OneLuckeyWife

In the homeschooling community, one of the most frequent questions parents face is: "How do you handle testing?" The answer often starts with your local regulations; in our state, standardized testing (like the STAAR test) isn’t a requirement. However, just because the state doesn't mandate it doesn't mean we don't value assessment. My goal is to ensure our daughter is truly retaining the information we cover without the shadow of "test anxiety" looming over her education. While some families choose to skip formal testing altogether—arguing that a single exam only measures a moment in time rather than overall intelligence—I prefer a structured approach. I utilize the dedicated test booklets for history, math, and science that accompany our textbooks. To keep the information fresh, I maintain a log of the main points from every lesson, and we conduct comprehensive reviews every six and twelve weeks. The twelfth week of our schedule is always a Deep Revie...

For the young artist who thrives on color and creativity, the Aquarellum Cosmos Set is a truly captivating find. This kit features two large, high-quality canvases that utilize a unique "masking" technique—the paint only sticks to certain areas, ensuring a professional-looking result every time. Our daughter, whose passion for painting knows no bounds, was immediately drawn to the celestial theme. The kit includes a specialized set of inks and a color-mixing guide, which serves as a fantastic, hands-on lesson in color theory. By following the manual, she can blend the primary colors to create a nearly infinite palette of vibrant hues. One important note for parents: the intensity of these pigments is no joke. The paints are prone to staining, not only on clothing but on skin as well—expect those colorful fingers to last for a few days! However, if you prepare your workspace accordingly, the creative payoff is well worth it. While I would love to see more than two canvases in...

 I love math! It was always my favorite subject in school. Sadly, our daughter does not share my love of math. She will shutdown completely and not even try, even though she is amazing at it. So I have to make math fun so she’ll want to do it. We got this monkey scale a long time ago. I used it at first to show her visually what is bigger/smaller, heavier/lighter, many/few. It worked great and was super fun for her. Since she enjoyed this balance so much I’m incorporating it into our Math-U-See curriculum . She has the physical blocks and the balance to solidify her math knowledge. But the most important part is that she is finding math can be fun. If you teach at a school or at home you know it’s important for the student to enjoy school. For learning to count by a certain number I’ve got another idea. I draw on the driveway a bunch of squares and then write the numbers; example 10, 20, 30, etc. Then your child gets to jump on each number. Not only will they have fun while learni...