July In Review

As we end the month of July, I would like to take a minute and look back at the fun we had this month!

As was mentioned in an earlier post, we started this month mid way through due to an unexpected move. We are quite settled into our new home and our new routine, and despite a few days of unwanted migraines, we have been able to work our summer schedule!

In July the boys have begun beginning multiplication, and beginning division. They continue to work on learning how to count money and tell time. We are going to keep focusing on basic handwriting skills before we go on to learn cursive in 4th grade. I believe the extra time will make the transition to cursive easier. Jacob's reading skills are improving every day despite his learning delays. We take extra time at the end of each evening to practice reading in addition to the reading he does during the school day.

Even with all of this learning going on, we squeeze in time for fun too! We hope now that we are finally settled in, we will have even MORE fun in the month of August! We missed a lot of the summer due to our move, but we plan to make up for lost time in the upcoming month!

Jacob works extra hard! 

Brandon works very hard too! Although he acts a bit more silly! 

Fun Time in the Pool and at the Park!

We hope you will keep an eye on our blog for more fun! 

Time4Learning Review

Time4Learning Review

Hi, my name is Shawna and I am a mother of 4. My two oldest children are now adults, and my two youngest are 8 year old twins who are currently being home-schooled using Time4Learning as a main source of curriculum.

This is our second year of schooling at home. Our children started out in the public school system in Pre-K, and remained within that school system until first grade. At the end of first grade we decided that our children needed a more individualized education. During summer break at the end of first grade, we researched our options for schooling our children at home. After finding and trying (unsuccessfully) an online public school, we came across Time4Learning and we decided to give it a try.

Since I have twin boys who learn at significantly different speeds (One of the boys has a diagnosis of Autism and Developmental Delay), I needed a program that would allow me to address each child’s needs separately while at the same time using the same program for both boys. Time4Learning allows me to advance a grade, or go back a grade for each individual subject and for each individual child. This is especially helpful to keep my advanced student from growing bored with his work, while allowing my delayed student to work at his own pace. I think my favorite part of the Time4Learning program is the level of flexibility it has to offer!
The lessons within the Time4Learning program keep both of my boys entertained and engaged. Each child has their own favorite lessons, and they each love to see their preferred lessons on the weekly lesson plan. It gives them something to look forward to each week. I love to see the boys having FUN while learning and I honestly believe the fun mixed in with the learning is what leads to the level of success my boys have had with this program.

The program also contains a “Parents Tools” and a “My Students” section that makes my job as a “teacher” super easy! The Parents Tools section includes Many How-To videos that were quite helpful when we were new to the program. I still refer back to the videos now and again, and I always learn something new! Within the Parents Tools section are also Resources to use along with the lessons. All in one place for easy access. The My Students Section allows me to View Reports, Print Membership Letters, and more!

If I could change one thing about Time4Learning it would be to add more to the Science and Social Studies Curriculum. I have found though that I am able to supplement the Science and Social Studies Units with free online materials through various websites though, which adds to the curriculum already in place.

I can say without a doubt that we made the right choice when we chose Time4Learning. I hope that this review has been helpful to you in making YOUR decision easier. Please feel free to contact me with any questions you may have!

Are you ready to get started with Time4Learning? Go to Time4Learning NOW!

As a bonus I have included a video of my son Brandon doing his favorite Time4Learning lesson! You can watch that by clicking HERE to go to You Tube..

shawnarenee39@yahoo.com
https://www.facebook.com/OurHomeSchoolJourney2015andBeyond

Please Note:
As a member of Time4Learning, I have been asked to review their online education program and share my experiences. While I was compensated, this review was not written or edited by Time4Learning and my opinion is entirely my own. Write your own curriculum review or learn how to use their curriculum for homeschool, after school study or summer learning.
Thank you. 

Back to (home)School!!!

We are back to school today, and it went better than expected. Jacob was of course not ready to jump back into the school routine, so I am glad that I had made a short, fun lesson plan for the day. Brandon however was over the moon excited to be back to school, and if it were up to him we would have sat at the computer and writing table all day! Twins.....so different!

We did a back to school discussion session, followed by a back to school coloring sheet/writing prompt. After that we jumped into Language Arts and Language Arts Extensions. We stopped there, to have a quick lunch before finishing our day with a one hour swim for P.E. We stopped there. We will be easing back into the schedule slowly but surely! Here are some pictures from our first day, and a link to a video of Brandon doing one of his favorite lessons!

Enjoy!

You can watch Brandon's video by clicking HERE.

We can't wait to see how this next year comes along, we hope you will enjoy watching our boys grow through this year! 

Another Long Delay Finished Up

Our "Summer School" was briefly interrupted by an unplanned move. Due to a lousy landlord, and some really "shifty" neighbors, and a house that may have had black mold, we needed to move ASAP. We put school on hold for a month, and got into a newly renovated house. We had to wait for renovations to be finished, so we stayed on the In-Laws land in an RV while we waited for our house. That was quite an experience, and I am glad it is over. LOL

(Pictures from the RV)

Life is back to normal now that we are in our new house. We JUST got our school room set up tonight (about a week and a half after moving in)! There are still PLENTY of touches that need put on it, and we will eventually trading out old furniture we scraped up from the old house with nicer more functional furniture for the school room, but for now it serves it's purpose! 

(Main School Area)

(Mom's Desk)

 (Arts and Crafts/Games Area with additional storage behind door)

I have to say it is quite nice to have a dedicated school room as opposed to sharing my living room and kitchen with all of the school supplies! We look forward to our first day tomorrow, and we can't wait to start learning in our new school room! 

Wish us luck in our new school year!