th & high school)
  • Writing prompts
  • Everyday Easels
  • Math
  • Shakespeare
  • Pre-K
  • This Day in History
  • This months Menu
Extra's available to Members
  • Any and ALL The Old Schoolhouse Magazines dating back to 2007
  • A monthly FREE TOS E-Book
  • Webinaar recordings
  • All five Schoolhouse Planners (US$125 value)
  • Something NEW each week.
  • If you monetise your site there is an affiliate program available
Samples
Here you can find  pdf lessons to sample in the following subject areas
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  • Schoolhouse Expo 
  • Writing Lesson
  • High School Math lesson
  • Figures in History lesson
  • Music Lesson
  • Daily Unit Study
  • Everyday Explorers history lesson
  • Summer Shakespeare lesson
  • Extras
  • Planners
My Opinion
  • I am impressed with the quality and range of materials available. Coming from Australia you don't often see subject specific areas for our area on US based websites.  I was pleased to find specific areas just for us.
  • The lessons are concise and easy to access.
  • The lessons I chose to use were short enough to fit in with my current 15 minute lesson plan as I am trying to follow a Charlotte Mason approach this year.
  • I am looking forward to using some of the archived lessons as we start up our new year after Christmas.
  • If a teacher recommended a web resource it was linked and I did not need to go looking for it.
  • Each lesson had a PDF file for me to download.
  • We had a play around the Weekly Science experiment area where we enjoyed one minute science lesson YouTube lessons. (Hooked On Science) Sir N loved watching the clips and the pdf's had an excellent step by step and concise explanation explaining the science behind the experiment.  I was impressed with how the clips were related to everyday life.
  • The library of lessons is well laid out and I am impressed that nearly ALL the lessons since the sites debut in March are archived in the library area.
  • It contains daily, weekly and monthly lessons and plans, which are all in one place making it so much easier to access and less time is spent on the net sourcing information.
  • Teachers gave multiple resources so I was not locked into one specific book which I 'had' to buy in order to follow the program.  For example in the classical history Jennifer used four different books (Classical Conversations, Kingfisher History Encyclopedia, Streams of Civilization and Victory Journey Through the Bible) in which she also referenced page numbers. 
What others are saying on the www
I was pleasantly surprised to find this membership site for The Old Schoolhouse Magazine and even more impressed with the access to some very well known names in home school circles.


Blessings


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This post is part of and linking with the Schoolhouse Review so don't forget to pop on over and read what others are saying about Schoolhouse Teachers.com.
 This post contains NO affiliate links.
Disclaimer: I received a free copy of this product through the Schoolhouse Review Crew in exchange for my honest review. I was not required to write a positive review nor was I compensated in any other way. All opinions I have expressed are my own or those of my family. I am disclosing this in accordance with the FTC Regulations.

Friday, 7 December 2012

HSMJ - New TOS member

In my life this week…
I was invited to join The Old Schoolhouse review crew for 2013.   
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We also found out that my sister in law from South Africa and her husband are coming for a flying visit next week. I'm so excited as this is the first time in 16 years they have been able to come!
I spent a good deal of time deleting 90 spam comments!  So annoying.
Sadly my documents drive on my pc died yesterday.  An even sadder fact is that I have not backed it up for the last six months so might have lost all my photo's for that time period.  Please pray that we are able to rescue my pictures.

 In our homeschool this week…
  • I have been reading Jotham's Journey to Sir N and he is really enjoying it. We are reading a couple of extra chapters each week because don't have a full five weeks to read.
  • Looking for Advent printables among my Pinterest pins.

Helpful homeschooling tips or advice to share…
  • There are two great resources currently being offered for free. The Greenleaf Guide to Old Testament History and Adventures in ArtSee my post on Saturday for details on obtaining these two books.
I am inspired by…
  • How much support and encouragement we receive being on the TOS crew.  I am amazed at just how much work the crew leaders put into each day.

Places we’re going and people we’re seeing…
    • On Monday we caught up with the T Family
    • Tuesday we visited Granny J and went to Kelly Sports
    • Wednesday we joined the family in helping Granny put up Christmas.
    • Thursday C came for a play date, and the W Family came over to make a 21st birthday cake.
    • Today we are going to the Victoria State Rose garden for a picnic and tonight we are hosting an annual homeschool family pot luck dinner, carol singing Christmas light looking (or as Sir N puts it hunting for Christmas lights) evening.
    My favorite thing this week was…

    What’s working/not working for us…
    • The fact that my pc died yesterday.  I am amazed at how much I use it !

    Questions/thoughts I have…
    • Are any of you on TOS crew ?  Or have any of you ever been on crew in the past ?
    Things I’m working on…
    On My Bedside Table ...
    •  Teaching the Trivium.  Really enjoying this but I do confess I am chewing my way through it  it is not an easy read at all.
    In Bloggy world I’m reading…
    I’m cooking…
    •  Nothing too exciting as we are still on holiday recovery mode and I have not done the shopping yet.
    On Pinterest I found...
    • This week not very many new pins.  I have not managed to get onto my boards much. Hoping to remedy that tomorrow.
    I’m grateful for…
    •  My brother who is able to help me with any technical difficulties with my PC

    A photo, video, link, or quote to share…
    "A house without books is like a room without windows. No man has a right to bring up his children without surrounding them with books, if he has the means to buy them. It is a wrong to his family. Children learn to read by being in the presence of books. The love of knowledge comes with reading and grows upon it. And the love of knowledge, in a young mind, is almost a warrant against the inferior excitement of passions and vices." ~Horace Mann

    Blessings


    This post is linking to:
    Weird, Unsocialized Homeschoolers - Weekly Wrap Up
    iHomeschool - Homeschool Mothers Journal
    Hammock Tracks - It's a Wrap

    Wednesday, 5 December 2012

    Schoolhouse Review Crew Member

    In October I shared with you that applications were open for the Schoolhouse Review Crew for 2013.

    Over the weekend I received an invitation to be a part of the crew!  My first review is due next week so keep watching this space :)


    For the 2013 year there are 250 of us on crew so there will be plenty of reviews and encouragement to go around.

    Blessings


    PS So far I have found out that there are three of us from Australia on Crew for the 2013 cruise.

    The Paper Maid Sunnyside Farm Fun