My Blessed Mess

RAMBLINGS OF A HOMESCHOOLING, JESUS LOVING, HAPPY PLANNING NERD MOM OF 6

CrossWired Science Review – Sound, & Fluid Dynamics – Online Science Curriculum

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I am a firm believer that by studying the field of science we can gain a deeper appreciation for God's glorious creation! As a homeschooler, it can be tough to find a good creation based science curriculum. It was for this reason that Don and the CWS team have created the Crosswired Science online science program. We were blessed to be chosen to receive access to the first two units of Crosswired Science - Sound, and Fluid Dynamics - as beta testers!

At the beginning of our review period the creators were still adding and tweaking things, so we really got the opportunity to ease into the program. This was a positive in my opinion, as the material presented is so vast - and they are STILL adding more to each global topic every day!

What makes Crosswired online science different?

In my 15 years of homeschooling, I have NEVER seen an online science program quite like this one! One subscription includes access to the available Global topics for one student for one year. The recommended pace will cover eight Global Topics in a school year. There will eventually be a total of 30 Global Topics available for you to choose from. Currently there are two - SOUND and FLUID DYNAMICS which we have had access to during our review period.

Within each Global Topic, there are video lessons which are followed by short quizzes for your student to complete. Each Global Topic is "crosswired" into multiple subject areas, hence the name of the program. Regardless of the topic, the structure is the same - four videos with quizzes, then experiments, research, general links, and u-choose. Then you watch four more videos, complete the quizzes, then complete another set of experiments, reinforcement, general links, and suggested field trips. By this point, your student has been introduced to the main topics and has had lots of opportunities for deeper learning and hands-on activities related to these topics over a period of a few weeks.

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Stop Motion Animation Kit from Stopmotion Explosion (Review)

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I have a ten year old who dreams of one day being a movie producer/director, so when we found out we were being sent the Stop Motion Animation Kit from Stopmotion Explosion he was so excited! He would sit and watch for the mail to come to see if it had arrived for days after I told him it had been sent.

The Stop Motion Animation Kit we received included a 1080p HD video camera, animation software (cd and download versions), a 290 page book covering all aspects of stopmotion animation, and a quick-start guide. I will talk about a few of these components in detail later in this review.

What is stopmotion animation?

Before I get into sharing more about this awesome kit, let me explain briefly what stopmotion animation entails. When creating a stopmotion film, objects are physically manipulated in small increments between individually photographed frames so that they will appear to exhibit independent motion when the series of frames is played back as a fast sequence. A film as short as one minute can contain as many as 30 or more individually captured images! Creating this kind of film can be very tedious and attention to detail is required. Think of all those classic claymation films from your childhood - Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer being my personal favorite. These were produced with stopmotion animation using elements made from clay! Read More...

Transcripts Made Easy: The Homeschooler’s Guide to High School Paperwork (Book review)

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Homeschooling high school can sometimes be scary and overwhelming, but it doesn't have to be! Equipping yourself with the right information can make all the difference when choosing a course of study for your teenager. Today I am reviewing a great book full of helpful, detailed information that will make embarking on that journey less daunting - Transcripts Made Easy: The Homeschooler's Guide to High School Paperwork from Everyday Education.

I received a digital PDF copy of this amazing resource, which is in it's fourth edition at the time of this writing. While I realize there are dozens, if not hundreds or thousands, of books out there written to the homeschooling high school parent - this one is a definite MUST READ. It's 129 pages of thorough, yet consise information to help any parent - regardless of your homeschooling method or style.

What I really loved about this resource was the fact that right near the beginning, after briefly explaining what a transcript should document and why, there is a section titled, "Where to Start in this Book". This is great for those of us who don't have the time or the need to read the book cover to cover and want specific information pertaining to your stage of homeschooling. For example:

If Your Student is in the First Two Years of High School

You probably already know what you are doing for academics, so just skim through the introduction
to high school, and jump into the record-keeping ideas. If you have not been keeping
records, start to catch up now. If you have records of some sort, start a transcript form, and fill in
as many semesters as you have completed...

from Transcripts Made Easy pg 9

It even has a specific reading and action plan to follow if your student is already wrapping up homeschool high school and you need to produce a transcript ASAP! Read More...

Homeschool Grammar with IEW – Fix It! Grammar Review

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I am a total grammar nerd. So it’s very important to me that my children learn and develop strong grammar and writing skills. However my children don’t tend to enjoy homeschool grammar lessons so it’s tricky to find curriculum that is thorough without being tedious. Enter Fix It! Grammar by Institute for Excellence in Writing (IEW)!

We were blessed to receive Book 1: The Nose Tree of the Fix It! Grammar curriculum to try out in our homeschool. Because Fix It! is not a grade-level based program, I chose to use this book with Isaiah who is 17 and complete lessons at double pace, completing two weeks of material per calendar week.

This program is set up so that each book builds on the book before it, so IEW recommends starting with Book 1 - The Nose Tree regardless of grade level. However, a placement test is provided if you think your student can skip a book or two. There is also a recorded webinar video HERE that is an introduction to the program.

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Homeschool Handwriting with the Get Write Crew – Rhythm & Writing Review

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Being a mom of four boys, homeschool handwriting instruction has always been challenging. We’ve used a lot of penmanship programs through the years, but when I got the opportunity to try out Rhythm & Writing with the Get Write Crew by Rhythm & Writing I was excited to see such a unique approach to teaching letter formation!

What makes Rhythm & Writing Unique...

This homeschool handwriting program was developed by an experienced occupational therapist who saw an alarming trend in the schools she worked with. So many students were unable to write legibly or form their letters correctly! She decided to do something about it and what started out as making up short rhymes for each letter to help children form them correctly grew into a complete instructional curriculum.

The program uses catchy phrases and music videos to teach proper letter formation. Phrases such as “long line down and across the middle” (lowercase t) and “down stop, up stop” (uppercase V) are easy for kids to remember and recite as they write, reinforcing correct formation.

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