Seussical

Last night my daughter's and I attended the opening performance of Dallas Children's Theater's production of Seussical. The performance was amazing!! The acting, singing, storyline, costumes, set, and decorations were spectacular. I love how they brought to life some of Dr. Seuss's favorite characters and storylines. The acting was not contained to just the stage. The actors brought parts of the production out into the audience. Whether you are a kid or an adult, this production is captivating and enjoyable. Thank you Dallas Children's Theater for bringing amazing performances to the community.

HelpTeaching.com ~ A Review

HelpTeaching.com is an amazing online source for educational resources for educators. The Help Teaching Pro Subscription  gives the user unlimited access to the site for only $24.95/year. HelpTeaching.com provides printable tests, activities, games, and lessons for PreK-12.

I was able to utilize this site for all of my children. I currently have kiddos in grades: 3rd, 5th, 8th, 10th, and 11th.

My 10th and 11th grade students are preparing for the SAT. I decided to have them both work through the SAT sections included on the site. I recently purchased an SAT study book and their eyes grew huge when they saw how thick the book was. They both liked that this was on the computer. It was not as overwhelming and they were both able to work through the material at their own pace.

My high school students are taking an elective class in Art/Music Appreciation this year. The Fine Arts section on this site was a great supplement for them. They are studying art and music throughout history and how they are connected. My 3rd grader learned about the color wheel and how blending colors created new colors.

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My 5th grader still gets tripped up on measurement skills. Once she got past the 1/4, 1/2, 3/4 and into the 1/8's, 1/16's, and so on she had a hard time. She used some of the worksheets to help her get past this dip in the road.

With Fall right around the corner it was fun to incorporate some Fall activities into my 3rd and 5th graders weekly to-do lists. They had fun making up silly "Fall Haiku's" together. I used the Fall writing prompts to get my 3rd and 5th graders back into writing for the year.

My 3rd and 5th graders are studying Astronomy this year. The astronomy section was a great supplement to go along with our Astronomy curriculum. The worksheets, tests, slides, and activities that they did helped to reinforce what they are learning.

HelpTeaching.com has such a vast platform to explore. My elementary age kiddos really like that I am able to create a weekly crossword puzzle to go along with their spelling lists. Being able to search to content in the Test Maker is amazing. You are able to search various subjects, sift through a bank of available question, add in your own, and print out a test personalized for your student. The site keeps track stuff you use and make under the My Content tab.

Search by grade, subject, and narrow down your selections within subjects and grades. New content is continually being added.

Overall, I think that HelpTeaching.com is a great resource tool for educators. As a homeschool mom juggling multiple grades it is great to be able to access material for all of my kiddos in one place. I would highly recommend this site to other.

To read more reviews click here.

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CHSH-Teach.com

I had the opportunity to review the annual subscription to the CHSH Download Club from CHSH-Teach.com. CHSH stands for Christian Home School Hub. This site was created by a former public school teacher turned homeschool mom. Lynda Eckert is dedicated to providing educational materials  via the hub to everyone. The material found on the site was the brainchild of Lynda and many other very talented educators.

In a nutshell, CHSH Download Club has over 50,000 downloadable educational resources from Preschool through High School. You can browse by subject which includes:

• Bible Related Resources
• Languages
• Art, Music & Crafts
• Language Arts
• Math
• Science
• Social Studies
• Electives
• Health

Or you can search by grade levels:

• Preschool/Kindergarten
• 1st - 3rd Grades
• 4th - 8th Grades
• High School/ 9th -12th Grades

You can also search by months/seasons, organization, and miscellaneous content. The category system is so very helpful! This hub gives the user access to learning materials such as lapbooks, worksheets, unit studies, flashcards, notebooking pages, and so much more.

I utilized many downloads for my kiddos in 3rd, 5th, and 7th grade. I will share a few of the wonderful gems that I found. Three of the downloads that I printed out were 100 Most Often Used Social Studies Vocabulary Words, A Complete Unit on the American Revolution, and Christopher Columbus Sailed the Ocean Blue...Poem Copy Work.

My 7th grade daughter worked through the 100 Most Often Used Social Studies Vocabulary Words. She really enjoyed the unit study. Over the years of doing various Social Studies curriculums this was a great way to ensure that she had a firm grasp on pertinent vocabulary used.

My 5th grader worked through A Complete Unit on the American Revolution. I will say that this was a very thorough and somewhat challenging unit study. My daughter learned so much about the American Revolution. The pictures that were included in this study were spectacular.

My 3rd grader worked through Christopher Columbus Sailed the Ocean Blue...Poem Copy Work. Last year she learned this poem as part of her poetry memorization. She remembered some of the poem so it was a great review. I chose this specifically so that she could work on her handwriting skills. She loved that she got to draw a picture to go along with each page.

I will definitely continue to use this site on a constant basis to supplement our studies. I have found wonderful resources for things that my children are currently studying as well as many gems that were just waiting to be found. The site is continually being updated with new material. I feel a bit like a "kid in a candy store" as I sift through all of the amazing educational resources.

The site is AMAZING. I would highly recommend this hub to others. The price is extremely reasonable. The biggest cost is printing the materials. Go check it out! You will not be disappointed.

To read more reviews click here.

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Apologia ~ A Review

Apologia Educational Ministries  is the leader in creation-based science curriculums. Exploring Creation with Astronomy, 2nd Edition  is just one of the many science curriculums available for students Kinder-12th grade. 

Exploring Creation with Astronomy, 2nd Edition 
Psalm 19:1 states: "The heavens are telling of the glory of God; And their expanse is declaring the work of His hands." While most of our young children hear about God's creation often times we focus on His creation here on earth. This is the perfect course to expose elementary age children to details surrounding God's creation of the heavens which include: the stars, planets, and everything in space. This year long course covers 14 lessons which include:

• What is Astronomy?
• The Sun
• Mercury
• Venus
• Earth
• The Moon
• Mars
• Space Rocks
• Jupiter
• Saturn
• Uranus
• Neptune
• Kuiper Belt and the Dwarf Planets
• Stars, Galaxies, and Space Travel

I used this curriculum with my 3rd and 5th grade children. Having them both use the same curriculum was great. I chose to take turns reading the text with my 3rd grader so that we could talk about what she had questions about along the way. My 5th grader read the text on her own and we discussed in more detail things that intrigued her. 

I love how Apologia references scripture throughout always pointing back to God. Throughout the textbook your student will come across blue boxes entitled, think about this. These are great stopping points in the text to spark up great discussions with your child. One example:

C.S. Lewis was a very influential writer. He once said, "I believe in Christianity as I believe that the Sun has risen, not only because I see it, but because by it I see everything else         (1944). As you read through this lesson, you will gain to understand what he meant.             

Each lesson begins with a blue box entitled, wisdom from above. One example is:

There is order to our universe, and once you start to understand that order, science will not be a class,  but rather a means to recognize your Creator's signature throughout creation.     
"For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine  nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made, so that       they are without  excuse.  ~ Romans 1:20                                                                                           

My 5th grader has already worked through many of the Apologia elementary level science curriculum and has really enjoyed it. This was my 3rd graders first complete science curriculum. She was excited about having a "real" textbook to read from. As a parent and educator I know that what my children are learning through Apologia is grounded in truth. All 6 of my children have used, or are currently using Apologia for science. 

Throughout the lessons your child will get to experience hands-on activities. At the end of each lesson is a simple but comprehensive summary entitled, What Do You Remember?.

The textbook is full of amazing artwork, pictures, artifacts, NASA pictures, and drawings. 

I learned some facts about the sun that I didn't already know. Did you know that "the color of the sun is actually all the colors of the rainbow! So the sun is red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, and violet." I guess we never really quit learning. 

All of the answers to the What Do You Remember questions at the end of each lesson are included in the back of the textbook. In the Appendix you will also find a Supply List for all of the items that you will need in each lesson. 

Astronomy Audio CD
Some students learn best by listening to a lesson instead of reading it. With the audio CD your student can listen to the written text work for word as it is written. With 6 children I have found that some of them excelled and understood the text much better when listening to it being read as they followed along in the text. My 20 year old actually used audio CD's throughout her years of using Apologia Science. For young children that are still getting the hang of reading listening to the text being read while they follow along is a great option! There were days when I just didn't have time to sit with my 3rd grader. She reads well but gets bogged down when reading from a textbook. This was a great alternative for her. 

Astronomy Jr. Notebooking Journal 
The junior notebooking journal was created specifically for younger students in grades K-2nd/3rd. Specifically this journal has:

• coloring
• wider lines for writing
• easier vocabulary
• less writing
• activities geared for younger students

I used this journal with my 3rd grade daughter. The set-up of the jr. journal was perfect. She was able to work through the pages without frustration. It was a perfect complement to the textbook. 

Astronomy Notebooking Journal 
Both notebooking journals have the pages broken down into daily assignments. I really loved this! 

My 5th grader has used Apologia's Notebooking Journals with many of the other Apologia elementary level science courses. My daughter said, "The journal is kind of fun considering it is schoolwork. The stuff in the journal helps to reinforce what I learned when reading. It also gives me the freedom to be creative too." 

One of the activities was to make a model of the solar system. We have severe latex allergies in our house so we had to modify the activity which called for using balloons. Instead, I found a really neat printable solar system project online. They got to color the planets so that was fun. 

Apologia's science curriculum is most definitely top notch. I would highly recommend this particular curriculum. 

To read more reviews click here. 

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