The Old Schoolhouse Review Crew: Year End Roundup

It was such a blessing (not to mention a lot of fun!) to be on The Old Schoolhouse Review Crew this year! I am very thankful for the opportunity. This year, I have learned so many different things, not only about homeschooling, but about blogging, writing, graphic design, and day to day aspects of homeschooling that I never even thought about before! I have been a part of a community of amazing homeschool parents, and shared in their joys, triumphs, and burdens of homeschooling and raising children.

This past year, I have had the privilege of reviewing 41 different items in our home!  Some were 'fun' and others were hard work. Many of these items were brand new to me - I had never even heard of them before! Others were ones that I knew 'something' about, but was glad to investigate them 'in depth'.

First of all, the entire Crew voted on their favorites for the 2013 Blue Ribbon Awards.  The kids helped me vote, picking all their favorites. As expected, many of our favorites were also favorites of the other families, and won the most votes for their category. The kids were pretty excited to see what won, and also to share which review items were their favorites for the year!

I would like to share our family's personal "Top Ten Review Items" for 2013:

1) All Around Favorite, most awe-inspiring product: Homeschool Spanish Academy  Laura had been saving up her own personal money to purchase a semester of this program. When it became available for review, we were ecstatic. She really, really loved it and I loved the fact that she was enjoying her Spanish so much! Her teacher was so sweet, and it was absolutely amazing to be conversing in Spanish with a lady in Guatemala while sitting in the comforts of our own home! Laura voted this program as her most favorite review item of the year!

2) The program that made Mom really happy: ok....where do I go from here? There were several....but I have to say that High School Prep Genius is a pretty amazing book. Amazing enough that I purchased several copies and have given/lent them to other high school homeschoolers. Homeschooling high school is definitely not for the faint of heart, and I really felt like this book thoroughly equips a parent for the journey.

3) The program that Mom had the most fun with:  Again, hard choice. But I will settle on Picaboo Yearbooks for this one, since it seemed like all fun and no work to put it together. It came at a very convenient time. When we started the review, Heather had just graduated, so I took the opportunity to make her a special graduation keepsake album of her Senior Year, which she treasures.

4) Family fun:  The Presidential Game brought us many happy 'family game night' memories.

5) Kelly's favorite:  Hands down....Kelly loved the Lily Lapp Books from Baker Publishing. Actually her and Melissa both loved these books....enough that I have purchased the rest of the series! They go on the website and do the activities for the books, they have used them for book reports, and they have shared them with their friends. I love the clean living and wholesome stories that are presented.

6) Melissa's favorite: While we had an abundance of Spanish curriculum reviews this year, which was great for Laura and Kelly, Melissa has always wanted to learn French! There are not as much materials and resources available for learning French as there is for Spanish, so this had been placed on the back burner for awhile, or at least till Melissa is older. We were so pleased to be on the review for French Essentials! Learning French has been a lot harder than Melissa thought it would be, but she is so thrilled about it, and voted it as her favorite!

7) Best Overall Addition to our Homeschool: We have dabbled with Apologia Science in the past, but this year, we jumped in full time! While we are currently studying Anatomy & Physiology, we had the blessed privilege to review the brand new Exploring Creation with Chemistry & Physics curriculum and were very pleased! Melissa thrives on the hands on approach to Science, and has been learning and retaining so much information. When we complete our current Anatomy study, we are going to change gears and finish what we started in the Chemistry program.

8) Wow..."I Can't Believe I Made This" Award: This definitely goes to Rosie's Doll Clothes Patterns. Melissa is learning how to sew, and this couldn't have come at a more perfect time. By watching the online videos, and following the pattern and directions, she was able to create an outfit for her American Girl doll all on her own without my help! Such a confidence booster for her! It was so exciting to watch her grow so much in this area with just the help of this one program.

9) Dabbling In the World of Lapbooks: Until this school year, we had not made a lapbook before. I had heard about them, but really didn't even know what they were! This year we had the privilege to review several lapbooks from several different companies, and found out that Kelly and Melissa really enjoy building them! I think the one from Homeschool In The Woods really impressed me the most.

10) Too Cool For Words: Rounding out our 'top ten' list is Adventus MusIQ. This is a really unique program that gives interactive piano instruction through the computer. While we have not used it as much as I would like, it is always enjoyable when we do get to use it. The girls have a keyboard that hooks right up to the computer and then they are able to receive instant feedback on their music practice.

Thank you so much to my Review Crew friends and leaders who have made my first year really enjoyable! Looking forward to another 'Tour of Duty' in 2014!

Apologia Anatomy & Physiology Unit Two: Build A Spine

As we continue on the study of the Skeletal System, we discussed the spine and how absolutely perfect it is for our bodies!

Not only is it our 'backbone' and main support of our body, but it is also the conduit for our Central Nervous System. The most amazing attribute of the spine is it's flexibility. Can you imagine how hard life would be if we could not bend?

We built a model spine to demonstrate the combination of vertebrae and discs, showing how each vertebrae has a cushion and shock absorber. This combination of bone and tissue is able to bend as we move our bodies.

The girls found this pretty fascinating!

How to build your own model spine:

This is a pretty simple, quick, and easy project! For supplies, all you need is wagon wheel pasta for the vertebrae, gummy Lifesavers for the discs, and a pipe cleaner to hold it together. (We also discussed how the bundle of nerves passes through the center of the vertebrae and discs, much like the pipe cleaner runs through the middle of the pasta and gummies).

Build your 'spine' by placing gummies and pasta alternately on the pipe cleaner. Bend the ends of the pipe cleaner to keep it all in place.

Demonstrate how a spine can be straight when we are standing, but also how it can be flexible when we bend over.

The best part about this experiment? The kids love eating all the gummies once they are done!

Copyright 2012-2013 - "Be The One" - www.aclassofone.blogspot.com  All rights are reserved. No text, photos, or content may be reproduced without direct permission from the author.

Apologia Anatomy & Physiology: Unit Two - Skeletal System As Helper & Protector

Apologia Anatomy & Physiology: Unit Two

How our Skeletal System helps protect us and support us!

As we continued through our study of the skeletal system, we completed two very simple projects that really illustrated some important jobs of our skeleton and bones!

First, we studied how the brain is protected by our skull! The skull is so interesting. An infant's skull is made to 'grow with them' and then fuse together when the head has completed it's growth. Inside the skull, our brain is surrounded by fluid, which allows it to be 'cushioned' and not get scrambled when we move around.

We illustrated this by taking an egg (the brain) and putting it inside a plastic container that was just a little bit bigger (the skull).

 

We then filled the container with water, put the lid on, and Melissa ran around the house with it, up and down stairs, and jumping all around. The egg was kept safe and perfect! It didn't suffer a scratch! (And as far as we know, it wasn't scrambled either!)  The egg 'floating' in water inside a container illustrates how the fluid inside our skull protects the brain.

 

We then drained the water out of the container, leaving the egg inside, and in a very vulnerable position. Melissa repeated all her previous movements, and then checked on the egg.....

 

 

Uh Oh!!! Scrambled egg with shells! Without the fluid to cushion it, the egg shattered. It is amazing how God designed us perfectly, allowing our body the ability to protect itself from harm.

We then explored just how important our bones are to our body by making a 'man' out of clay. The first attempt was 'just clay', and Melissa was disappointed that she could not seem to make a man that would be able to stand on his own.

 

 

After discussing how the main purpose of our skeleton is to support our frame, and give structure to our body, she then used toothpicks as bones and inserted them into our clay man. With this extra support, I am happy to say that he was actually able to stand up all on his own! (although he was a little top heavy!)

 

Don't you love his little toothpick smile?  :-)

Healthy bones play a vital role in our overall well being. It's been fun and interesting to learn about them.

Copyright 2012-2013 - "Be The One" - www.aclassofone.blogspot.com  All rights are reserved. No text, photos, or content may be reproduced without direct permission from the author.