B is a Junior
C is a Sophomore
D is in 8th grade
E is in 5th grade
F is in 3rd grade
And G is in 1st grade
Here's to a great homeschooling year! I'm expecting great things.
Monday, August 29, 2022
First Day of School Photos 2022-2023
Thursday, August 25, 2022
Happy 21st To Us
David and I celebrated our 21st wedding anniversary today! It's hard to believe that our marriage is old enough to drink 🤣. Cheers to many more!
Thursday, August 18, 2022
Super Teacher Worksheets Review (Printable Worksheets)
Disclosure: I received this complimentary product through the HOMESCHOOL REVIEW CREW.
A few year ago we received a Full 1-year online membership with unlimited downloads/access to Super Teacher Worksheets to use in our homeschool (see previous review here). I'm super excited to share that we were given the opportunity to use and review this resource again this year!
Let me refresh you, what is Super Teacher Worksheets? It's a website with now over 20,000 printable teaching resources geared for students in K-5th grade in numerous subjects and topics including math, reading, writing, phonics, spelling, science, social studies and more! There are fun holiday and seasonal activities, games, and mini-books as well.
Above you can see my search results for poems.
This site is super user friendly. Content is conveniently organized by various subjects but there is also a search bar if you are looking for something specific. While these resources are not intended to represent a full curriculum, they are perfect to supplement any curriculum you are using.
After my poem search, I had to check out The Pizza Beast! I knew the boys would enjoy it. The boys read the poem and then answered the fun comprehension questions that went along with it. And while I didn't exactly need it, I love that it came with an answer key.
F with his finished Pizza Beast worksheet.
G has been enjoying working through some money basic worksheets: value, counting, etc.
G working through one of his worksheets.
Complete!
A super cool feature on Super Teacher Worksheets is the ability to create your own worksheets, word searches, etc. using the generator tools. I plan on utilizing this in our homeschool this year to create word searches with science vocabulary and spelling words from our curriculum. I'm super excited to have this resource available to us and I'm looking forward to diving into many of the worksheets available!
Want to know more? Be
sure to click on the banner below to visit the Homeschool Review Crew
blog to read even more reviews of Super Teacher Worksheets.
You can engage with Super Teacher Worksheets on social media @:
Sunday, August 14, 2022
G's 6th Birthday Party (Chuck E Cheese)
Birthday Boy
We were able to celebrate G's 6th birthday yesterday with a few friends at Chuck E Cheese. Enjoy the photos!
G's party table
Enjoying pizza and drinks
F at the basketball game
G on the Surfer Bike
Posing with Chuck E Cheese
Giving him a high five!
G's Panda Cookie Cake
G blowing out his candles.
Ticket Booth fun
G had so much fun and I'm so glad we had a chance to celebrate him with a party! We love you G!!
Wednesday, August 10, 2022
Lies Girls Believe and A Mom's Guide to Lies Girls Believe from True Girl Review
Disclosure: I received this complimentary product through the HOMESCHOOL REVIEW CREW.
Family time is super important to me, so I was excited to
receive Lies Girls Believe and A Mom's Guide to Lies Girls Believe from
True Girl. This study is geared for young girls aged 8-12. While Lies Girls Believe can be read independently by your daughter it is highly encouraged that the Mom reads the companion guide alongside them.
I have been using the with E and when we complete it I'm excited to also have D use it as well.
 Our Books |
This mother-daughter Bible study written by Dannah Gresh helps tweens identify some of the most common lies that girls believe and how to navigate them. E's softcover book is ~ 167 pages long. It is divided into 3 parts: Truth...or Problems, Lies Girls Believe and The Truth That Sets Them Free (Your Truth Lab) and The Truth That Sets You Free.
What are some of the lies covered in the book? The main 20 lies addressed in the book are:
- God only loves me when I'm good
- God is not enough
- I'm a Christian because...
- I'm not good enough
- Pretty girls are worth more
- I need more freedom
- My family is sooo weird
- My family is too broken for me to ever be happy
- My parents just don't get me
- My sin isn't that big a deal
- I don't need to tell anyone about my sin
- What I watch/listen to doesn't matter
- Boys and girls aren't really that different
- Getting my period is going to be awful
- It's okay to be boy crazy
- I don't need to talk to my mom about boys
- I don't have any friends
- It's okay to be mean
- It's not cool to JUST be a wife and mom
- I'm too young to...
I really love that Scripture is used to combat each of the previous lies. For example, taking the first lie, girls might be tempted to believe that God only loves them when they are good. However, in reality God loves them all the time, no matter what. This study directs them to Isaiah 43:4 and Romans 5:8 for two examples. This book is engaging and has a conversational feel to it. The illustrations, drawings and doodles are great and E loves all the color! She is really enjoying it.
A peek inside A Mom's Guide to Lies Girls Believe
While you don't have to have the Mom's companion guide I think it gives a greater depth to this study and can really help you connect and discuss the material together. The internal reflection is great as you can share both your struggles and triumphs with your daughter. There is so much great information in this book and it is a valuable resource. This is a well thought out study and I would definitely recommend it for you and your tween daughter!
Want to know more? Be sure to click on the banner below to visit the Homeschool Review Crew blog to read even more reviews of True Girl.
You can engage with True Girl on social media @:
Tuesday, August 9, 2022
Timberdoodle's Quixo Review
I have a fun strategy game to share with you today from Timberdoodle, Quixo. Quixo is manufactured by Gigamic and is a 2-4 player game geared for ages 8 and up. Each game is ~ 15 minutes or less.
What's included in our game? Our game included one board, 25 pyrographed wooden cubes (blank side, x side and o side), a cloth bag and the game rules.
This gameboard is a round wooden disc that has a central square platform cut out that holds the cubes for play. It's a nice mahogany color.
The wooden blocks are durable and easy to grab.
Above you can see the different sides of the blocks, every block features both symbols and blanks.
Game Set-up for play
How do you play?
All of the blocks are placed in the center of the gameboard with the blank sides showing for every cube. A player picks a cube from the perimeter of the board, changes it to their respective symbol and places it on the opposite end of the row or column which it came from, which will shift the entire row or column. It can not be placed into the same position that it was picked up from. The next player goes and so on until one of the players gets 5-in-a-row of their symbol for the win, think of tic-tac-toe. I want to note that blocks in the central area (the middle 9) can never be taken to make a move, only blocks from the perimeter. Also, players can choose a blank block or one that features their symbol to move but they may never take a block with their opponent's symbol to make a move. Players will have to think strategically and play both offense and defense to win this game. How do you play with 4 players? You just form 2 teams and each player for each team takes turns.
A and C were the first ones to play.
Thinking about their strategies
Playing D
Winner!
I love that this is a super fun game that pretty much anyone can play. It's quick and you learn a lot every time you play. I feel like there is so much learned from trial and error and after playing a few times you really start developing your strategies.
Check out the video below to see more about Quixo.
Quixo is currently included in Timberdoodle's 4th grade curriculum kit. The
kids really like this game. It is super easy to play, it's short and
it's fun! I love that it helps them develop strategic thinking skills in a different and fun way. Quixo is a hit in our home!
Disclosure:
Huge shout out to Timberdoodle for selecting me as a Timberdoodle
Blogger. I received Quixo in exchange for my honest review. All opinions are my own.
Friday, August 5, 2022
Mini-Theater Kit from STEAM4KIDZ Review
Disclosure: I received this complimentary product through the HOMESCHOOL REVIEW CREW.
I was so pumped to be selected to receive the Mini-Theater Kit from STEAM4KIDZ for E to complete! This specific kit is geared for kids ages 6-12 to complete independently. E (age 10) did great with it!
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| Our Kit |
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| I love that there was information for both the adult and the child! |
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| A peek inside our kit |
I'm so pleased with the organization of our kit! Everything was separated into bags by projects and it was so well laid out and organized, E was able to find everything easily. All the materials needed to complete the projects were included in out kit and kids have access to step-by-step videos for each project and these were amazing!
This Mini-Theater kit has various projects for kids to work through.
- They will build a model Proscenium Theater.
- Create a 3 color light box to control colors and mood within their theater.
- Create scenes for their theater.
- Cut out animal characters for each scene.
- And last but not least, create plays using their characters and scenes!
And of course, they are learning about theater all along the way. I love that this kit is both hands-on and educational.
E starting to build the theater
Assembling the fly bars
A complete fly bar
E constructing her theater.
E with her basic theater
E watching the video and creating character stands.
E finished the basic theater, fly bars and stands.
Creating the light box was next. Above you can see the materials and video.
First the outer box was constructed.
Then the wires were stripped and the proper connections were made. The video explaining this and demonstrating it was fabulous. I think it really helps kids see and understand the process.
E's finished light box, red light
Green light
And blue light
E watching the video for instructions on how to color the Medieval Scene.
Scene Completed
E with her completed theater!
A close up view
It's so fun that she can create different characters and scenes and even different moods (with the light box) for her theater. She is now working on her next script and I cannot wait to see her creation!
If you are looking for a fun and educational hands-on project kit for your child, I cannot recommend the Mini-Theater Kit from STEAMKIDZ enough. It is a great addition to our homeschool and I am so pleased we received it!