Horizons: Kindergarten Phonics & Reading ~ a review

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A few weeks ago I was in the final preparation phases before we started up our sixth year of homeschooling, when I was blessed to be asked to be apart of the Alpha Omega Publications Promotion Team!

    

This came at a perfect time as I was trying to figure out a phonics program for McKenzie to use. McKenzie, who just turned 5,  has always been stronger in math skills and a little weaker in the phonics area so I decided to focus on a program that would provide a solid phonics instruction. To help me do that I was able to choose Horizons Kindergarten Phonics & Reading Set.

Alpha Omega Publications (AOP) is a Christian curriculum company who has been around for over 30 years helping to  meet the needs of homeschooling parents and students all over the world. In the past we have also used products in their LIFEPAC and Switched-On Schoolhouse lines for Spanish and Health with great success. With this opportunity I was able to choose any curriculum published by Alpha Omega Publications from one of their product lines including Monarch, Switched-On Schoolhouse, LIFEPAC, and Horizons. AOP has covered all the bases in home education from electronic-based or print-based curriculum to hands-on unit studies, there is truly something to fit the needs of everyone!

 

The Horizons Phonics & Reading program uses a spiral learning approach to help students master concepts taught through introduction, review, and reinforcement in 160 lessons. The highly colorful workbook format of Horizons Kindergarten Phonics & Reading Set retails for $159.95 and includes:

~ four student workbooks

~ four teacher’s guides

~ four brightly illustrated readers

~ an alphabet floor puzzle

~ a wipe-off tablet

 

In the four teacher’s guides you will find a daily lesson planner with clearly written instructions for the days work along with specific goals to work on and supplies needed for engaging hands-on activities. Also included within the guides are helpful teaching tips, duplication masters of the pages inside the student workbook, answer keys, and additional worksheets to make learning more fun.

Horizons Kindergarten Phonics & Reading is a phonics-based curriculum and uses a consonant-vowel approach (ex. ba, be, bi, bo, bu) to systemically teach consonant beginnings and endings sounds, along with vowel sounds, syllables, diphthongs, digraphs, and non-phonetic sounds. The four student workbooks contain four to six fun-filled work pages per lesson and are easily removable. In addition, the four colorful readers correspond to each workbook feature easy-to-read stories that pertain to the primary concepts taught in each lesson.

 

We were able to jump right in with book one on our first day of school and do lessons 4 days a week, spending anywhere between 30 – 40 minutes on each lesson. To prepare myself for the lessons, I make sure to read the teacher’s guide lessons and prep any supplies needed. McKenzie is an eager learner so I had no trouble getting her to complete a lesson. In fact some days I needed to curb her eagerness when she would have to wait for me to finish lessons with her older siblings.

 

McKenzie loves workbook  pages so this is right up her alley. I like the approach this curriculum presents and the brightly colored pages hold her attention.  However, I believe the program moves a tad bit fast for her and we have hit a wall on lesson 27 because I am not fully confident that she knows all the letter sounds to begin the blending process. Since McKenzie is a young Kindergartener and this is technically her Junior Kindergarten year, next week we will be going back through lessons 1-26 that teach the beginning alphabet sounds again. I am fully confident that this approach will help her get the firm foundation needed to be a successful reader.

 

McKenzie and I have enjoyed using this Phonics & Reading Set so much that we will continue to use it the rest of her Jr Kindergarten year and into her true Kindergarten year. It provides a strong foundation for her learning style and I am truly grateful to be able to use it with her. My goal is to raise strong readers and I feel this curriculum will help my daughter be just that!

Be sure click the banner below to enter the amazing giveaway from Alpha Omega Publications Homeschool Division for the choice of one subject from each of the main product lines, plus a $50.00 Amazon gift card! With so many levels and subjects to choose from you are sure to find one that is just right for your child! Also, be sure to scroll down and read the reviews of the other 24 members of the promotion team.

Alpha Omega Publications is proud to partner with members of the U.S. Armed Forces and serve families like yours throughout the world and are offering a 30% discount for military families. Click the image below to find out more details.

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We Draw Animals

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Do your kids like to draw? Mine do and they are quite creative, which I am sure they get from their dad because all of my drawings consist of stick figures.  Montana is always asking me how to draw this animal or that animal and I am clueless.

Recently, Kathy from We Draw Animals asked me to take a look at the drawing tutorials she has on her site. Wowzers! She has a whole bunch of animals to learn to draw from sharks to dinosaurs to amphibians to big cats, Montana's favorite. Be sure to check out her FREE eBook that you can download. The eBook includes high resolution drawing tutorials to 100 animals that will keep your children busy for some time.

I am so glad Kathy contacted me and shared her work. Now when Montana or one of my other girls says how do you draw  a ---, I will turn to the eBook and website for help. Be sure to get your eBook copy and happy drawing!

Strength Stack 52 ~ a fun way to get physically fit

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I try to model physically fitness for the girls everyday. Everything from eating properly with correct portion sizes, drinking plenty of water, to being physically fit. While, I am not able to be physically fit at this moment because of little Micah who is busy growing inside my belly I can still help my girls be active each day.

 

When I was approached by Sergeant Michael Volkin asking me to review his new game, Strength Stack 52, I jumped at the chance. I am always looking for ways to keep my girls who are not in sports physically fit I thought this new “game” would be a great fit for our family. We received one set of the Strength Stack 52 deck of cards.

Strength Stack 52  is the brainchild of military fitness expert, Sergeant Michael Volkin. This completely portable deck of cards pack a big punch. With many full body workout combinations you can keep these cards in your pocket or tuck them in your purse or gym bag and challenge your friends and family to a fun and challenging workout. The best part is that you no additional equipment is needed. Yes, you read that right, just you and the cards and you get an awesome workout.

Strength Stack 52 also features something called nano-sport periodization. What?! Yes, that’s what I said too at first but it makes perfect sense, so let me explain it a bit. Many studies have shown that several small workouts during the day, as opposed to one long one, provide more energy and increase more muscle. With nano-sport periodization is the power of challenge that comes out in you when you play sports with friends and family. The challenge of the game stimulates your mind to push your body just a little bit further than you normally would. I liken it to the thrill of competition.

 

Strength Stack 52 combined together with nano-sport periodization, will help you:

~ increase muscle strength

~ strengthen and stabilize your core

~ lower body fat

~ increase energy levels

~ increase attention span

~ increase work performance

~ increase in cardiovascular fitness

~ save money on gym membership

~ improve your physique

~ maximize muscle confusion, which prevents plateaus

~ participate in fun, exciting, and competitive workouts to play with your friends and family

 

Each card features:

~ features an exercise with a helpful silhouette of the exercise to be performed.

~ a through description of how to perform the exercise including a suggested number of repetitions is included too. 

~ color coded muscle grouping:

blue: cardio

red: core

pink: back

yellow: legs

orange: arms

green: chest

~ skill level classifications in the bottom right hand corner. {B= Beginner, I= Intermediate, and A=Advanced}

~ scan the QR code with your smartphone app to pull up a video of the exercise being performed.

~ numbered cards  from 1 to 51 for playing games and categorizing the difficulty of the exercises included. 

So, you are probably thinking that this deck of cards is going to cost you a lot of money for everything you get, right? Wrong! Nope! For just $16.95 plus $4.95 shipping in the USA you can have these in your hands in no time. Shipping to Canada and Mexico is just $9.95 and  just $18.95 for all other countries. Plus, if you are not completely satisfied Michael offers a 100% money back guarantee.

Like I said earlier, since I am not able to participate in exercise at this time I used these cards as a game with my girls. The cards have a recommended age of 16+ but with some modification I was able to use these cards with all my girls but mostly concentrating on Marie and Madison. To play we just picked a card and challenged each other to do the exercise for the required number of repetitions, kind of like playing the popular game of HORSE in basketball. Instead of keeping score with HORSE we used STRENGTH as our acronym and  kept going until one person could no longer do the exercise on the card.

Overall, the girls and I really enjoyed this card set. I enjoyed from the sidelines and can’t wait to be able to use the cards to get back in shape after Micah is born. We would recommend this card set to anyone looking to get physically fit without the use of heavy, expensive equipment or costly gym membership fees. Be sure and download a FREE 6-card sample of Strength Stack 52 for yourself to see if this would work for your family. Also be sure and download the 4 week Turn and Burn Fitness Routine and get the maximum impact with these cards.

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Veggie Tales: Merry Larry and the True Light of Christmas ~ a review

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Do you have a VeggieTales fan in your house? Then guess what?! A new Christmas DVD called Merry Larry and the True Light of Christmas has been released just in time for the Christmas season.

 

We are huge fans of VeggieTales here and we are so excited about this new DVD. What’s not to love about these familiar cucumber and tomato teaching us about God’s love. In this video Bob & Larry set out to make Christmas this year the best ever at the Spring Valley Mall. However, they get distracted from the true meaning of Christmas with all the bright lights, wonderful music and decorations. Meanwhile a wise little girl with a big heart changes Bob the  Tomato, a harried mall employee and Larry the Cucumber, the animated Head Elf at Spring Valley Mall’s minds as she shows them what Christmas is all about. The birth of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

The whole story is narrated by a loveable new character, Silas, as wise Okra janitor. Yes, this is the Silas (Uncle Si) from the top-rated reality show Duck Commander. With uplifting and catchy songs such as “Light of Christmas”, which is produced from radio hit maker Owl City and featuring TobyMac, you and your kids will be singing along out loud. Silas the Okra is one of my new favorite VeggieTales characters! It’s hard not to love him.

Si Robertson is a perfect fit because, like VeggieTales, Duck Commander is all about celebrating faith and family.

~Leslie Ferrell, President of Big Idea Entertainment

Presented in 5.1 Surround Sound the video plays in regular viewing format or in Widescreen format. With an approximate running time of 47 minutes including many bonus features like a behind the scenes with Si Robertson and a few singalongs. Be sure to visit VeggieTales.com to watch the movie trailer, play games, or learn more about the available VeggieTale apps, live shows, or extra holiday fun.

My girls have loved this DVD! Since receiving it my little one has watched it over 10 times! Yes, excessive but we travel a lot with Mikayla’s gym schedule and when you find quality material it’s hard not to indulge a bit :) Be sure you get your hands on a copy of this DVD for the  holiday season for the low price of $8.99!

Company ~ VeggieTales

Product ~ Merry Larry and the True Light of Christmas

Price ~ Normally $14.99, on sale right now for $8.99

 

 

Reading & Math enrichment

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I hope you, my readers, enjoy the products that I review and gain insight into new programs and options that are available to homeschoolers. It’s always fun to find a great new resource to help in math and reading for my littles. So I am excited to tell you about a new online reading and math enrichment program called K5 Learning.

K5 Learning is an online reading and math program for kindergarten to grade 5 students.  I've been given a 6 week free trial to test and write a review of their program.  If you are a blogger, you may want to check out their  open invitation to write an online learning review of their program. I look forward to sharing my review with you in early January!

 

Homeschool Legacy: Christmas Comes to America ~ a review

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December is my favorite time of the year. Family, friends and spending time celebrating what Christmas is all about; the birth of our Lord and Savior! I Love it!

Celebrate Christmas!

Christmas Comes to America embraces Jesus and the traditions we have come to associate with the  classic American Christmas. As you celebrate, your children will learn about the Dutch, German, and English settlers who first shared those traditions with the New World. 

~website

We recently had the opportunity to review the Once-a-Week Unit Study called Christmas Comes to America published by Homeschool Legacy. Once-a-Week Unit Studies were designed by Sharon Gibson, a veteran homeschooling mom of 16 years. For the purpose of this review I received a digital copy of this unit study in PDF format by e-mail. Normally, Once-a-Week Unit Studies purchased from Homeschool Legacy are physical, hard copies and not digital files.

Christmas Comes to America is a 4-week Christian unit study geared towards children in grades 2-12. Each week you will learn about a different Gift Giver from each country. The best part is that it can be used by the whole family and is easily adaptable so your younger children can participate too.

The unit is divided into four weekly studies:

Week 1~ The Dutch
Week 2 ~ The English
Week 3 ~ The Germans
Week 4 ~ An American Christmas

The unit study covers a wide variety of subjects and activities during the 4-week study to help you embrace the true meaning of the reason for celebrating Christmas. The birth of Jesus!

Subjects and Activities included:

Family Devotions from the Bible

Independent and Family Reading

Language Arts

History

Geography

Traditions and Culture

Research

Music Appreciation and History

Arts and Crafts

Life Skills and Gift Giving

Field Trips

Family Trivia Game

Family Movie Night

Fun and Science

Like other unit studies from Homeschool Legacy, the author provides a suggested schedule to show you how to fit it all in throughout the week.

Monday:

Your regular daily studies

Unit Study library reading selections

Unit Study Family Read-Aloud

Tuesday:

Your regular daily studies

Unit Study library reading selections

Unit Study Family Read-Aloud

Wednesday - Unit Study Day

Eliminate regular daily studies

Unit study Family Devotional

Unit study library reading selections

Unit Study Family Read-Aloud

Unit study Activities

Thursday:

Your regular daily studies

Unit Study library reading selections

Unit Study Family Read-Aloud

Friday:

The 3 R’s (including your unit study reading)

Unit Study Family Read-Aloud

Unit Study Field Trip (or on Saturday with Dad)

Family Movie Movie/Game Night (unit study related)

                                ~ Scheduling your unit study from website

 

Overall, the girls and I have had a great experience using this Once-A-Day Unit study and being able to connect it with Christmas. My oldest, Marie, does not like to start listening or reading Christmas books until after Thanksgiving (same here), but this unit study gave me the excuse to start early, YAY! I love how this study helps to set the mood for the season and prepares your heart too. I look forward to really starting to celebrate the after Thanksgiving when we commence holiday baking and all the traditions of Christmas of old and new for our family.

Christmas Comes to America can be purchased for $17.95 plus shipping and handling. Make sure you get your hands on a copy to enhance your Christmas season!

 

Kindergarten Summer Review Packet ~ a review & giveaway

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Are your kiddos getting bored as the end of summer is approaching? Well, this morning I have an awesome solution to that boredom for your Kindergarten / rising 1st grade students. Annie from The Moffat Girls has graciously given me a copy of her Kindergarten Summer Review Packet to use with Montana.

Annie is a former elementary school teacher who now homeschools her girls. The Summer Review Packet is just one of the few creations she has available for purchase on her Teacher’s Notebook shop.

Kindergarten Summer Review Packet is filled with resources to keep your children learning while on break from official learning. Math, Reading, and Basic Skills are taught in this jam packed 92 page packet. With tons of hands-on learning opportunities your child will have a head start for 1st grade.

For just $8.50 you can download this PDF file that includes:

~ upper & lower case letter practice

~ addition & subtraction

~ beginning sounds practice

~ ending sounds practice

~ cut & paste

~ color by sight word

~ money activities

~ Primer flashcards

~ and so much more!

Like all of Annie’s other products she creates I find this Summer Review Packet to be top notch! Montana has been completing a few pages about 2-3 times a week. I love the way it helps to reinforce the skills that Montana learned in Kindergarten. Hopefully we will not have such a hard time getting started back to school next month. The attention to detail is amazing and shows the quality and time Annie puts into each of her products. This Summer Review Packet is worth every penny!

Annie has graciously offered one of my readers the chance to win your own copy of the Kindergarten Summer Review Packet. To enter the giveaway simply follow the steps below:

~ one (1) entry for leaving a blog comment on this post telling me what is your favorite part of teaching Kindergarten.

~ two (2) entries for being a blog follower of A Stable Beginning

~ four (4) entries for following The Moffat Girls on Facebook

Giveaway will close on Friday, August 2, 2013 @ 8PM EST. Winner will be announced Saturday morning and the winner will have three (3) days to contact me and supply your email address.

Thanks for reading and enjoy the rest of your summer!

Company ~ The Moffat Girls

Product ~ Kindergarten Summer Review Packet

Price ~ $8.50

Ages ~ children who have completed Kindergarten

On Facebook ~ The Moffat Girls

*Be sure to check out the 1st grade edition of the Summer Review Packet by clicking HERE.

 

 

 

I received a free copy of the Kindergarten Summer Review Packet, 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 expressed are those of my own or my family. I am disclosing this in accordance with FTC Regulations.

The Remarkable Ronald Reagan ~ a review

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Ronald Reagan was a remarkable man who made a contribution to this country of ours even before he was President. Our family is honored to be apart of TLC’s blog tour for Susan Allen’s new book The Remarkable Ronald Reagan.

Susan, a former First Lady of Virginia, guides children through the life of Ronald Wilson Reagan, aka “Dutch”. After reading this beautifully illustrated book you will have a glimpse into Reagan's life from boyhood through President.

 

 

The hardback book is about 20 pages long with a timeline, sample letters, and inspirational quotes included at the end.  You will see all the different jobs he had from cowboy to athlete to movie star. After reading this book you find that Ronald Reagan had a great sense of humor. Written for children in grades 3-4 but it holds the attention of younger and older children too.

My favorite quote is this:

“There is no limit to what a man can do or where he can go if he doesn’t mind who gets the credit”. ~ Ronald Reagan

This is a great book and we have all thoroughly enjoyed getting an in-depth glance at the life of Ronald Reagan, right from the start. Retailing for $16.95, be sure to check out the book for yourselves, it is a great book for your shelves.

Homeschool Helper ~ a review & giveaway

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I have been searching high and low for the perfect planner for our family. With so many options in print or online versions one can get bogged down in choosing. Normally, you can't buy too many quality things for less than $5.00; However, tonight I am telling you you can!

  

A few weeks ago I was given the opportunity to review the Homeschool Helper which is an amazing app created by a homeschooling family. This app lets you track and create lesson plans for an unlimited number of students in up to 14 subjects. Track attendance with the tap of your finger while keeping track of reading lists, subject lists, field trips and more!  There is also a handy report card summary that even lists the calculated GPA. I found this especially helpful for computing Marie’s high school grades this school year.

Homeschool Helper includes several lesson planning management features including the the use of bumping lessons to another day / week,  copy and paste functions as well as a mass delete option for when things get a little sticky. One of the best features that I enjoy is emailing reports to myself for back up safe keeping. You can also use this feature to print your customized lesson plans.

This app is currently available on iPad from iTunes store, Android Nook and Kindle Fire devices. Your purchase includes free upgrades and tech support for life, YES! With a built in short tutorial you will be up and running this app in no time. I thought that the app was pretty easy to navigate after installation and I was on my way adding classes and tracking attendance within a matter of minutes.

There are so many features to this app that I have only touched the surface with it by using Marie has my test subject. Currently I am  in the process of planning out the girls next 6 weeks of "summer" school which starts on Monday with the help of the Homeschool Helper. I would love it if the developers could somehow make this a program for PC's that would somehow communicate with the iPad, but it is easy enough to use and navigate on my iPad that is not a huge deterrent for me. The one time payment of $4.99 will be well spent with this app purchase. You will wonder how you ever got along without the Homeschool Helper.

Now for the best part. I get to give one of my lucky readers a chance to win your own copy of the Homeschool Helper (giveaway code available for the iPad only)! It's simple to enter:

• Leave a comment about what your favorite subject to teach is (1 entry) Mandatory
• For two (2) extra entries follow my blog through Google Friend Connect. {If you are already a follower just leave a SEPARATE comment saying you already follow}.
• For four (4) extra entries follow Homeschool Helper App on Facebook and leave a SEPARATE comment with your FB name.

Giveaway will close on Friday, June 14th at 12 noon (eastern time) and I will pick and announce a winner on Saturday afternoon, June 15th.

Company / Product ~ Homeschool Helper

Price ~ $4.99 lifetime purchase with free upgrades

Platform ~ iPad, Android, Nook & Kindle Fire

 

 

 Disclaimer: I received a free copy of the Homeschool Helper 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.