{almost} Wordless Wednesday

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© 2008 - 2019 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

Explore England in the adventure novel, Britfield & the Lost Crown ~ a TOS review

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We love a good book in our house so I am really excited to tell you about the newest book that Montana has just finished called Britfield & the Lost Crown. Its a fast-paced story that leads you through an adventure in England with two orphans, Tom and Sarah.

Britfield & the Lost Crown is the first book in a series of five novels written by C.R. Stewart. This novel is penned for kids aged 10-18 and gives detailed highlights of places that Mr. Stewart has visited himself. The details within the pages makes the adventure come to life as you read. We received a physical paperback copy of this book and I am excited to tell you that it has earned a spot on our bookshelf.

This book is about two best friends named, Tom and Sarah, who are orphans at the Weatherly Orphanage. After learning that Tom’s mom and dad might still be alive, he and his best friend, Sarah, escape from the orphanage to try to get to London.

While on the run, they are chased by a famous Scotland Yard detective set on bringing them back to Weatherly. Luckily, they escaped the grasp of the detective and ran into the country and caught a hot air balloon. After narrowly escaping and being chased by the famous Scotland Yard detective in a helicopter the two safely reach the the shores of Dover after first making a pitstop at Oxford University.

While at Oxford they meet a couple of professors who helped hide them from the police. At Windsor Castle, they meet Philipp, who is on the Queen’s staff. When talking about the one clue Tom has to his parents, Britfield, it is revealed that Tom may be apart of the real royal family line who supposedly was killed years ago. Meaning that he is the true heir to the British throne.

Montana really enjoyed this 394 paged book and is excited for the next installment, Britfield & the Rise of the Lion, to be released in 2020. Here are some of her thoughts…

“I liked the book because it is interesting and a good read. I recommend this book to anyone who likes to read about friendship and loyalty because they will find it interesting and exciting”.

I love that this novel provides an accompanying study guide. It is 83 pages and provides an 8-week in-depth study broken down, chapter by chapter. There are many activities found within the study guide including vocabulary, comprehension questions, matching, and fill in the blank type problems. I chose to just let Montana read this book for fun, instead of making it a literary analysis.

When I had questions about the story, I referred to the study guide for the comprehension questions to help fill in the gaps for myself. The Britfield website also includes several free teacher resources that will help you dig deeper into the story and era as well as helpful historical facts and beautiful pictures of landmarks etc.

Be sure to read what my CrewMates think of this award-winning book by clicking the banner below. Some reviewed the audio book while others reviewed the softcover paperback. I know we are excited for the installment!

Company ~ Britfield & the Lost Crown 

 Product ~ Britfield & the Lost Crown 

Format ~ 394 paged softcover paperback , ISBN: #978-1-7329612-1-0 

 Price ~ $16.99 

 Ages ~ 10-18 years

Social Media Links: 

 Facebook

Twitter

Instagram

© 2008 - 2019 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

My School Year Homeschool Record Keeping ~ a TOS review

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Over the last few years I have really been trying to be more organized in my thoughts and plans. If you have been reading here long, you know it is a busy season for us. Because of this, I especially don’t want to forget someone or something important from our day. We received the Annual Membership Plan and I  have been using My School Year Homeschool Record Keeping to track of things in our schooling and daily life.

MySchoolYear.com is an online lesson planner and record keeper that allows you to keep track of all the important things you need to track. It features:

 ~ automated attendance tracking

~ lesson plan generators

~ automated grading

~  friendly teacher’s reminders

~ activity tracking for awards, reading logs, volunteer work, and sports

~ reports to create transcripts, report cards and more

~ lesson plan sharing if you want to share with others

Now that I am on my third high schooler, I am trying to stay on top of all the school deadlines, sports schedules, PT appointments, etc. With my daughter, Mikayla, starting her standardized testing cycle, I am really trying to stay on top of dates so I don't miss the deadline for registrations. My state is pretty relaxed as far as record keeping goes, however, I do like to track attendance. Recently, I've been using My School Year (Homeschool Record Keeping) from MyShoolYear.com to do just that.

I found that setting up my account was really easy. It is just a matter of inputting your student’s information. Once that is done, you can begin adding in classes and daily lesson plans. The ease of use of this program makes tracking grades, attendance, reading, and extracurricular activities is a breeze! Something I appreciate as a busy homeschooling Mama to multiple kiddos.

When we received access to this program we were still in our summer learning period so I did not add in any current lesson plans. I did however, take the time to add in the kids upcoming classes and input known dates into the calendar. This action really helped me to see the big picture for our upcoming school year. It also helped me see just exactly what I needed to order, if anything.

I also really like the book log feature. I like to track the books the kids have read throughout the year. This year I am putting together a visual list, but I also love that I can have a printed version as well. It is a great accomplishment to look back to your list and say you read this many books this school year; especially for one of my daughters who is not an avid reader. The reports section is a handy section for me as well because it is so comprehensive! There are literally reports for everything from tracking standardized testing results to generating report cards. If you are looking for a report, chances are My School Year will have it.

This program probably sounds pretty pricey for all you are getting. But guess what!? It’s priced nicely at $5.00 a month or $40.00 for the year. This price is for an unlimited amount of students so it's perfect for larger families like mine.

Overall, I am super pleased with this online homeschool record keeping program! While I am personally a paper and pen/pencil kind of girl, I do see myself utilizing many of the features this program offers. I am especially interested in utilizing the calendar features of this online program for the rest of our yearly subscription. Be sure to check out what my CrewMates thought of this program by clicking the banner below.

Company ~ My School Year Homeschool Record Keeping

Product ~ Annual Membership Plan

Format ~ online homeschool record keeping

Price ~ $5/mo or $50 Annually

Ages ~ homeschool teachers

Social Media Links: 

Twitter

YouTube

© 2008 - 2019 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

Wordless Wednesday ~ First day of college

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© 2008 - 2019 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

2019 ~ 2020 NOT Back to {Home}School ~ Homeschooling my Final 4: Plan of Study

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The week is flying by and our time in Oklahoma with Madison is winding down, but I am excited to share our 2019 ~ 2020 Plan of Study with you today! If you are like me, I know you have spent hours and hours researching curriculums. Fortunately, because I have been doing this for 11 years I don’t have to spend too many hours researching. I know what works for my children and I strive to meet their individual needs as well. So as a word of advice, if you find that something does not work for your child's learning style, do not slug through the year just because you already have the curriculum. Trust me, I have done that and it's not worth the headache and heartache. Also, if something doesn’t work mid-year…change! No sense in trying to do something that is not working.

This year I have 4 students, grades 11, 7, 4, and Kindergarten. Many of the curriculum is the same as the last child has used but we do have some changes. One of the biggest changes this year is that we are switching back to Sonlight for our main Bible/History/Literature curriculum. It became evident earlier this year that the TOG online co-op we belonged to would no longer work for all of my children. I agonized about what to do and like the faithful God that He is, the path we were to take was placed right in front of me. Now, I am some what of a stubborn girl and it took me a bit to get the hint. But once I did, I took off running and planning for my girls.

Sonlight has worked for my two graduates, so I am eager to get started with this literature rich curriculum with my younger children again. This year we will be using Cores 100, 400, H, D, and PreK 4/5. Unfortunately, we are not all able to be studying the same time period. However, I have been through these Cores before so I already know the material which will make things a bit easier on me. I did upgrade some of the Instructor’s Guides (IG) and some of the books.

Let’s dive right in and see what we are going to be studying!

Mikayla:

Bible ~ Sonlight Bible 420

Math ~ Saxon Advanced Mathematics (Pre-Calculus) with lecture instruction with Mom and Art Reed DVD’s 

Honors Physics ~ Conceptual Physics from Clover Creek Physics with Mrs. Jetta (online)

Honors English 3 

~ Rod & Staff 9/10 Bk 2

~ IEW Fix- It Grammar Bk 3 & 4

~ Veritas Press Composition (online)

~ Sonlight Core 430 Literature 

History/Geography ~ Sonlight Core 100: US History

Foreign Language ~ German I with Mrs. Cruz (online)      
                        

   PE ~ Level 10 competitive gymnastics Team, 30 hours/week

Electives:    

~ Sonlight Core 420: American Gov't & Civics    

 ~ Sonlight Core 670: AP Micro/Macro Economics 

~ LifePac Business Information Technology

Electives at Co-op *for credit

~ * Art

~ Study hall

~ Life Skills

~ * Dave Ramsey Personal Finance

~ * Yearbook/Photography

Extras 

~ SAT/ACT study  1 hr/day

Montana:

Morning Time Recitations for 7th grade

Bible ~ Sonlight Core H

Math ~ Saxon 8/7 with Mom and DIVE lecture

Science ~ Apologia General Science, 3rd edition

Language Arts ~ Rod & Staff Grammar, Bk 7
IEW Fix-It Grammar, Bk 2
 Rod & Staff Spelling, Bk 8
Vocabulary Doodles
 Sonlight Core H Literature

History/Geography ~ Sonlight Core H: World History, Part II

Foreign Language ~ Memoria Press First Form Latin, 1/2 pace

Fine Arts ~ Zeezok Music Appreciation

PE ~ Softball in fall (SYAA) and Spring (SCA)

Electives at Co-op
~ Art
~ ASL I
~ Life Skills
~ Study Hall
~ Animal Behavioral Science

Extras
~ Girl Scout Cadette

McKenzie

Morning Time Recitations for 4th Grade

Bible ~ Sonlight Core D

Math ~ Saxon 5/4 with Mom
Monthly Math packets (hands-on learning)

Science ~ Apologia Exploring Creation with Chemistry and Physics (Young Explorers Series)

Language Arts ~ Rod & Staff Grammar, Bk 4
Rod & Staff Spelling, Bk 4
A Reason for Handwriting, Cursive D
Sonlight Core D Literature
Monthly Grammar packets (hands-on learning)

History/Geography ~ Sonlight Core D: American History, Part I

Foreign Language ~ Memoria Press Latina Christiana, 1/2 pace

PE ~ Level 7 competitive gymnastics Team with HOPEs Training

Electives at Co-op
~ Dance
~ Legos
~ Wacky Science
~ Art
~ Our Presidents Rock

Extras
~ Girl Scout Junior
                                                                                                                                                                                              

Micah

Morning Time Recitations for Kindergarten

Bible ~ Sonlight Core PreK 4/5

Math ~ Saxon 1
Math Made Fun K (hands-on learning)

Science ~ at Co-op

Language Arts ~ Moffatt Girls Phonemic Awareness
Moffatt Girls Phonics Made Fun, Level A
Moffatt Girls Ready 2 Read, Lv 1
Sonlight Core PreK 4/5 Literature
A Reason for Handwriting, Manuscript K

History/Geography ~ Sonlight Core PreK 4/5

PE ~ Shetland Baseball Fall and Spring (SYAA)

Electives at Co-op
~ Art
~ Science with Mrs. Angie
~ Magic School Bus Science
~ Elementary Spanish
~ PE

Extras
~ Cub Scout Lions

So, that is our Plan of Study in a nutshell. I know we are making the right move to return to Sonlight completely. The girls are excited about the books we will be reading and learning from so that helps me know that this was the best move for us. We also will be joining a Girl Scout troop for Montana and McKenzie as well as a Cub Scout Lion pack for Micah. He is super excited and can't wait to go camping!

What are you studying this school year? When do you start back to school? Monday is the big day for us and I am excited to get back to routine and get to learning. Be sure to check out what my CrewMates are blogging about for this Not Back to School blog hop and link up your posts below. Come back tomorrow as I go over some frequently asked questions. 

Kristen Heider @ A Mom’s Quest to Teach –Theme: A Quest for a Great Homeschool Year

Patti Pierce – Truth and Grace Homeschool Academy – My Favorite Homeschooling Things

Wendy @ Life on Chickadee Lane – 5 Days of Nature Study

Jacquelin @ A Stable Beginning – Homeschooling my final 4  

Christine @ Life’s Special Necessities – Yes! You Can Homeschool Your Special Needs Child

Sally M – Tell the Next Generation – Tips for Homeschooling Struggling Learners  

© 2008 - 2019 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

Wordless Wednesday

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© 2008 - 2019 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