Friday 28 February 2014

Science4Us.com {Review}

I have been trying to follow a more delight directed approach in our home education. Part of this is learning to flex to accomodate Sir N's current interests.  His present passion is all things science so when Science4Us.com offered us the chance to use their product we jumped at the opportunity. We have spent the last month exploring four different fields of science using Science4Us.com Online Subscription.

Their mission is to provide your student with a solid foundation in scientific concepts. Science4Us.com recognizes that digital learning can be used to create a positive effect upon a students motivation to learn. Their core belief is that
 "Science should be experienced, not just read about in books"

Their passion is that all children have a solid foundation in science with an excellent underpinning of STEM (Science Technology Engineering and Mathematics) Science4Us.com uses the 5E instructional model (Engage, Explore, Explain, Elaborate and Evaluate) in all their units.

What We Did
The log in page has two options one for the students and one for Teacher/Admin.   The Teacher area is an utter gold mine of information.  If you are not scientific by nature this area is your saving grace. There is a getting started video explaining the many area's available to you.  It is well worth watching or you will miss out on the huge amount of resources that are available for you.


Once you have selected the module you are working through you will be taken to the above page.  On the left of the page you will see
  • Over all information
  • A description of the module
  • The essential vocabulary
  • Teacher Essentials
In the right hand colum you will find
  • The eight sessions for the particular module including an estimated time frame for each session including a detailed instructional video with suggested lesson plan.
  • A detailed activity description
  • Student objectives
  • A link to preview the activity
  • Printable teacher guides
  • Off line materials for students as well
  • Lesson plans with easy to follow guides to present the materials.
You can view a comprehensive progress report under the student reports tab.  You can see an overview of their total time spent on Scienc4Us.  I was a little astonished to see that Sir N had already spent 1395 min (23 hours) on Science4Us.com From here you can select a module to view all the individual activities.  At a glance you can see which activities have been completed (these are represented by a star) and the percentage scored on graded activities.  Notebook activities are available at a click and you can add your own words of encouragement to your student here too or print them for their personal folders. Students have access to their own reports and can keep track of their own progress at a glance as well. When you drill down into a particular module you have the option to see total min spent on each section, first attempt date, first completion date and scores and completion.

There are seven tutorial video's for you to watch.  These are well worth your time as you will better access all the amazing features available to you in Science4Us.com.


Sir N has been working on a 2nd grade level within Science4Us.com I chose not to individually assign each days work but rather allow him to enjoy learning freely within Science4Us.com and supplementing his work online with activities from the Teacher Area as he goes along. I asked him to start in one area and work his way through ALL the activities before proceeding to the next one on the list. So far he has only worked through the Physical Science area of the program (Matter, Force & Motion and Energy). He has completed Matter and is currently working through Energy.  He has learned about energy sources, light energy, heat energy, sound energy and is currently working through the Electrical energy unit.

The short cut area under Recent Activity in the center panel makes it easy for him to find the activity he used the last time he logged in.  He does not need to go through many screens looking for his last activity he can simply access his last activity in one click.

Sir N enjoys watching Pinky's videos and he loves the creative activities that are provided through out his learning.  Each activity is unique and captivating.  He likes to do the interactive activities. His favourite  activity is Syllables with Silly Bulls.  I always know when he is doing this activity because of the laughter that erupts each time the Silly Bulls arrive on screen.  This activity has really helped Sir N with his reading and writing skills.  I have been surprised by what he has accomplished.

Curriculum
Science4Us.com covers four "books" of science. There are over 350 online lessons and plenty of hands on activities and worksheets.  This is not just science it builds your students math and language skills and if you are a home educator it provides home school portfolios.
Scope and Sequence 

Age Range
This online program is aimed at grades K-2nd (children in the 3 - 7 year old age range) but can be used by students who are slightly older or younger.

Cost
  • Individual pricing is $7.95 per child per month.
  • There are 10 FREE demo's .
Connect with Science4Us.com
What We Thought
Sir N would love to spend all day on the site exploring science.  I am impressed with the lessons they are not dumbed down in order for the students to understand.  They use excellent vocabulary.  For example in one of the lessons he had to demonstrate that he understood the difference between Qualitative and Quantitative.

We have both enjoyed the depth and scope of Science4Us.com.  It's the high light of Sir N's school day and he looks forward to it with eager anticipation. 

My one disappointment is that this only goes to 2nd grade.  I sincerely hope that over time more grades will be added.

Science4Us.com is a gold mine.  I highly recommend this resource to all my home school friends.  It's fun, twaddle free and interesting.  No prep work for you the Mom other than printing off some worksheets and collecting a few items for which ever experiment or hands on activity you have chosen.  

Blessings
Chareen
 
Click to read Crew Reviews

KinderBach {Review}

For the past two months Sir N has been using an online piano program via The KinderBach Online Piano Lesson Membership with Teacher Corner.   This program has been developed by Karri Gregor who has an extensive background in music education, singing, visual arts, theory etc. Karri acknowledged the need of young children to exercise their imaginations while learning music concepts and the parent’s need of appealing material that will hold a child’s interest at home so she developed KinderBach.

What We Did
I started off by accessing the program and working my way through some of the classes until I found the right level for Sir N.  He started with piano last year and has not been practicing for a while.  We used KinderBach to help him remember what he learned and to reinforce music theory. He got to meet the Beat Bug Brigade. Each week he was able to master a new concept through hands on activities. The Beat Bugs are being instrumental in helping him grasp note value.



One of the most valuable aspects of the program is the Teacher's Corner.  Here you will find 
  • Story Books
  • Three Coloring Books
  • Song Books and MP3s to 75 songs
  • Teachers Aids
  •  Student books, 
  • Lesson plan books, 
  • Certificates 
  • Goal books.  As your student completes a lesson / concept you can mark it off in this book which serves as a visual reminder of  what they have learned and accomplished so far.
Each of the books are in eBook PDF format. You have the option of printing a complete level in one go or you can choose to print each lessons pages as you need them. All of the PDF's are grouped together by level. There are seven levels in total.


Once logged in I used the Learning Center to navigate the levels.  The information map was invaluable to helping me see what we needed to do each week.  There is a colum on the left to mark off each activity so you know straight away where you are and what is coming up.

When you go into each level each week has it's own box containing each days lesson. There are four lessons to a week.  You can go as fast or as slow or repeat any lesson as you want. 

After finding the level Sir N was at we launched into watching the lesson video's and completing the accompanying book work.


Each session was between two and five minutes long.  Teacher preparation time was very little on my part as all the work is already done for you in the video lessons.

Sample music page

Curriculum


Age Range
This online program is aimed at children in the 3 - 7 year old age range.

Cost
  • You can purchase an Annual Membership for $130 (currently on special for $95.88 this equates to $7.99/month for a year.)  The annual membership grants you access to six levels of music education.  This includes around 22 hours of video tutorials and interactive pages. This membership includes a Teachers Corner with over $400 worth of books for you to download and use in your lessons.
  • You can try KinderBach FREE by filling in the form on the FREE Web Lesson page.
  • 3 Levels of Craft & Games
  • 5 Collections of Songs which are piano karaoke in style and designed to be used with children who have no musical training.
  • Discover KinderBach for your iPad and iPhone.
  • Piano by DVD value packages. There are six available levels and each package includes activities, music audio and activity book and parent guide on cd. These packs range in price from $55.95 to $222.88
Connect with KinderBach
What We Thought
This program is well thought out and put together. I like the way it uses everyday terminology to help children grasp theory concepts. Little people enjoy movement and the program uses physical movement in order to help children learn the basics of music theory.  The games reinforce learning and the characters are charming.  Young students will benefit greatly from this easy to use format.  Parents without any musical training are fully supported in helping their children to learn to play the piano and understand music theory all from the comfort of their own homes.  You can access the first two weeks of lessons FREE.


One of our favourite things about Kinderbach is that ALL of the video's in the Learning Center are formatted  to play on Mobile Devices.  It's so good to be able to have Sir N at the piano with our Samsung Tab on the piano music stand where he is able to watch and do with it right in front of him. KinderBach Levels 1 to 3 are available in iPad/iPhone apps along with 6 fun iPad games.

If you have young children whom you would like to learn to play the piano I highly recommend KinderBach.

Blessings
Chareen

Click to read Crew Reviews

Thursday 27 February 2014

Creating Line Designs {Virtual Fridge}

This Week
I dug out some photocopied projects that were hiding on the shelf and I'm so pleased that I have.  These are a few of the completed ones we accomplished this week.  I wanted to work on coloring skills, critical thinking and following instructions.  Sir N is putting them up on his wall as he completes them.

These projects are from Creating Line Designs - Book 3 (48 pages) by Randy Womack. This book is designed to develop your child's right brain which controls visual perception and memory. It is reproducible and recommended for Grades 3-5



There are four books in the series
These books are available through Amazon and Rainbow Resources.

Featured This Week
We had some great art shared last week. Thank you to all who shared their artistic adventures with us.

Over at Campfires and Cleats you can find a DIY Paper Lantern: Light up a Winter Night With a Doctor Who "Torch!"

Kathy from over at Kathy's Cluttered Mind shares a Rainbow Craft tutorial



Your Turn

I invite you to take some photo's of your children's artistic pursuits put them in a post and link up with me I would love to come over and see the wonderful art your children have enjoyed doing.

Virtual Fridge Link Up

Blessings
Chareen


The Virtual Fridge a weekly art meme where we can hang our children's art on a virtual fridge. This meme was started by Jennifer over at A Glimpse of our Life who kindly invited three other bloggers to co-host this weekly meme.

Your hosts are



Wednesday 26 February 2014

40 Days with Jesus and making a Jesus Tree

Next week Wednesday the 5th of March marks the beginning of Lent in the church calender. I'm relatively new to celebrating lent but it is enriching our families understanding of what the Lord did for us that I'm going to be re-purposing our Jesse Tree and using it to make a Jesus tree for the next forty days. I've downloaded and printed the graphics as well as the devotional reading plan. We will be on holidays next week but I'm planning on taking this devotional along with us.
40 Days with Jesus


This is too good not to share ! Collette over at The Art of Being Mama has made and shared this wonderful resource for us.  It is an Easter devotion {40 Days with Jesus} Jesus Tree continuing the story of the Jesse Tree from Christmas.

Collette has provided the Daily Bible Readings for us as well as beautiful graphics (she has personally hand drawn each ornament) to colour, cut and hang on your Jesus tree.

The devotional contains your daily outline.  She has provided scripture references as well as the Ergermeir Bible page reference.
For more ideas on lent have a look at the Lent Pinterest Board and this post Ideas for LENT from Pinterest.  What will you and your family be doing together this lent ?

Blessings
Chareen
** This is a repost from 2012 with updated links.

Tuesday 25 February 2014

The Apple & The Arrow {Tuesdays Treasures}


The Apple & The Arrow
  • Format: Paper back
  • Number of Pages: 80 pages 
  • Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt (HMH) 
  • Publication Date: 
  • ISBN 10: 0618128093 
  • ISBN 13: 9780618128099 
  • Author  Mary & Conrad Buff 
Sir N and I just completed this beautifully written historical novel on the birth of the country  Switzerland.  It is the famous story of William Tell. It is a well written story that is personable and engaging.  It's a wonderful account of a boy and his father the hero. This book won the Newbery Honor Medal in 1952.

I found a FREE unit study for the Apple and the Arrow over at Homeschool Share. Rainbow Resources also has a unit study available for purchase.

Blessings
Chareen
Every bed of Roses

 Welcome to Tuesdays Treasures.  I started these posts as a way of sharing great books in honour of my friend in New Zealand who would arrive with the treasures she had unearthed at her weekly trip to the library!

There are so many wonderful books out there hiding on shelves so I invite you to blog about a book on your shelf, one you're reading or one you found at the library. Grab the button for your post and add a link to your post below. I would love to read about your treasures. 

Saturday 22 February 2014

HSMJ Sir N discovers he CAN read ...

In my life this week…
It's been an eventful two weeks around here.  I'm really tired and looking forward to a short time away in a weeks time.
This past week has been so special.  I picked a book off the shelf (Oscar Otter) and gave it to Sir N to read to himself before bedtime.  He said "But Mommy I can't read ..."  He can read but hadn't realized he didn't need me there in order to do so. I wish I had my camera handy when he reappeared 15 min later with the completed book in his hand. The look of sheer delight was a very precious moment in my week this week.  He has also enjoyed reading Amelia Bedelia this week.

In our home school this week…
  • We learned to draw some neat pictures using a circle as the starting point.
  • Continued reading through I Can Read It! Book 2
  • We are working on writing neatly and clearly.
  • As well as math facts.
  • We watched Dinosaurs Alive 3D which is an iMax presentation.  I am quite impressed.  Normally these sorts of documentaries are presented as absolute fact.  This one used excellent presentation explaining that it is supposition and they do not really know for sure.  They also used flooding to explain fossilization. I'm looking forward to seeing more presentations here later this year.   
Helpful homeschooling tips or advice to share…
Places we’re going and people we’re seeing…
  • We met with my Mom who played tennis with Sir N
  • Attended tennis classes
  • Recorder lessons
  • Today we went to the Melbourne Museum (more on this next week ...)
My favourite thing this week was…
Questions/thoughts I have…
Things I’m working on…
In Bloggy world I’m reading…
I’m cooking…
I’m grateful for…
A photo, video, link, or quote to share…
I enjoyed watching this YouTube clip this week On the Road: A tough teacher's alter ego -CBS NEWS


Blessings

Chareen

Homegrown Learners

Photo collages made with: Photoscape a FREE photo editor

Making 'Grab my Button' buttons line up



Sometimes when you grab buttons and want to add them to a page they get all jumbled up, different sizes, some are in the center and others to the left. This can be a little quite frustrating.

Tweaking the code to make them all line up is a relatively easy affair because all you need to do is delete code from the new buttons. I am using colour to help you see the parts of the code and what to do to them.







Parts of code and what they mean

<div align="center"><a href="http://www.everybedofroses.blogspot.com.au/" title="Every Bed of Roses" target="_blank"><img src="http://i1180.photobucket.com/albums/x410/everybedofroses/DesignD_-2.jpg" height="125" alt="Every Bed of Roses"  width="125" /></a></div>

  • The blue part of the code tells the button to please stand in the center of where ever you place it. 
  • The red part in the code tells the button what size to be. Some buttons come with this some do not.  It's easy to add in.  Add it in near the end of the second last bracket < > before the forward slash /  
  • The green part of the code tells the browser to please open in a new tab. 
  • The pink part is followed by the internet address for the graphic.
  • alt and title - following this is the name of my blog.  If a graphic can't load it will read the words 'Every Bed of Roses'
  • A forward slash in HTML means end something.  Instructions always come in two's.  Begin something end something.  That's why there are two brackets in blue
Sample
You add two buttons to your blog and you want them to be the same size, line up next to each other but when you add the next button you end up with this
Every Bed of Roses
Ben and Me

Tweaking the Code
The secret to making buttons stand next to each other is to remove all the center instructions that come with any new buttons you add. As well as making sure that the heights and widths are all the same.  Here is some sample code for four buttons to stand side by side.  This is what the HTML looks like:

<div align="center"><a href="http://www.everybedofroses.blogspot.com.au/" title="Every Bed of Roses" target="_blank"><img src="http://i1180.photobucket.com/albums/x410/everybedofroses/DesignD_-2.jpg" height="125" alt="Every Bed of Roses"  width="125" /></a></div>

<div align="center"><a href="http://benandme.com" title="Ben and Me" target="_blank"><img src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v71/crabbygirl/blogbuttonfinal2_zps55fc7406.jpg" height = "200" width = "200" alt="Ben and Me" style="border:none;" /></a></div> 

<div align="center"><a href="http://www.everybedofroses.blogspot.com.au/" title="Every Bed of Roses" target="_blank"><img src="http://i1180.photobucket.com/albums/x410/everybedofroses/DesignD_-2.jpg" height="125" alt="Every Bed of Roses"  width="125" /></a></div>

<div align="center"><a href="http://benandme.com" title="Ben and Me" target="_blank"><img src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v71/crabbygirl/blogbuttonfinal2_zps55fc7406.jpg" height = "200" width = "200" alt="Ben and Me" style="border:none;" /></a></div>

  • The first <div align="center"> and last </div>  need to stay. All the blue ones need to be deleted. 
  • Ben and Me buttons are bigger than I want.  The height and width is currently "200"  I want all my buttons at 125 so I change these manually. 
  • Your code now looks like this 

<div align="center"><a href="http://www.everybedofroses.blogspot.com.au/" title="Every Bed of Roses" target="_blank"><img src="http://i1180.photobucket.com/albums/x410/everybedofroses/DesignD_-2.jpg" height="125" alt="Every Bed of Roses"  width="125" /></a>

<a href="http://benandme.com" title="Ben and Me" target="_blank"><img src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v71/crabbygirl/blogbuttonfinal2_zps55fc7406.jpg" height = "125" width = "125" alt="Ben and Me" style="border:none;" /></a>

<a href="http://www.everybedofroses.blogspot.com.au/" title="Every Bed of Roses" target="_blank"><img src="http://i1180.photobucket.com/albums/x410/everybedofroses/DesignD_-2.jpg" height="125" alt="Every Bed of Roses"  width="125" /></a>

<a href="http://benandme.com" title="Ben and Me" target="_blank"><img src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v71/crabbygirl/blogbuttonfinal2_zps55fc7406.jpg" height = "125" width = "125" alt="Ben and Me" style="border:none;" /></a></div>

The result looks like this

 
Every Bed of Roses Ben and Me Every Bed of Roses Ben and Me

If you want your buttons to stand next to each other in a narrower column you might need to tweak the size code numbers until you can make your buttons line up.  Be sure to do the widths and heights for all the buttons.

If a button does not come with a width / height code simply add in height = "125" width = "125" near the end of your image code before the last forward slash and bracket < add it here /></a>

Happy button adding.  If you have any trouble leave me a note in the comments and I will be happy to help you. I would love to see the results of your new lined up buttons so leave a link to your blog too.

Blessings
Chareen

Tutorial: Making a Grab My Button

Friday 21 February 2014

The Elements {Tuesdays Treasures}


The Elements
  • Format: Paper back /
  • Number of Pages: 
  • Publisher:Black Dog & Leventhal Publishers 
  • ISBN 13: 978-1-57912-895-1 
  • Author  Theodore Gray 
  • Photographer: Nick Mann 
  • Available from Book Depository and Amazon or from The Periodic Table as well as from the App Store
You can view sample pages arranged alphabetically, by Atomic Number and Text Listing

I am so excited about this book which arrived today.  I first heard about Theodore Gray when I saw his popular YouTube clips a couple of years ago.  He sings his way through the periodic table and my favourite clip of his physical elements table.


Some YouTube Clips on elements
This book is a wonderful addition to anyone's bookshelves.  It is a photographic journey through the entire periodic table.  Theo started his journey to collect samples of ALL the elements for his wooden periodic table a journey that was completed in seven years.  This collection now contains more than 2,300 objects representing every element on the periodic chart. The book contains a visual catalog of each element in it's pure form followed by an array of everyday objects containing the element. 

What's your favourite science resource for the Periodic Table of elements ?

Blessings
Chareen
Every bed of Roses

 Welcome to Tuesdays Treasures.  I started these posts as a way of sharing great books in honour of my friend in New Zealand who would arrive with the treasures she had unearthed at her weekly trip to the library!

There are so many wonderful books out there hiding on shelves so I invite you to blog about a book on your shelf, one you're reading or one you found at the library. Grab the button for your post and add a link to your post below. I would love to read about your treasures. 

Thursday 20 February 2014

Using Circles in Art {Virtual Fridge}

This Week
We have been continuing our art journey through Art with a Purpose Artpac 2 and this week we learned how to draw all sorts of things with circles


Featured This Week
We had some wonderful art shared last week thank you to all who linked up.   Be sure to head on over to  Raventhreads and take a look at their Cherokee Booger Mask

Your Turn

I invite you to take some photo's of your children's artistic pursuits put them in a post and link up with me I would love to come over and see the wonderful art your children have enjoyed doing.
Virtual Fridge Link Up

Blessings
Chareen


The Virtual Fridge a weekly art meme where we can hang our children's art on a virtual fridge. This meme was started by Jennifer over at A Glimpse of our Life who kindly invited three other bloggers to co-host this weekly meme.

Your hosts are