April Reads (#15 - 17 of 52)

It was a busy month with a flurry of activity.  My reading time took quite a hit.

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Ready, Set, Go

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Fluid Solidity

My Senior's first official Art Show was last week.  She had two pottery pieces in the Home Educators of Southwest Mississippi Art Expo.

I really like this handbuilt sculpture.  It was textured with an alternative finish.

She placed second in Mixed Media.  There was no sculpture category.  The supercool factor is that it is beautiful and functional.

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To Completion {Scripture & a Snapshot}

A good work is begun.

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Homeschool Review: Transcripts Made Easy: The Homeschooler's Guide to High School Paperwork #hsreviews #highschooltranscripts #homeschoolhighschool #homeschooltranscripts

I am working on the very last transcript for Long Leaf Academy (how is that even possible?), so I was happy to get my hands on Transcripts Made Easy:  The Homeschooler's Guide to High School Paperwork by Janice Campbell from Everyday Education.  I always enjoy looking at different approaches so that I can best highlight the individual education that my children have received through home schooling.  I especially appreciate Janice's reminder to make time for the things that matter.  This has been our number one goal throughout the years and we have worked to make sure that each of our children has been introduced to a variety of things and allowed ample opportunity to explore what makes them happy as they strive to realize GOD's purpose and calling on their lives.

Individuality is important and I want to make sure that my daughter's transcript reflects her personality, as well as her educational journey.  Her transcript, like her educational career, is not the same as her older sisters' and brother's transcripts.  Her interests were different than theirs and our approach to school was different for her, so her transcript must be different as well.  I also realize that even though her transcript is her individual record, it needs to be similar in form and function to the transcripts of other graduates for purposes of college entrance.  Transcripts Made Easy:  The Homeschooler's Guide to High School Paperwork helps me to do just this.  

Transcripts Made Easy:  The Homeschooler's Guide to High School Paperwork is a 138-page eBook that is chock-full of helps, advice, encouragment, and printables to make the world of high school easier for the homeschool mom to navigate.  Divided into six parts, it explains exactly what a transcipt is, who needs one and why, and how to put a transcript together that will best benefit your student.  The eBook lays out HOW to plan for high school and beyond, offers study strategies and skills that will prepare students for college, trades, and/or the workforce, and even explains how to set up a family system to easily keep high school records.  Simple, but effective goals help organize you now for later -- and sharing these with your high schoolers will help them learn to help themselves.  

Transcripts Made Easy:  The Homeschooler's Guide to High School Paperwork explains grading systems and scales, shares how to calculate a GPA, how to assign credit to courses and classwork completed, and gives printables to walk you through it all.  Janice even understands the hearts of unschooling moms and "chronically relaxed" homeschoolers and offers her Check-Off Transcript to help you lay out the organization of where you have been, where you want to be, and/or how to create a portfolio of academic achievement.  I found this section to be very encouraging and I know that you will, too, since each of our homeschooling environments is unique to our families.  The Check-Off Transcript was helpful to me in making sure that we have covered all of the basics for my girl.  Using it as a worksheet gave my daughter and I an opportunity to sit and discuss and remember everything that she has studied over the course of her high school caareer.  I will make sure to include it all on her official transcipt, but I will treasure our time together reminiscing even more.

Check-Off Transcript

All of these "helps" make Transcripts Made Easy:  The Homeschooler's Guide to High School Paperwork a wonderful resource for homeschooling families -- moms, dads, and students alike will benefit from reading and utilizing this book.  There are very specific parameters shared so that you know exactly HOW to make your transcript and there is information given to help you decide the best names for the classes your child has taken.  I really like the section titled Naming Classes as it helps me to realize the importance of all educational experiences and reminds me to structure informal learning experiences so that they can be counted as credits earned.  There are Subject Worksheets included for every subject and they have guides that help you know what life experiences you could/should include as you classify courses into Carnegie units.   I printed the Fine Arts Subject Worksheet so that we could begin to organize four years worth of attended performances.  Pulling out the calendar and sorting through our collection of playbills has brought a flood of memories.  There is more than enough real-life here to award a credit for Theatre.

The transcript information is invaluable in Transcripts Made Easy:  The Homeschooler's Guide to High School Paperwork but the additional encouragement offered makes this a must-read/must-have resource.  The Skills and Habits to Cultivate in High School section explains the importance of communication skills, writing basics, and learning MLA and APA citations.  It also discusses organization, time management, and test taking skills.  Cultivating these skills and habits early help students as they transition to college.  Professor Carol Reynolds shares Seven Strategies for a Successful First Year at College and this section should be required reading for EVERY high school student everywhere.  It discusses the importance of rest, how to deal with the "unfair" of life, advises students that deadlines in college are truly deadlines -- unlike what they might have experienced in the homeschool environment -- and discusses the importance of attending class and giving your all.  This is perfect for helping our students envision college life and begin to strategize for success.

As important as academics are, there are many other things that our students can be doing during high school that will help impact them [and others] later in life.   Six Things Your Teen Can Do While Homeschooling High School reminds us all of the many opportunities to serve and grow that homeschooling affords our children and families.  You know, mom, we are privileged to love on some phenomenal kids and I can think of no better way for us to prepare them for life than to allow them to discover their talents and passions now.  Whether it be through early college credit, volunteering within the community, or pursuing special interests and travel, the world awaits and we can help our teens discover fully who GOD has intended for them to be. 

These are exciting days.  This is the stuff that matters.  I want to help my daughter be her very best and reach her fullest potential.  I know that you want the same for yours.  I count it all joy.  

You can find out more about Transcripts Made Easy:  The Homeschooler's Guide to High School Paperwork and Everyday Education on the following Social Media outlets:

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Start early.  Begin reading this today. 

I was given the opportunity to review Transcripts Made Easy:  The Homeschooler's Guide to High School Paperwork from Everyday Education as a member of the   Homeschool Review Crew.   You can check out the Crew Review and see what other members of the Homeschool Review Crew thought of this book as well (or just click on the banner below.)

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Just a Girl . . . With a Sword {Scripture & a Snapshot}

I am so proud of these girls.  They have spent years hiding GOD's Word deep in their hearts.  Two received plaques for successfully completing 4 years of Student Bible Drill and my girl received the 6-year Student Bible Drill plate, the 9-year Bible Drill plate, and the Study Bible for completing 9 years of Bible Drill.  What a wonderful accomplishment!


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Homeschool Review: IEW's Fix It! Grammar -- Chanticleer #hsreviews #grammar #writing

We are huge fans of  Institute for Excellence in Writing (IEW) and we fell in love with their Fix It! Grammar  program years ago.  Fix It! Grammar offers a complete grammar program perfect for use by students in 3rd grade and up.  We were first introduced to it when my youngest children were in 8th and 10th grades and we have continued using it through the years.  My "baby" is finishing her senior year now and we were pleased to be chosen to review Fix It! Grammar:  Chanticleer [Book 5] this semester.  Way back when we first starting using Fix It!, she thought it was a great way to "do" grammar because she could visualize the parts of speech and understand the function of each.  I am pleased to share that she still feels that way.

What we like most about the Fix It! Grammar program is that it really makes it easy to cover the basics of language arts in a laid back way.  The lessons are short and sweet, but packed with a punch.  Students focus on just one or two sentences taken straight from classic literature.  What we are enjoying most about Chanticleer [Book 5] is that it begins right with the skills we left off with in earlier Fix It! books and ups the challenge as it calls on students to delve deeper into sentence structure, punctuation rules, and the finer points of great writing.  We chose this particular book because it is an abridged version of one of the stories from The Canterbury Tales -- one of our favorite pieces of literature.  (Our dog is even named after the author, Geoffrey Chaucer. Neat, right?)  "The Nun's Priest Tale" is a complex and descriptive writing so it is perfect for my daughter to use to practice her editing skills now as she will be in college next year.

There are six grammar books in the entire Fix-It! Series. You can start at the beginning with Book 1 or begin in whichever book best meets your student's specific needs.  If you are unsure, you'll want to have your student(s) take the Placement Test provided.  IEW suggests that if you are still unsure of exactly which level would be best for your student after taking the placement test, start with the lower of the two levels.  Addtional help can be found by attending a free Webinar available.  It is quite helpful in explaining the step-by-step process of Fix-It! Grammar.  This is just further confirmation that all of the IEW  curriculum is structured to be a tool for the teacher.  I appreciate that IEW  realizes there is no cookie cutter method of teaching because there are no cookie cutter students and that they encourage me to decide what is best for my child.

Each book level is a stand-alone resource that takes students through an individual story -- one or two sentences at a time.  Each lesson is designed to take about 15 minutes per day.  We have found this to be the perfect amount of time.  It allows us to start and finish in a timely manner without too much stress.  Senior year brings with it quite a demand on time and talent, so I appreciate the design of the curriculum.  There are four lessons a week over the course of  33 weeks that focus on parts of speech, sentence types, and punctuation through grammar notations, but also teaches vocabulary (the bold words found in the sentences), style, and self-editing skills using the proper editing marks.  This works because students are editing daily so they develop the practice of self-editing everything they write.

We recceived the Fix It! Grammar:  Chanticleer [Book 5] (Teacher's Manual) (216 pages of instruction plus a reference Glossary--pictured below) and Fix It! Grammar:  Chanticleer [Book 5] (Student Book) (70 pages of lessons plus Grammar Cards to be used each week and the reference Glossary).  Both books are coil-bound, softcover and give step-by-step instructions for use.  The Teacher's Manual also includes instructions on receiving a free download of the Student Book, the Mastery Learning e-audio, and the But, but, but . . . What about Grammar? e-audio.  Permission is given for parents to print copies of the student e-book as needed to use within your immediate family.   This is a win-win for us all.

Reference Glossary

When we first began using Fix-It! Grammar we would sit down at the kitchen table together and my children would take turns reading the sentence(s) for the day's lesson aloud.  We would discuss the bolded vocabulary word in each sentence and discuss and define it in the context of the sentence.  They would each write the word and the definition that best fit the situation into a Vocabulary section of their notebooks. I would then read over the instructions from the Teacher's Manual (pictured below) and they would "fix" the sentences accordingly.  This really worked very well for us in a family-learning setting and I would encourage you to consider how you might make it work in your family environment, as well.  I definitely miss those days now that my daughter is the only one left in our homeschool.

Instructions from Teacher's Manual

As a Senior, our approach is different.  We still begin together and I read over the initial instructions for each day's lesson.  We discuss the vocabulary words given and talk about the other words that may not be used as often today (it IS Chaucer after all), and she makes corrections, inserts grammar notations, and edits according to instructions given.  Some days she checks her own work against the Teacher's Manual and some days I check her work.  Either way we are able to discuss her thought process and make sure that it matches up properly with the instructions given and answers provided.  If it does not, we are able to explore a little further together to make sure that she thoroughly understands each concept.  At the end of the week, she does a complete rewrite of the sentences she has edited daily and we discuss those.

Both the Teacher's Manual and the Student Book are laid out in the exact same manner so it is easy to use the two together.  There are teacher's notes that help you help your students as they work through the lessons.  It is easy to explain their mistakes using the teacher's notes and leading questions provided.  We are finding this to be another excellent resource for review.  I am confident that my daughter is going to be ready for college classes in the Fall as a result of the use of this excellent curriculum.

You can find out more about Fix-It! Grammar and all things IEW on the following Social Media outlets:

Facebook  

Twitter 

Pinterest  

YouTube  

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I was given the opportunity to review the Fix It! Grammar:  Chanticleer [Book 5] from Institute for Excellence in Writing (IEW) as a member of the the Homeschool Review Crew.   You can check out the Crew Review and see what other members of the Homeschool Review Crew 
thought of this book and other books in the Fix-It! Series as well (or just click on the banner below.)

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