A Stable Beginning

Wednesday, September 30, 2020

Wordless Wednesday

http://astablebeginning.com

Tuesday, September 29, 2020

Educational & Homeschooling resources from My Teaching Library ~ a TOS review

Disclaimer: I received a FREE copy of this product through the HOMESCHOOL 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 FTC Regulations.

Howdy friends! So, you probably have a few weeks of schooling under your belt. How are things going? Are you looking for some quality materials to supplement your learning? If you are, take a look at the educational resources from the Download Club from My Teaching Library. It’s a great place to look if you are wanting to add to your homeschool.

My Teaching Library was created in 2010 by Lynda Ackert, a veteran educator of 20+ years. Back then it was called the Christian Homeschool Hub Download Club (CHSH). Mrs. Ackert has a passion for teaching and creating educational material for teachers and homeschoolers alike and you can tell that she pours her heart into her online ministry. Over the last few weeks, we have added some fun resources with the Download Club, specifically in the science department as we study Anatomy. I’m also really excited to dive deeper into the Reading List I found. It ranges from K-12 and I always am looking for good books to add to our shelves. Especially with Christmas approaching I need some new book ideas for the kids “Stack of Books” gift.

My Teaching Library {MTL} is geared towards preschoolers through high schoolers and gives subscribers access to over 50,000 downloadable pages of quality educational material on an easy to navigate website. With everything from puzzles and games, recipes, math, language arts, science, history and more you’ll be sure to find something that you need. A subscription to the Download Club affords you access to all the downloadable products for a certain time period depending on your subscription. Use your selected downloads for as many times as necessary even if you purchased the material individually or if you downloaded through the Download Club membership.

There are two subscription levels available to choose from: Annual membership for $45.00 that gives you access to all the products on the site. Use this for your entire family for one year.
Lifetime membership for $225.00 that does not expire for any of the products.
Accessing my files was easy! Finding the download you need is as easy as clicking in the “search for downloads” box. You can also view the downloads by category, subject, or grade by navigating through the Educational Resources tab. I have been focusing on the Anatomy downloads for our science study. I love that the printables are so vibrant and detailed. and they are even stored inside my own personal download library for future access.

With products for everything from Preschoolers to High Schoolers, this download club has you covered! Overall, I give this product two thumbs up! Whether you are teaching your students at home or they are in a virtual learning senario, there is sure to be a PDF you can use for your learning activity. Having access to all of this quality material is really priceless because of the sheer amount of products available to download. Be sure to check out what my CrewMates think of this product by clicking the banner below!

My Teaching Library Download Club {My Teaching Library}

Company ~ My Teaching Library

Product ~ Download Club

Format ~ downloadable PDF files

Price ~ Annual membership $45.00

Ages ~ Pre-K - 12th graders

Social Media Links:

Facebook ~ Twitter ~Pinterest ~ YouTube

Friday, September 25, 2020

Classical Literature Based Learning from the Wisdom Wonder Project ~ a TOS review

Hi friends! How is your school year going so far? We are finishing up our 6th week here and things are flowing smoothly. We have gotten into a nice routine and lessons are going well too. We do have a few things we have to change up, so look for that post next week. Today I am excited to tell you about a new classical homeschool science curriculum apart of the Young Scholars program from the Wisdom Wonders Project that’s an awesome fit for my little guy.

The Wisdom Wonder Project was started in 2005 as the San Luis Classical Academy by a group of parents who desired to have a classical school for their children. When they discovered that there was not a school around them, they decided to form their own school. Now, 15 years later the same group of educators in offering their product to homeschooling parents around the world.

The Wisdom Wonder Project has three curriculum packages available. They include the Little Wonders (three different levels including Pre-K, Junior-K, Kindergarten), Young Scholars (geared for 1st /2nd grade and includes three components of History, Science, and Art), and finally a video based course on Singapore Math.

We received access to the Young Scholars program that includes monthly unit studies for History, Science, and Art. You have the option of purchasing the curriculum at one time as a annual subscription or as a monthly subscription. If you subtribe annually you receive two months free. Since this is a subscription program you can only download one month at a time, however, for the purpose of this review I was able to download several months to get a complete overview of the program. Each learning component does have materials that need to be purchased for every week of the month. There is also a sample weekly schedule that is included to help you schedule your learning.

History/Literature ~ The history program uses The Story of the World by Susan Wise Bauer as the spine and begins in 7000 BC when Nomads roamed the Fertile Crescent. If you are not familiar with The Story of the World, it is a four volume set that covers history in a four year cycle. The Young Scholars History curriculum will take you through the early civilizations of ancient Egypt, Greece, and Rome. It includes all the components found in a classical education including narration, copywork, geography, timeline, as well as hands-on projects. An extra materials list is also included and contains items such as puzzles, games, and extra books for suggested extras for purchase.

Science ~ The science program is also classical in design and includes vocabulary, comprehension questions, geography, and hands-on activities. The curriculum this year covers three months each on biomes, the human body, and life cycles.

Art ~ Each month you will discover the character and spirit of a new artist and art are observed and discussed. Art projects focus on techniques unique to the artist.

The mission of the Wisdom Wonder Project is to provide book-based learning with developmentally appropriate material through great books in a classical education style. This is what drew me to this curriculum. Micah and I mainly focused on the science portion of this curriculum. We are already using The Story of the World with our current history program, so I only added in some of the activities and a few extra books we didn’t already have.

Overall, we both love this curriculum! It is what I have been searching for, for several years. I am excited to continue through this program! It is gentle enough in style, yet rigorous enough for my 1st grader. Fortunately, because we are long term homeschoolers, I have many of the books and/or curriculum the program recommends. I don’t mind purchasing the items we do not have because, again, I think this is an excellent curriculum. However, If I was just starting out as a homeschooler looking for a classical approach I would love to have access to this full curriculum and all the recommended materials needed in one purchase. Yes, it would increase the monthly or annual pricing, but I think this curriculum is worth the extra expense.

Starting next week we are going to jump ahead in the science curriculum to the Human Body portion because it lines up with what McKenzie, my 5th grader, is studying. We will come back to finish the rest of the biomes study after the new year. We also will be continuing with the History/Literature portion, specifically the hands-on activities. Our history program jumps around in the chapters of SOTW, so I just find the corresponding chapter and plan our lessons that way. Micah has loved learning all about the Ancient Egyptians and next week we will be doing an archeological dig of ancient Egyptian artifacts.

If your virtual learning is not turning out the way you thought it would, I suggest you head on over to the Wisdom Wonder Project and take a closer look at this literature based curriculum! But don’t just take my word for it! Click the banner below and see what 34 of my CrewMates think of this curriculum and the Little Wonders Preschool (Junior K – Kindergarten) and Kindergarten Singapore Math by clicking the banner below.