This blog is my attempt to document our busy but BLESSED lives raising and educating our children for His glory. A child of God, wife to one, and mom to 6 fabulous kids. We are in our 17th year of homeschooling using a Classical ~ Literature based approach.

Come along for the good, the bad & the ugly.



Saturday, October 10, 2015

Snapshots ~ 365 days of us…{18/98}

family Oct 2015

We were supposed to have pictures today at the squadron in front of a jet, but the day was so busy with ball games and practices we didn’t make it. So, I broke out the trusty camera and snapped some photos of us. Getting 8 people looking at the camera is hard work but I think the group shot turned out pretty good.

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I love all the individual shots of the girls and Micah. These shots really show their unique individual personalities and my babies are growing up right before my eyes!

I am blessed <3

Snapshots 365

©2008- 2015 A Stable Beginning. All rights reserved. All photographs, text, artwork, and other content may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form without the written permission of the author.

http://astablebeginning.com

Friday, October 9, 2015

Snapshots ~ 365 days of us…{17/98}

bc 17-98

This morning when I came home from dropping off Mikayla at the gym after PT my neighbor on the corner had a huge pile of toys out on the curb. Immediately the Buzz Lightyear quad caught my eye because Micah loves Buzz. At first I wasn’t going to ask about the pile of toys, but then I took a gamble. The worst she could say was, NO.

Thank goodness I asked! This ride on toy is BRAND NEW! The only thing missing was the charger. And as luck would have it, we have a cord that will fit to charge it up. Micah LOVES this new toy. As you can see he has already decided to ride standing up, like he’s Batman or something Winking smile. Must be that Tate blood running through him, since his older boy cousins ride real motorcycles and quads like this and do amazing jumps and tricks.

It’s not too early to get him a helmet, is it?

Snapshots 365

©2008- 2015 A Stable Beginning. All rights reserved. All photographs, text, artwork, and other content may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form without the written permission of the author.

http://astablebeginning.com

Thursday, October 8, 2015

Snapshots ~365 days of us…{16/98}

bc 16-98

This week Madison finished up Module 4 of Apologia Biology which deals all about Fungi. She dissected a mushroom and looked at it under the microscope for one of her experiments.

Snapshots 365

©2008- 2015 A Stable Beginning. All rights reserved. All photographs, text, artwork, and other content may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form without the written permission of the author.

http://astablebeginning.com

Reading Kingdom ~ a TOS review

Reading Kingdom Review

Having a solid foundation in reading is very important right from the start. For the last few weeks Montana and McKenzie have been plugging away at an online reading program called Reading Kingdom Online from Reading Kingdom.

The Reading Kingdom program was created by Dr. Marion Blank, world renowned reading expert and Director of the Light on Learning Program at Columbia University. Using the program she created can teach your children, aged 4 to 10, to read and write to a third grade level in a fun and exciting way.

The program starts by having your child take the Reading Skills Survey which customizes the program and places your child in just the right spot for their reading level. Instead of your child having to learn numerous complicated rules Reading Kingdom utilizes the six skills method for reading:

~ Sequencing

~ Writing

~ Sounds

~ Meaning

~ Grammar

~Comprehension

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With easy-to-use and interactive components, the program offers a customized online reading instruction for your child. During the whole process, the program targets your child's weaknesses while also keeping them confident in their strengths.

Reading Kingdom is easy to start, no need to download anything. Just log on to the website and start reading! McKenzie started with the assessment and while it was a long process because she is not that familiar with the keyboard arrangement, she was overly excited to continue through each step. The assessment suggested that McKenzie start at the Sequence / Letter Land. She had no complaints and often wants to be learning. She has now progressed to Reading/Writing Level 1 and enjoys it quite a bit. Montana, who has been through the program before picked up where she left off. She has had only a few trouble areas but I have been able to remedy those quickly.

Reading Kingdom Review

McKenzie is my beginner reader and I will say that Letter Land is quite repetitive, however, McKenzie needs and loves the repetitiveness of the program!  She loves playing her “owl game” and will ask to do that before doing her workbook work. Montana is not a beginning reader, however,  she still has a few weak areas that I am trying to shore up and Reading Kingdom helps me do just that!

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If you want to try Reading Kingdom out for your family, you can sign up for 30 Day Free Trial. After the trial period has ended and you would like to continue, a subscription costs $19.99/month (with no monthly minimum), or $199.99 per year (A year membership reflects 20% off the price). Additional children on your account get 50% off ($9.99/month or $99.99/year) and you can cancel your subscriptions at any time. In addition, because Reading Kingdom is so passionate about everyone getting to enjoy the joy of reading there is a scholarship program available for those who qualify.

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Overall, I love the concept of Reading Kingdom!  McKenzie has a different learning style than Montana and is using this program has been great for her! Do look into giving it a try for your family, what works for one child may not always work for another. Will Montana & McKenzie continue using Reading Kingdom? Yes, like I said before I enjoy the concept of the program and have seen great improvement in both girls reading abilities! The exposure to seeing new words is a great plus too!

Be sure to click the banner below and see what my Crewmates thought of this program and the other one being review, ASD Reading.

Reading Kingdom Review

Company ~ Reading Kingdom

Product ~ Reading Kingdom Online

Price ~ $19.99 per month

Ages ~ 4 to 10 year olds

Format ~ online

Reading Kingdom Review

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©2008- 2015 A Stable Beginning. All rights reserved. All photographs, text, artwork, and other content may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form without the written permission of the author.

http://astablebeginning.com

Wednesday, October 7, 2015

Snapshots ~365 days of us…{15/98}

bc 15-98

This morning we drove up to Liberty and picked up Marie. The drive is not too bad, just a little over 3 hours. There are some hilly areas, but nothing too bad that I won’t be able to navigate come winter. We did some car schooling on the ride up. Soon after taking this snapshot all the kids were fast asleep.

Snapshots 365

©2008- 2015 A Stable Beginning. All rights reserved. All photographs, text, artwork, and other content may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form without the written permission of the author.

http://astablebeginning.com

Tuesday, October 6, 2015

Snapshots ~ 365 days of us…{14/98}

bc 14-98

Today was food order pick up day! The younger 3 kids and I had the van packed to the gills with little room to spare. Everything in our order came in but Mandarin Oranges, but that’s not bad missing one item. All those boxes went to a friend who is moving so I didn’t have to dispose of the boxes myself. This food co-op is truly a blessing to our family!

Snapshots 365

©2008- 2015 A Stable Beginning. All rights reserved. All photographs, text, artwork, and other content may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form without the written permission of the author.

http://astablebeginning.com