The Geography Drawing Series: Initial Thoughts

Hi! I have the pleasure of trying a brand new product from Brookdale House! It's the geography drawing series which has a USA and Europe edition. I will be continuing to use the USA edition with my kids in the coming weeks.

How this program works

Each week there's one state to study. The activities are broken down into four days worth of practice.

Day 1: Study the New State.
Complete the State Fact Table.
Locate and label each new state onto the dashed, black and white map.
Draw all states studied thus far.

Day 2: Locate and label each new state onto the dashed, black and white map.
Draw all states studied thus far.

Day 3: Locate and label each new state onto the dashed, black and white map.
Draw all states studied thus far.

Day 4: List, from memory, the states studied thus far.
Using the blank text box, draw, also from memory, all of the states you
have learned.

What I think So Far

I love that it's scheduled for you and broken down in a way that is quick and easy to follow. You're not just given a packet of worksheets to figure out how to use. The schedule slowly introduces kids to each state, lets them practice drawing it alone and then moves on to placing it on the map.
ve that it's already

The states are introduced in a way that makes sense. They aren't just sporadically introduced. They start in the north east with Maine and work across the map toward the west.

Drawing Around the World can be used with a wide age range. Younger kids can learn how to trace the states and all the information while older kids can have more of a challenge with timed drills.

I really like that you're not just teaching geography with this program. While that's the focus, it's also teaching information about each state such as the capital, big industries, state bird and other interesting facts.

Be on the lookout in July for how my kids liked using this program! 

Teacher Appreciation Week!

Happy Teacher Appreciation Week!

Ever since fifth grade I wanted to teach! My  teacher that year was the best! She was funny, used lots of hands on activities to teach and I could tell she just loved teaching! I never thought at that time that I'd be a homeschool teacher for my own children! I'm so glad that God has led me on this path. I know many who read this blog are homeschool moms. So in honor of teacher appreciation week I want to acknowledge YOU! 

Here are three reasons why I am thankful for educators:

1. You know your kids best and are able to tailor their education to their needs.

2. You put their education above your own wants.

3. You persevere through the rough days and cherish the wonderful ones! 

Education has such an impact on ourselves and our little ones. Educents is here to help you pay it forward. In honor of Teacher Appreciation week, Educents & Peekapak have teamed up to provide your favorite educators with a gift basket worth over $40, which includes a FREE $10 Educents Gift Card & 3 months of Peekapak lesson plans (3 digital storybooks, 12 in-class lessons & 12 at-home activities) that teach Character Education and Language Arts.

So, whether it's your mom, your classroom teacher, your neighbors, or another special human being who taught you important lessons, thank them by giving them a FREE gift basket, on Educents!

Fill out the form here to send this freebie to an educator you know.

I have another great way to celebrate teachers this week! Join me Thursday night May 7th at 9pm on Facebook for a chance to learn about raising kids that love reading, great Usborne books to help you in your homeschool or classroom and PRIZES! All sales from this event will earn free books for a local children's home! You can check it out here. I hope to see you there! 

Who is a special educator that you want to recognize this week?

Monday Matters: Week 2

Welcome to another week! I hope you've had a wonderful weekend! As before feel free to linkup your encouraging posts to help us off to a great start to our week.

I want to share with you something I learned yesterday in our parenting class at church. We are going through "Shepherding a Child's Heart" and watching the videos. Today Tedd said something that really got me thinking. He mentioned that we tend to get caught up in the situations happening with our  children instead of the real issue at hand, their heart. 

My encouragement to you as you start your week is this. When situations arise this week as they always do, don't worry about what is happening so much. Instead work on why your kids are fighting or disobeying. Are they being selfish, prideful, seeking revenge? Take them to God's word to help them see why it's wrong to act in those ways. 

Of course you still have to deal with the conflict that happened but take the time to lead them toward Jesus instead of debating about the conflict they are having. 

One Sentence Storybooks Review

This winter I was quite excited when Tyndale offered to send me a set of the "One Sentence Storybooks" in exchange for my review of this lovely little book set.When you open the box you'll find ten Bible story books. 

In the back of each book there is a page with pictures and the corresponding words to help your kids learn to read the sentence. On the opposite page you'll find a Bible verse to memorize and information to go over with your child. This takes the one sentence a bit deeper than just the basic Bible "story." 

What I thought: As you can see, my five year old really enjoyed these! Each page of the book builds on the sentence which helps with sight word recognition. They are quick and easy for kids to read which is nice. I really liked that they had the additional information and passages to read with her. You could use this as a quick read through or make it into a themed lesson with the verses to memorize and other activities to go along with it. 

Choosing Curriculum: 5 Questions to Ask Yourself when Considering a Change

It's the time of year when many of us homeschoolers start planning and buying for the next school year. What do you do when you stumble upon something new, but you're unsure of whether or not to make the switch? This is an issue I've wrestled with this winter. We have loved our current program but at the same time I've found something else that I really like. I have five questions to ask yourself when considering a change in curriculum. If you are doing the back and forth in your head these may help you work through your decision making process and come to a conclusion one way or another.

1. Do I enjoy teaching and do my children enjoy learning from our current program? 
Now, children aren't always going to "enjoy" school but there shouldn't be tears daily over lessons or even daily battles. When we were using workbook based curriculum with Chelsea school was a daily struggle. When we switched to a more hands on approach the atmosphere of our school changed drastically!

2. Is our current curriculum meeting the goals I have for my children?
Each year we have a general idea of the things we'd like our children to accomplish. Some may write them down or you may be like me and just have them in your head. When considering our possible change this year I spent a lot of time contemplating this question.

3. What are the pros and cons of each curriculum choice? 
If you are really feeling undecided this is a good activity to help you along. Write down good things about changing and possible draw backs. Do the pros outweigh the cons?

4. Have you prayed about it?
This really should be number one! Pray about your options. God will tell you which way you should turn. Maybe you really enjoy your current curriculum and are afraid of a change? Pray about it and go where God leads you!

5. What do others have to say?
I often find myself asking homeschool friends about curriculum choices. They don't have the exact same child I do but they can definitely point out some things that I may not know just by looking at a book or a website. you can also checkout reviews on the Homeschool Reviews website.


Have you started planning for the next school year? What changes are you considering/

Monday Matters: Encouragement to Start Your Week

Welcome to the first ever Monday Matters linkup!

 My good friend Erin at My Crazy Blessed and Honored Life and I have decided to start a linkup each week to bring you encouragement to start your week! 

Some linked posts will be shared on our Facebook pages. 
My Crazy Blessed and Honored Life
My Blessings Homeschool

Rules? We just have a few
1, Your post should be encouraging in some way.
2. Visit other posts that have been shared. 
3. Have fun! 

An InLinkz Link-up

Standard Deviant Accelerate Review!

Thanks to Educents I had the chance to try out this program and share it with you all!  Here's what Standard Deviant Accelerate is.


For over 20 years, Standard Deviants has been the leading producer of top notch educational videos that teach you everything you need to know about a subject. We’ve taken our newest educational videos online and added a ton of activities to create the perfect curriculum supplement, Standard Deviants Accelerate!

There's 2 types of accounts, one for the teacher and one for the students in your class. In the teacher account you'll choose which courses students will take and then pass along a code to sign students up with. Also on the teacher site you can view progress, grades and find all the information you need to know how your student is doing.

The classes are mostly junior high level and up but there are math courses for 3rd grade and up as well. We used the arithmetic with my ten year old. Once logged in you click on the icon for the class you are planning to work on next. Then a drop down menu appears and you choose which topic you will learn that day. h

Once you've made your selection you'll go to a screen which has a basic overview of the chapter and several tabs up top. The first one is the video. You can print the transcript of the video to follow along or for notes which would be great for upper level courses! The videos are great and definitely my favorite part! They use visuals and several speakers to teach the concepts. At the end there is a quick review of the material with several examples

After the video you head to the next tab which is the quiz or practice questions. These test the students' knowledge of the material covered in the video.


I've definitely enjoyed using this program for the arithmetic course and am looking forward to using it in the future!

Have you used this program? What did you think?

Note: I was given access to this site for my honest review of the program.