She can't help herself...

This girl!  Ballerinas simply can't stop themselves...

I'd say she gets her flexibility from me... what do you think?

The LIFE Plan from The LIFE Network: A TOS Crew Review

Disclaimer: I received a FREE copy of this product through the HOMESCHOOL REVIEW CREW in exchange for my honest review. I was not required to write a positive review nor was I compensated in any other way

The LIFE Plan from The LIFE Network

I love to study the Bible, The LIFE Plan from The LIFE Network is a wonderful new tool!  LIFE stands for "Living Intentionally For Eternity" in this 6 volume Bible study set by Allen L. Elder.

The study is designed to teach the structure of the Bible, God's strategy of spiritual reproduction and multiplication and your personal service plan to carry out God's purpose in your life .

Each volume is intended to take a full school year to complete, so you can use the full set for Bible study for 12 years, with each student going through the 6 volumes twice.  In grades 1-6, you can work through the material together and then in grades 7-12, your students can work independently.

The study starts in the beginning with Volume 1 - where I decided to begin.  Yes, I'm the happy tester of this one!  The volumes move sequentially through the Bible.

•  Volume 1: The Bible's Story: Genesis 1-11 
•  Volume 2: The Bible's Story Genesis 12-Malachi 
•  Volume 3: The Structure of the Entire Bible 
•  Volume 4: The Life of Jesus on Earth 
•  Volume 5: The Church 
•  Volume 6: Your Personal Ministry

The volume is broken into 36 lessons.  Each lesson can be covered in a variety of ways.  This plan can also be used easily in small group study as well.

Each lesson follows the same structure.  First, a 2 page text that details the Lesson Aim that centers around the main theme.  This is written directly to the student, and clearly explains the lesson in easy to understand terms and examples.  There are 9 themes in this first volume:

• God
• Creation 1
• Creation 2
• People
• The Fall
• People Profiles
• Man Without God
• The Flood
• Babel

The Lesson Outline gives a quick key word outline of each lesson, and is a handy study tool. 

Scriptures to Broaden Your Understanding includes key references to support the theme.  I like to annotate my study, it would be nice if this set included more space for note taking.  But, a separate notebook could be used as well.  I truly enjoyed taking time to look up each reference, and spend time in the Word.

Lines of Theological Connection gives some quick explanations, and would make a great place to take the study deeper.

The Lesson Glossary helps define any unfamiliar terms.

Questions are included to reinforce the Lesson Aim, and could make great discussion questions for small groups.

This is a very easy-to-use plan to help you study the Bible in a serious and methodical way.  I like having an outline to follow.  The plan also teaches how to study the Bible in an effective way.

 This is a great tool to get you & your students digging into the Word for themselves.



Find The LIFE Network on Social Media:

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/The-LIFE-Network-107086190833458/
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCUTsUJO23JGLPF1oi3lRZZg

Hashtags: #hsreviews #discipleship #bibleinstruction #biblecurriculum

See what other members of the Crew thought here

Experience Biology: Upper Level from Journey Homeschool Academy: A TOS Crew Review

Disclaimer: I received a FREE copy of this product through the HOMESCHOOL REVIEW CREW in exchange for my honest review. I was not required to write a positive review nor was I compensated in any other way

Experience Biology: Upper Level from Journey Homeschool Academy

High school science doesn't have to be scary!  We are enjoying a new program -Experience Biology: Upper Level from Journey Homeschool Academy.

Experience Biology: Upper Level is a comprehensive, online subscription for your high school student's high school biology credit.  Designed for your student to work independently and at their own pace, this college prep program comes complete with video-based teaching, reading assignments, online tests & quizzes, and lab & research assignments.

Parents have access to the Parent Dashboard, where they can track progress & download the 21 page Parent Curriculum Guide, which gives you all the information you need.  The handy guide gives you reading schedules, scope & sequence outlines, lab supply lists, and a very helpful rubric for grading your student's lab reports.

Students login to their own dashboard to access their lessons. The year long program is broken into 34 weekly lessons.

Each lesson has 2 Video Lessons.  Each lesson is approximately 20-30 minutes long, filled with beautiful images and engaging lecture style teaching.  Your student is encouraged to follow along with printable Outline & Note Taking sheets included in the downloadable 320 page PDF - Student Guidebook.

After the videos comes an optional reading assignment from additional textbook The Riot and the Dance.  We did not have the text, so we didn't complete that section.  In order to earn high school credit, students need to complete all the coursework - lectures, reading, labs and exams.

Research questions are included to help students make connections to what they are learning, and are graded by the parent.

Hands-on Labs are a key part of this program.  Students are encouraged to complete 15 labs, and upload them to the online classroom, parents do all of the grading.

A downloadable 200 page PDF - Student Lab Guide contains all the instructions, as well as, plenty of space for detailed notes and sketches.

The Online Quizzes & Exams are instantly graded.  Students need at least 70% to complete a module, and they can re-take as needed.

Right away, we were impressed!  This program is very easy-to-use.  The program tracks progress, and checks off boxes as each assignment is completed (silly, we know...but, we LOVE checking off boxes!) The student cannot advance until the assignments are completed.

Here's what impressed us:

• The Videos are very professional.  The images, outlines, and teaching are all very engaging and concise.

• The Printable Guides are also nicely done, with plenty of spaces for notes.  We are keeping ours in a separate binder, but they are easy to spiral-bound as well.

• The quizzes are a great way to test for recall and prepare for CLEP Biology tests.

• The labs are comprehensive and easy to complete. The Lab Guide has detailed descriptions, and walks the student through each lab, step-by-step and each includes a video to accompany the lab.  

• The labs highlight high level science skills and even get the student using microscopes (we love our digital microscope  and completing dissections.  Discussion questions are included too. 

 

I have taught high school biology a few times in our Coop.  I love this new approach that is not a textbook!  It's very comprehensive, but completely engaging.  The multi-layered approach combining video, reading, and hands-on is sure to fit all learning styles.


Be sure to check out:

Experience Biology: Elementary & Experience Astronomy: Elementary


Find Journey Homeschool Academy on Social Media:

Facebook: facebook.com/intoxicatedonlife
Instagram: @intoxicatedonlifeblog

Hashtags:#hsreviews #ExperienceAstronomy or #ExperienceBiology

See what other members of the Crew thought here

12-month Family membership from CTCMath: A TOS Crew Review

Disclaimer: I received a FREE copy of this product through the HOMESCHOOL REVIEW CREW in exchange for my honest review. I was not required to write a positive review nor was I compensated in any other way

12-month Family membership from CTCMath

Math doesn't have to make you cry (I do mean mom tears, not the kids!). We've loved our 12-month Family membership from CTCMath.

CTCMath is an online subscription designed by Pat Murray, an Australian father of 10.  We love his accent in the videos.  The 12-month Family membership gives you unlimited access to all grade levels and lessons for your K-12 students.  It's a wonderful value, we've been using it for years now (check out last year's review here)

The user-friendly program uses separate logins for the parent, and each student.  The Parent Login gives you the ability to see exactly where your students are working on, how much time they are spending and a detailed description of their lesson progress. Parents can also set the Pass Mark - the percentage of questions answered correctly to move ahead, we use 90%.  Weekly progress emails and achievement certificates are sent directly to your inbox.

Students login to their personalized dashboard.  The program takes them directly to where they left off. One feature I love is that they get to determine the grade level, topic and even the specific math skill they want to work on.  All lessons are accessible with your membership, so your student can work just where they need to improve math skills.  

Handy placement tests can help you determine where to start. This is a great option for either using CTC Math as your main math curriculum, or using it to supplement and reinforce math skills topic by topic.

Students can personalize their background color and see their pass mark in their settings. 

Each lesson has a similar format - a short teaching Video (with that amazing accent). The videos are usually under 10 minutes long, in a whiteboard style.  My testers like that they can stop and replay the video as often as they need to. It's easy to use this program on the go with any internet access.

A Lesson Summary is available as a PDF that can be downloaded and printed.  Worksheets are also available for many lessons.

After the video, students complete questions to test their understanding.  They can choose from: 

• Short - 20 questions
• Standard - 30 questions
• Comprehensive - 40 questions

Questions are interactive, meaning the student gets immediate feedback for their answer - correct with a green check mark, or incorrect with a red x and the correct answer displayed.  The program records all the information, so that you can see detailed reports.

Several simple games are available to practice facts, times tables and critical thinking.  The focus of this program is solid math skills.

Lessons also feature printable Summary of the lesson that includes explanations of each question, and how to  solve correctly.

Students can also check their progress by clicking on "Progress".  I like being able to pinpoint the topics and skills they need to focus on, and they like knowing exactly where they are.

We love this comprehensive program.  It works well for multiple children, all at varied levels.  You can check it out for yourself with their Free Trial.  Best of all...I never cry about math anymore!

Find CTCMath on Social Media:

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ctcmath/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/ctcmathofficial
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ctcmath/?hl=en
Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com.au/ctcmath/
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCWn5e6974bpIEAe46VnovZw

Hashtags: #hsreviews #CTCMath #Homeschool #Math #Curriculum

See what other members of the Crew thought here

Beauty for Ashes...

God has been doing some unexpectedly beautiful things lately...

We finally got to take our vacation trip, planned back in May - but, postponed and rerouted (thank you world-wide pandemic...)

We decided to go to Bryce & Zion National Parks.  They truly left me speechless as we hiked, surrounded by the majesty and beauty of God's creation!

Notice... we have a couple of new additions... our family is expanding, and God is doing a new thing. Meet Don Miller ❤️ and his son, Joe (1 of his 8 children).

It's a GOD-Sized story that I can't wait to share...

"and provide for those who grieve in Zion-- to bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair. They will be called oaks of righteousness, a planting of the LORD for the display of his splendor."   Isaiah 61:3

Stay tuned!