Learning Palette ~ A LearningPalette.com Review

The Learning Palette is a product of Learning Wrap ups.  We have their addition set of Wrap ups, which I really liked.  I also have some older products from my days as a "Toy Lady" that sort of (ish) are a similar concept for toddlers. When I was offered the chance to review LearningPalette.com, I thought it would be fun to give it a test drive and experience *all* of the grades available in both math and language arts.

A 4th grade teacher, Marion Stuart, was looking for an easy way to teach her class their multiplication facts.  She came up with a way to use a card and a string to match up facts with answers and self-check the results.  Marion found a manufacturer to create the current Learning Wrap ups that many of you may know and love.  The company continues to add products to their line up, including the Learning Palette.  Most recently, the LearningPalette.com website was added. 

I signed myself up for a parent account and gave both Mal and Xav a student account.  As they complete cards, they get a green circle for that card.  It's easy for them to tell what they have and haven't done.

As you can see in the picture above, LearningPalette.com is aligned with common core.  Parents and teachers can easily see how any card correlates to CCSI.

The student reads the questions on the card (or you read them aloud for him), then drags the colored disks to the appropriate place on the card.  It's pretty simple for them to check their progress, either as they go or when they have completed the card, simply by clicking "check answers" in the upper left part of the screen.

With one struggling mathematician and one emergent reader, we found LearningPalette.com to be a fun way to review and practice skills.  I really like the access to all grade levels.  That's 660 cards.  It didn't matter where the punks were in language arts and math, we were able to find the appropriate level for each of them for most skills.  The favorite cards were the Language Arts cards with riddles.  We giggled about those quite a lot!

A free demo is available.  You will be able to access one card in nearly every title of the Learning Palette.  This is a great way to try it out before you buy it.  Watch the video introduction to LearningPalette.com.

I experienced a lot of technical issues with the accounts and the website.  The account set up worked oddly and I even received a message that made me think I was using a current user's log in.  The site let me sign in, but I was afraid to proceed.  I didn't want to ruin someone's reports!  I was often not able to access the parent account, cards would not show completion or even attempts, and some cards are difficult to read because the writing or images are too small.  Also, there are places on the LearningPalette.com website that need a scroll bar and do not have one.  It's a terrific concept, and since it is fairly new, I hope these are issues they will be working to remedy soon.

Www.learningpalette.com is $59.99 for up to five users, accessing all levels of reading and math.  Use code HOMESCHOOL for a 20% discount.*  The suitable range is for children doing K-5th grade work.

*Price and discount effective at time of posting.

Click below to read about the many other products the other Schoolhouse Review Crew moms reviewed for Learning Wrap ups.

A Life in Balance ~ A Learning Breakthrough Review

The Learning Breakthrough Program offered the Schoolhouse Review Crew the opportunity to read the book, A Life in Balance.  After looking into the program, I was very interested in finding out what started it all.  I think you will be, too.

First, I am a total sucker.  Underdogs break my heart.  When people overcome life's setbacks, I get all choked up and even cry.  Go you! I think.  God love ya!  Well, reading about Mr. Belgau's grade school days in the 1930's did just that to me.  I read about that long ago boy who overcame learning disabilities and the school bully, and I was hooked.

This book is a fascinating read of Frank Belgau's life, from his struggles in early education to his desire to challenge himself to continue life long learning and applying what he had learned to help other people.  Mr. Belgau shows how every stage of his career has taught him various lessons on which to further build his personal education.  A myriad of fascinating personalities were practically thrown into Mr. Belgau's path and he made the most of the valuable insight he gained from every one of them.  Personal development became very important to him.

I truly enjoyed every bit of Mr. Belgau's personal memoir as told to his son, Eric.  He is a fascinating man and an educational pioneer.  But my favorite part of this book was the appendix!  There are plenty of suggestions for watching and analyzing children's movement to gain insight into their learning abilities by using many of the (very fun!) activities in this section. 

We used several of the space walk ideas as well as making up a few of our own.  Now, it sounds like a space walk would require more equipment.  Like maybe astronaut-type equipment.  But all I needed was chalk and bean bags to have a ton of fun with the boys.  On a school day, no less!  I just drew some lines, dots, and circles on the driveway, gave minimal instruction and made some observations.  The most painful, though not surprising, observation is that these two punks are very uncoordinated!  When I analyze what I am seeing, there are two boys who don't swing their left arms when they walk, have trouble walking heel to toe and maintaining balance, and found it way more difficult to put their toes on dots than I would have suspected.

I had been looking into implementing some sort of physical brain breaks in our homeschooling time when this book review opportunity came up.  I had no idea if they really work, what they should consist of, or even when or how to implement them.  Now I feel like the time and effort will not be wasted and will hopefully be very beneficial for our learning environment.  It's time to train those brains!


A portion of the book is also dedicated to somewhat technical descriptions (though not over the head of most adults) of the components of The Learning Breakthrough Program.  This program is said to help people dealing with the following issues, all without medication.

•     ADHD/ADD
•     Dyslexia
•     Dyspraxia - Coordination
•     Dysgraphia - Handwriting
•     Dyscalculia - Math
•     CAPD - Auditory Processing
•     Speech & Language
•     Autism Spectrum Disorders
•     Aspergers Syndrome
•     Behavior
•     Sensory Processing Disorder
•     Brain Injury & Stroke

 I'm very intrigued by the program.

I would recommend A Life in Balance to any parent or educator who wishes to help their child reach their fullest potential.  Some older teens may also find the book very interesting.  The book can be purchased for $16.94 at the Learning Breakthrough website.

Find out more about The Learning Breakthrough Program and the book, A Life in Balance on their social media pages.
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THMJ Week of 5/11/14

    In my life this week…
My oldest baby boy had a birthday this week.  Love you, Dave!
Happy Mother's Day to all the mommy's out there!

    In our homeschool co-op this week... 
 Classes are *done*.  We took our year end, final, big hoopla kind of field trip this week.  There was an overnight in Mendon, Massachusetts where we enjoyed a pool, pizza party, and movie for the kiddos.

The next morning, we headed to the Southwick Zoo.  (I need to get some of these Field Trip Friday posts finished and put up!)

Co-op's closing and graduation ceremony was Friday night.  Xav was croupy, so he and Merrick stayed home with Micah.  Mal and I got to have a date night.  We had a lot of fun.  Micah set up the computer with the funky stuff his class programmed.  It had a temperature sensor and a remote control was rigged up to turn lights on and off and turn an arrow.  All pretty neat and way over my head.  Jasmine graduated from high school and Madeline graduated 8th grade.

    In Rangers this week... 
No Rangers this week - Mother's Day!

    What we're reading... 
Tim, Tobby, and the Train

    Places we’re going and people we’re seeing…
On the way home from our co-op trip, we stopped to visit for a few hours with Micah's college friends, Tom and Regan.  The boys *loved* their ginormous dog.  Even Xav, petted and played with her, and he is normally afraid of dogs.  She was just too sweet not to love on her.  Oh, and it was nice to chat with Tom and Regan as well.

    I’m cooking…
Frog legs with squirrel gravy?  Ummm... probably not.  I'll pick something a bit more mainstream.

    A photo, video, link, or quote to share (silly, serious or both!)…
New math isn't so new.  Abbott and Costello explain it in this video.

    This week's reviews...
Schoolhouse Review Crew Golden Prairie Press (including my own)
http://schoolhousereviewcrew.com/golden-prairie-press-review/
Schoolhouse Review Crew Micro Business for Teens
http://schoolhousereviewcrew.com/micro-business-for-teens-review/

Week in Review 5/18/14

    In our homeschool this week…
Writing notes.  He's getting very good at writing M.

 
Bet you are dying to know what we did with these circles.  you'll have to wait until our WriteShop review is ready. 

    In Rangers this week...
I taught Rainbows this week with Becca.  The kiddos made hand print butterflies.  Merrick flipped about getting his hand painted, so I just traced it and he was happy as a clam.
Micah made some kind of soda can stoves with the Rangers. 

    What we're reading... 
Timmy, Tobby, and the Train

    Out of the mouths of boys... 
Micah messing with the boys as he reads to them.
Micah : Chapter one...
Boys: No! We're past that!
Micah: We are? Oh. OK. Chapter 50. As the space train rocketed through the atmosphere...
Boys: No! There's no space train!
Micah: There is in chapter 50.

Micah and the boys.
Spell cat. C A T. Spell dog. D O G. Spell phosphoglyceraldehyde.
*crickets*

    In the yard...
Thought we'd have some tenants in the bird house this year, but apparently, they were too fat.

  
Mal left a bouquet for me on the windshield.

    A photo, video, link, or quote to share (silly, serious or both!)…
"A kingdom of aggravation and it looks like I'm the queen."  A fantastic mommy/Frozen parody.

    This week's reviews...
Schoolhouse Review Crew Trident cases

E is for Enthusiasm

Enthusiasm means feeling intense enjoyment, eagerness, energy, passion.

Enthusiasm is NOT apathy, disinterest, coldness.

Enthusiasm is one of the word studies I managed to complete last fall, so I looked back on my notes from that.  I found this great post about being full of God.  "So practice enthusiasm. Stop saying the depressing things. Stop saying the discouraging things, the hateful things, the negative things, the critical things. Think enthusiasm! Talk it, live it, pray it, act it! And you will keep enthusiasm going for you every day."  I really enjoyed it and I pray you will read it as well. 

My self talk has overflowed my brain and runs out of my mouth.  It isn't pretty.

Lord, place your hand over my mouth.  Support me when I am weak.  May my family be blessed by my actions and words.  Amen.

What on Earth Can I Do? ~ An Apologia Review

Apologia Educational Ministries helps parents teach their children, using a Christian lens with classes in Bible, sciences, apologetics, and worldview.  We're familiar with several of the elementary science courses and have really enjoyed using them.  The What We Believe series has been on my short list for quite a while.  I was very happy to receive this review for book 4 in the What We Believe series.


This volume teaches children to be good stewards of all God has provided and helps them discover where they fit in His story.  I received the following books for review.
What on Earth Can I Do? textbook $39
This hardcover text is about 300 pages, with a sturdy binding to last your family for many years.  It is written at a 5-6th grade reading level.  Older students can simply work through the text on their own while younger students will need a parent or older sibling to help complete the work.  Each lesson includes parables, short biographies of notable people, applying each lesson in your own life, a prayer and a memory verse,and more.  The first few lessons use World War II as the focus for many of these.

Passwords to access online materials are found inside Apologia's textbooks.  These resources include teacher helps for each lesson, which consist of memory verses, book lists for extended learning, vocabulary, and a synopsis, suggested activities, and discussion starters for each section of the lesson.  You'll find a guide for the coloring book connecting each of the 64 coloring pages to a section of the textbook.  There's also a picture of the steps to complete the House of Truth, which is fully covered in the complete What We Believe series.  A Notebooking Journal sample is also located there.  Hopefully, soon a Jr. Notebooking Journal sampler will be added.

What on Earth Can I Do? Notebooking Journal $24
A spiral bound journal of 236 pages, for ages 9-14

What on Earth Can I Do? Junior Notebooking Journal $24,
(Excited!)  This one is spiral bound and 184 pages.  For ages 6-9, or those with limited writing skills.

Each Notebooking Journal begins with a very thorough How To Use This Book section, which gives clear instruction for each of the lesson assignments.  These books consist of detailed lesson plans/schedules, which breaks the text into 48 chunks, followed by plenty of assignments and activities to help reinforce the ideas in each lesson.  A Find Out More section, at the end of each lesson, lists other resources such as books, movies, and songs.

Most of the Bible verses for copywork in the journals use the NIV.  Other translations are sometimes referred to in an attempt to make the language more accessible to younger children.  You can certainly use whichever version your family is used to studying.

Prep time is minimal, depending on your child's age and abilities.  My boys were perfectly capable of cutting out their booklets and other things on their own and assembling.  Each book in the What We Believe series will take approximately four to eight months to work through, taking two to three weeks on each lesson.  An sample schedule is included in each of the notebooking journals.

What on Earth Can I Do? Coloring Book, $8
Paperback, with 64 images to color.  Several pictures can be colored during each lesson.

For grades 1-6, and ages 6-14.

Lessons include

• The Big Idea - an introduction to the main topic.
• What You Will Do - the objectives of the lesson.
• Short Story - to provide students an opportunity to see worldview in action.
• Think About It - comprehension-type questions for the short story segment.
• Words You Need To Know - relevant vocabulary to prepare students to express their faith.
• Hide It in Your Heart -  Bible verses for memory or copywork.  One expresses the Big Idea and one to introduce a particular character trait.
• Integrated Learning - articles tying the lesson to art, science, history, etc.
• What Should I Do? - practicing godly character traits.
• Prayer - acknowledging and thanking God for all He does.
• Parables of Jesus - based on a parable taught by Jesus which expands into a full story with cultural details and told from one personal perspective.
• Going Deeper - discussion questions regarding the parable.
• House of Truth - the final House of Truth lessons from the complete What We Believe series.

 

How What on Earth Can I Do? looks in our home.
I love that we can complete this series on Christian worldview as a family.  A broad range of ages can be accommodated simply by choosing the appropriate notebooking journal or coloring book for each child.

I had Malachi working in the Notebooking Journal and Xavier in the Junior Notebooking Journal.  Both boys have colored in the coloring book on different days.  We followed the sample schedule in the journals at first and realized there are several days in each lesson that were just too much reading for my boys to sit and listen to at once.  I broke these assignments into two (and even three) days.  This worked much better.

Malachi was able to complete the crossword puzzles and create mini-books, write vocabulary and copywork, and think through some of the assignments with no trouble, but he is not an enthusiastic writer.  I would talk over the Think About It segments with both boys and let them dictate their answers to me.

We found the Junior Notebooking Journal to be a very good fit for Xavier, with slightly simplified lessons and more drawing  and coloring than the Notebooking Journal.  As I  look at it and think about it more, I think it isn't quite challenging enough for Malachi.  At nine years old, he is just at that in-between stage here.  I was very grateful for the chance to compare the two journals side by side to determine the fit for us.

My children are learning to apply God's Word to real life.  Even though, this series is about worldview, I can see how geography, history, and art can all be easily tied into these lessons. 

Even though these books can be used in any order or stand alone, we are setting this aside and starting fresh in the fall with the first book in the series, Who is God?.  I'd like to bring What on Earth Can I Do? back out around the time we start covering World War II in history.  Mal would surely be ready for the regular notebooking journal then.

If you haven't received the Apologia homeschooling catalog yet and are interested in the products they sell, order one right away.  You'll find coupon codes for freebies (with purchase) or discounts for each quarter.

Apologia Educational Ministries on Social Media

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D is for Diligent

Well, wouldn't you know "Diligent" would be the first post I didn't get up by Friday evening?  Kind of laughable, if not so sad.

Being diligent means being conscientious (or caring) about one's duties, being careful, thorough, and hard working.  Diligence is *not* being careless, neglectful, or lazy.

Diligence is also a struggle around here.  Well, for everyone but Micah.  He is the hardest worker I know and he always does a great job on everything, never halfway, never until it's just good enough.  The rest of us, on the other hand are not the hardest workers.  We don't "start hard and finish strong (We Choose Virtues)."  I leave a trail of half-completed projects.  The boys have a half-cleaned room.  There is always more housework.  Always.

Lord, supply our souls with a healthy dose of diligence.  Help us do more than we can think or ask or imagine.  Amen.