Thursday, 7 May 2015

Egg Carton Worms {Virtual Fridge}

This Week





This Month's Theme
Welcome to the Virtual Fridge for the month of May. If you are after some inspiration our theme is FLOWERS.

This weeks Feature

This weeks feature is a tutorial from over at Mom on the Move and is a Mother's Day Flower and a Poem.

Your Turn

I invite you to take some photo's of your children's artistic pursuits put them in a post and link up with me I would love to come over and see the wonderful art your children have enjoyed doing.
Virtual Fridge Link Up

Blessings
Chareen

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The Virtual Fridge a weekly art meme where we can hang our children's art on a virtual fridge. This meme was started by Jennifer over at A Glimpse of our Life who kindly invited three other bloggers to co-host this weekly meme.

Your hosts are




Wednesday, 6 May 2015

The Busy Homeschool Mom's Guide to Daylight {Review}

Have you ever wanted to sit down and have a heart to heart chat with Heidi St John about homeschooling? Thanks to Real Life Press I have been blessed with Heidi's book The Busy Homeschool Mom's Guide to Daylight.

Recently I have been struggling to keep my life on track and keep up with the tyranny of the urgent and ALL the things that seem to constantly be screaming at me for attention.

This book has been life changing for me in a gentle encouraging way.  Reading it has been like having a trusted friend come sit with me and share her practical encouraging insights over a cup of tea on a beautiful day.

What we received
There are eight chapters in the book covering eight different areas of life.

  1. Intentional Daylight is about creating a plan for you that works for the current season of life you are in.
  2. Organized Daylight this one touched a spot for me it's about taking hold of the physical clutter in your home and organizing all that you do have.
  3. Scheduled Daylight this one speaks to the heart of prioritizing your time.
  4. Hungry Daylight,  just what and when are we going to eat?  Menu planning anyone ?
  5. Discouraged Daylight no matter how long you've been on the journey discouragement is a very real enemy. 
  6. Consolidated Daylight Multitasking anyone?  Learning to teach multiple levels at the same time.
  7. Wasted Daylight - Social media, telephones and all those things that modern day living has on offer.  Just how do we become the master of these things?
  8. Surrendered Daylight. Surrendering to His master-plan for your life.

About the Book
This book is about LIFE
  • L: Learn Together
  • I: Incorporate Individual Studies into our daily routine
  • F: Focus on Relationships
  • E: Engage our children each day far beyond academic pursuits.

It's about regaining control of those run away hours in your day shared by a trusted friend who has been there, is still there and has discovered some achievable and practical ways of recapturing daylight hours to bring peace and harmony back into your life and your home.

Heidi's transparency of her own life in the stories she shares from her own days as wife, mother and homeschool Mom are what make this book a treasure for you to read.  She is down to earth and honest at the same time inviting you to gently look into your own life and bring about small changes that will lead to a more peaceful and fruitful life that is satisfying. She offers many practical suggestions through out the book without overwhelming you with things guilt or things to do .

I love to be organized but I've reached a point where clutter is over taking my home.  I have been encouraged to regain my home by taking control of clutter. So far thanks to Heidi's encouragement I have worked my way slowly through my kitchen and am reclaiming school room space. I have a fair way to still go but so far I am really pleased.

Each chapter has brought with it balanced perspective from a woman who has been there along with  encouragement and hope for the future through practical and achievable suggestions.

Heidi's conversational tone make this book an easy read and each chapter is short enough to read in easy bites of time.



Cost of The Busy Homeschool Mom's Guide to Daylight
Book Details

  • Paperback: 195 pages 
  • Publisher: Real Life Press (2012) 
  • ISBN-10: 0984432310 
  • ISBN-13: 978-0984432318 
  • Product Dimensions: 7.9 x 5.2 x 0.6 inches 
  • Shipping Weight: 11.2 ounces 
  • Author: Heidi St John
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This book has given me many gems and so far my favouite quote from the book has been this reminder: "Time is a gift, and so are the children God has given us to raise."  I have needed reminding of this on days when it's been hard and for that I'm grateful.  I have been blessed beyond measure with Heidi's book and know you will be too.

I have been encouraged to grow in many areas of my life through this book as a parent, a wife and a christian.

Blessings
Chareen

Click to read Crew Reviews

Tuesday, 5 May 2015

A Plus Interactive Math Adaptive Placement Test and Individualized Lesson Plan {Review}

We first used A+ Interactive MATH Grade One two years ago and enjoyed our journey with A+ Interactive Math so much that when I heard about their all new Adaptive Placement Test and Individualized Lesson Plan I was very keen to let Nathaniel use it. This math software specializes in identifying and closing learning gaps in math.  Once the need has been established via placement testing it generates an individualized lesson plan for the student addressing the learning gaps identified. A+ uses multi-sensory presentations to teach math.


A+ Interactive Math specialize in interactive Math Curriculum. They have lesson plans, automatic grading, interactive teaching, math worksheets, math review lessons, math tests and a full math curriculum covering Elementary to Algebra 1 math.


What we received
  • A three month online subscription to A Plus Interactive Math Adaptive Placement Test and Individualized Lesson Plan for one student.
How we used it
Logging into A+ Interactive Math is super easy via their Homeschool Online Log in page. Our account from two years ago was still valid so we used that.

Getting started was really easy via their student dashboard.  The tutorials were easy to follow.  We jumped right in with taking an Adaptive Placement Test.

  • The test is run via a number of multiple choice questions.  
  • The top right has two clocks.  The top one shows the student how much time they have available for the whole test.
  • The second clock shows how much time has been allotted for the question you are currently working on.
  • The student has the option of skipping a question, clearing the answer or selecting an answer and clicking Save and Next.

Upon completing a test you are given immediate feedback of their results.
They can see
  • the total number of questions presented to them, the number of questions they correctly answered, they got incorrect and how many they did not even attempt.
  • A pie chart showing their results in percentage
  • A speech bubble explaining their results.
From here they return back to the dashboard in order to access their lesson plans. The lesson plan is auto-generated and based on their test results.

The individualized lesson plan has two areas: Multimedia Lesson with interactive Q & A and a Practice with Online Worksheets area.

 The lessons are arranged by concept being learned and in each concept folder is the lesson.  When you click on the lesson a short interactive lesson will play followed by an interactive Q & A to reinforce the lesson.

Once the student has completed their lesson plan they then retake the test. If they pass the test they will get the following report congratulating them on achieving a successful completion of the concepts presented.



They also receive a Completion certificate to print



They are also able to access a progress report


And a Summary Report 


Parent Log in
In the parent log in you are able to
  • manage all your student accounts 
  • view each students individual Progress Tracking. 
  • View individual student lessons and worksheets
  • View Student lesson plans
  • View Student Reports
  • Change Grade Levels
  • Add Students

Cost of Adaptive Placement Test & Lesson Plans
  • You can purchase a 3 month access plan for between 1 and 10 students here. Prices range between $29.99 for 1 student and $184.99 for 10 students.
  • You can purchase a full placement test on it's own here
  • For a limited time A Plus Interactive Math is offering a 50% to 71% on their Family Math Packages and Adaptive Placement Test w/ Lessons programs

Recommended Age Range
  • Elementary to Algebra 1

Connect with A Plus Interactive Math

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Read More about A Plus
One of the things I appreciate about A+ is the ability for my student to monitor and see their own progress.
As a parent I can access ALL the math and reporting for each student from one dashboard.

If you are looking for a program to help your student bridge any gaps they currently have in their math I highly recommend you take a look at  A Plus Interactive Math Adaptive Placement Test and Individualized Lesson Plan

Blessings
Chareen



Click to read Crew Reviews