OneLuckeyWife

I recently found out about this program called Book It!  You  can be a teacher, parent or homeschooler to sign up. Just add your student and say how many book to read during each month. It can also go by minutes read or pages read. Once your child/student hits their goal for the month they get a free personal pan pizza from Pizza Hut. There is a paper version however you must order it before August 17 and it is only available for traditional school classrooms. Each child will only be allowed one certificate per month. If you print out the certificate then you will need to call or visit and let them know you have a Book It! coupon. If you have a digital coupon then there will be a link in the email sent to you. It will take you straight to the Pizza Hut website. Or you can go the website added a one topping personal pan pizza to your cart and add the coupon code at checkout. This program runs from October 1st to March 31st of each year. I am excited for this. One it will get ou...

After our wildly successful experience with  All About Reading , transitioning to  All About Spelling  felt less like a curriculum change and more like a natural evolution. This program arrives as a meticulously organized arsenal of pedagogical tools, including a comprehensive teacher manual, phonogram charts, progress trackers, and a multifaceted collection of cards covering everything from basic sounds to complex word structures. From an administrative standpoint, I’ve applied my signature organizational flair: I’ve laminated the perforated cards for durability and had the teacher manual spiral-bound at Office Depot to facilitate effortless page-turning during our sessions. The manual’s step-by-step architecture is a dream for the busy educator, ensuring that I always know exactly which linguistic milestone we are tackling next. The philosophy of All About Learning suggests a manageable twenty-minute daily commitment, which allows us to honor our daughter’s unique pace...

If you have grown weary of the traditional, somewhat monotonous "memory" games that involve staring at a grid of face-down cards, then the  Postman Observation Game  is poised to be a breath of fresh air for your family room. This is not your standard tabletop affair; it requires a generous expanse of floor space due to its oversized, high-quality jigsaw puzzle pieces. The most ingenious feature of this game is the modular nature of the board. Because the pieces can be interconnected in virtually any configuration, the landscape is never identical twice. It is a rare and sophisticated design element that prevents the "memorization trap," ensuring that each session is a genuine test of observation rather than a simple recall exercise. The game eschews the typical competitive "winner-takes-all" dynamic in favor of a collaborative, team-based objective. Every player acts as a cohort of postmen working in tandem to deliver a satchel of envelopes to the correct...

Upon realizing that our primary history curriculum was somewhat lean in the realms of civic engagement and societal structures, I embarked on a quest for a supplemental resource to round out our first-grade experience. My search led me to  180 Days of Social Studies . Having found the kindergarten iteration to be a sturdy foundation, I decided to maintain our momentum with the first-grade volume. While I still harbor a sophisticated longing for a more vibrant, full-color interior to entice the youthful eye, the intellectual merit of the content successfully compensates for the monochromatic aesthetic. It is a robust introduction to the American experience, though a brief caveat is necessary: this curriculum is decidedly "US-centric," so those homeschooling abroad might find it less pertinent to their specific regional goals. The architectural brilliance of this program lies in its "page-a-day" philosophy. For those adhering to a traditional 36-week academic calendar...

In our ongoing quest for the ultimate Language Arts framework, I decided to evaluate  Language Smarts Level B  to see how it measured up against our beloved All About Reading and All About Spelling duo. While the prospect of an all-in-one "Language Arts" volume is certainly appealing for its organizational simplicity, my experience with this particular workbook was—to put it delicately—somewhat tumultuous. A curious starting point: I was unable to locate a "Level A," which leads me to believe the series assumes a baseline of literacy that might be quite daunting for a true beginner. With word scrambles appearing early on, a child who hasn't yet mastered foundational spelling may find themselves more frustrated than fascinated. The pedagogical sequence of Language Smarts is, in a word, aggressive. It initiates instruction with short vowel sounds, but with a baffling lack of phonetic purity. For instance, the introductory vowel pages are saturated with "Y...

We have recently welcomed a truly magnificent addition to our morning basket:  Tiger, Tiger, Burning Bright!  This volume is an ambitious "poem-a-day" compendium, offering a fresh lyrical encounter for every single day of the calendar year. I must admit, I was somewhat taken aback by the sheer physical presence of this book; it is a veritable titan compared to our other "story-a-day" collections. While its substantial weight makes it a bit of a localized inhabitant of our bookshelf rather than a travel companion, the oversized format serves a noble purpose: it provides an expansive canvas for the stunning illustrations. The artwork by Britta Teckentrup is reminiscent of the iconic, textured style of Eric Carle, capturing the animal kingdom with a vibrant, sophisticated simplicity. The structure of the book is elegantly organized, beginning each month with a comprehensive list of the featured poems. Each two-page spread is curated with thematic precision, grouping po...

After evaluating an array of Language Arts alternatives, I have definitively concluded that  All About Reading  is the undisputed champion of our homeschool. Having successfully conquered Level 1, we have seamlessly transitioned into Level 2 , and I have brought my signature organizational system along for the journey. I begin by taking the teacher’s manual to a professional print shop to have the binding removed and replaced with a spiral coil; this small administrative luxury makes flipping through the lessons during a busy school day infinitely more manageable. I then set to work on the student booklet, meticulously extracting the perforated pages and preparing our interactive components with a level of precision that would make a librarian weep with joy. My lamination strategy is a non-negotiable part of our process: I cut the pieces first, laminate them individually, and then cut them again. This "double-cut" method ensures a perfect seal, protecting our materials from t...

In our ongoing pursuit of cognitive excellence, we discovered a delightful gem for our thinking skills curriculum:  What's New? What's Missing? What's Different?  This workbook serves as a vibrant laboratory for visual discrimination, specifically targeting the nuanced concepts of identification and comparison. I must offer a sophisticated "mea culpa" to my readers: as we have already triumphed over this particular volume, it has since departed our library, and I find myself without my customary photographic documentation. It is quite a tragedy, really, as I usually document our academic journey with the fervor of a historian, but I’ve managed to reconstruct our experience from my extensive pedagogical notes! The most striking feature of this book is its visual vibrancy. The illustrations are rendered in a high-energy, colorful style that immediately captures the imagination. Rather than relying on a repetitive "search and find" format, the curriculum of...

After previously exploring the first-grade iteration of  Science Lessons and Investigations - Grade 1  by Evan-Moor, we decided to integrate the  Grade 2  volume into our repertoire. Much like its predecessor, I would categorize this resource as a sophisticated supplement rather than a standalone primary curriculum. It serves as an excellent laboratory for experimental reinforcement, but it lacks the exhaustive depth required for a solo flight in the sciences. The curriculum elegantly bifurcates its focus into four essential pillars: life science (plants and animals), earth science, and physical science. One administrative feature I find particularly commendable—especially for those of you facilitating a co-op or teaching in a traditional classroom—is the "materials needed" distribution page. It allows for seamless logistical coordination, ensuring every student is prepared for the day’s inquiry. Each module is structured with a teacher overview, a vocabulary primer,...

An important thing whenever helping your child learning, wither it be with homeschool or public education, is knowing how your child learns best. There are 4 main types of learning which are kinesthetic, visual, auditory and read/write. Each one of these learning styles is perfectly normal since everyone if different. It is also possible for someone to learn best with a verity of these styles. Kinesthetic learners are going to learn best by doing. By using all there senses, using tools, building, anything that gets them hands-on with an assignment will help them retain the knowledge. A lot of children start off with this style. Next, is the visual learners. They will learn better if you can provide some way to visually show them the work. If they have notes then use different color highlighters to help emphasis the main point. Have posters so they can see things often. Show them examples of what they will be doing before giving them the work to do. Auditory learners will prefer to list...