Forgetful Momma

Secular Homeschooling in Canada

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Smartick Math – Having Fun with Math

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Math is not my favorite subject to teach my kids, because I was never a fan of it as a child myself. Thankfully so far they seem to like it just fine, and I guess I’m hiding my dislike of it pretty well. When Smartick math came to me and asked if I would like to try their math with my kids I jumped on it fast! Anything that helps, I am willing to give a-go.

Smartick Math - Having Fun with Math

Smartick Math – Having Fun with Math

*We received free product of Smartick in exchange for sharing our experience with it with you. For more information on sponsored content please see my disclosure policy.*

What is Smartick?

Smartick math can help your child gain confidence in their math skills that they are learning either in public school or in your homeschool. It is a unique online learning method to help your child reach their maximum potential.

Who is it for?

You child can use the program once they turn 4, and right up until he or she is 14 years old. This is perfect for sibling to take turns doing or doing at the same time but on different devices. Perfect for little brothers who feel they need to be doing school too such as it is in our house.

With lessons only being 15 minutes long it is just enough to have them thinking, but not getting frustrated or tried of using it. Smartick does recommend using it at least 5 days a week. It has been great for refreshing concepts and keeping things fresh in their  minds.

My Favorite Part:

It is independent work for them. They are able to move through the exercises on their own giving me a chance to work with a sibling.  Plus, they already want screen time, and this way they are learning while getting it. And everyone gets the same amount of time, no fighting!

You can try it for free, to see just how great it is. Let’s give our kids all the confidence we can in math to be the best they can be.

BookShark Science 1 Curriculum for 6-8 Year Olds

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We are science lovers. We love making and doing science experiments. I admit I was nervous about getting an actual science curriculum for fear of losing that aspect, but we’ve still gave it a go. BookShark Science has to be one of my kids most looked forward to subjects now. I look forward to it too because I’m learning with them.

BookShark Science Curriculum

BookShark Science 1 Curriculum for 6-8 Year Olds

*This is a sponsored post, meaning that we received this curriculum in order to share it with you.*

We are using the BookShark Science 1 which is for kids aged 6-8 (my girls perfectly this year). BookShark is a literature based curriculum, and if you have followed me on Instagram or read some pasts posts here, then you know we are big fans of books, which is probably the reason we love BookShark so much. There are a number of great books included in this curriculum, plus a DVD, science kit, and of course the parent guide.

The parent guide has the curriculum spread out of 36 weeks, four days a week just like the Reading with History 1 curriculum, a day off to do other things. We aren’t actually doing it that way. And it’s perfectly fine, the guide actually says that it is just a suggestion, make it work for you. We do science twice a week, one day for the reading and worksheets (basically Monday-Wednesday of their schedule) and the next day is all about the hands on experiments.

One thing I quickly want to mention that it is a secular curriculum.

The full list of books and what’s included:

Pasteur’s Fight Against Microbes
Space
First Encyclopedia of the Human Body
Science Activities, Volume 1
The Magic School Bus at the Waterworks
Why Do People Eat?
The Usborne World of Animals Science 1 Instructor’s Guide
Science Supplies Kit 1
Discover & Do, Level 1 (DVD)

We love the books, my oldest has been reading through them since they arrived in July. We love sitting down together on the couch each Tuesday and Thursday (our science days) and reading through the pages before either a) watching a copy linked videos to learn more, b) doing the worksheets, c) watching the DVD, or d) getting hands on and doing the experiments. Such as this quick video I had shared on Instagram one day.

What are your kids actually going to learn

BookShark science includes basic introductory studies fields such as meteorology, biology, electricity, soil science, astronomy, physiology, and hydrology. All the things that my kids are actually interested in, and they are presented in a way that keeps their attention.

Children will uncover mysteries of the human body and health as they enjoy the First Encyclopedia of the Human Body. They’ll marvel as they travel from Earth to the ends of the known universe in the engaging, picture-filled book, Space.

They’ll also learn about animals, space, and water processing, and enjoy a biography of Louis Pasteur.

Science Experiments.

BookShark Science Curriculum

There are 30 major experiments center around water, magnets, light and mirrors. They have included what you need, with the exception of things like water of course. The DVD has them to watch either before or after you do your, as well as a great science activity book to make sure you know what your doing.

 



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Love Math Again with Discovering Learning

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Sometimes math can get to be a little much to do in our house, not just for my kids but for myself as well as I’m not really a math person, I’m more the language arts teacher. Just changing things up now and again is a great way to get everyone’s interest again, which is what Discovering Learning has helped us with.

Love Math Again with Discovering Learning

Love Math Again with Discovering Learning

*This post is a sponsored post in which I have received product and will be receiving compensation. All opinions are 100% honest.*

We were lucky enough to receive Discovering Learning Level 1, for my beautiful Brookland. She is grade one, and six years old, she really needs colorful, and fun to keep her interested and that’s what we got. The booklets have a lot of pictures, the pages are fun not boring like a lot of math books are. She actually likes to do it and not fight against doing school work.

Level one is intended for children aged 4-6. I would honestly put it at perfectly at a kindergarten level, Brookland flew through Unit 1 quickly, making it a good refresher.

Love Math Again with Discovering Learning

Level 1 Discovering Learning Math is:

  • Gain confidence in Math early on
  • Learn how to count without fingers
  • Add and subtract 1’s and 10’s
  • Learn pasterns and shapes
  • Solve logic problems and probability
  • Tell time and count change

The great thing with these booklets is you can continue forward through the books as your child understands the math and take it slower when they need some extra help as it’s better not to rush. In each level there are 10 booklets, every month your child receives a new Discovering Learning math subscription package. What kid doesn’t love getting mail?! It’s just one more way to get your child interested in doing math.

What You Get

Level 1, Unit 1 came in the mail, in a nice little box. Inside, there are two booklets, the workbook for your child to do and an answer booklet. Included as well was a pen. They encourage you to use a red or green pen for correcting to show the importance of self-learning and finding and correcting mistakes. There is also a test to make sure that your child has learned all the skills for continueing on.

Make sure you check out Discovery Learning on Twitter, Instagram, and YouTube.

Love Math Again with Discovering Learning

Reading History – Learning about the World

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I’m not much of a history buff myself so I wasn’t really looking forward to teaching it to my kids and to be honest I didn’t think about starting it now in elementary grades. But Austin is showing interest in history so I knew I needed to get a jump on teaching it, then entered reading with history from BookShark, which is our curriculum choice for this year. I’m seeing that reading history doesn’t have to be boring but is actually quite interesting. We’re all learning together.

Reading History - Learning about the World

Reading History – Learning about the World

*This post may contain affiliate links, see my disclosure policy for more information. This is a sponsored post, we received Reading with History 1  from BookShark to use through the year.*

As I have shared before, BookShark is a literature based curriculum, the box that arrived at our door was filled to the top with great books, and most of them were for this course. The picture above is most of them, I did forget to add in the timeline book (though it is a workbook not a read read book), see the picture below. Here we are going to be mapping out the timeline as we go along.

Reading History - Learning about the World

History

We are only a month into our school year, but we’re really loving reading with history. In fact we got our books in July and being a book loving family I put the majority of the books on the bookshelves in our main living space. Austin (8yr) has not been able to keep her hands off the books we got like:

The Time Traveller

Peoples of the World

The Usborne Book of World History

So as we have been reading together she’s been interrupting, “I already read, isn’t it cool?” mainly saying it to her younger siblings, but occasionally to me as well.

This history curriculum is going to help us to explore the story of the world from early civilizations through the fall of Rome, and to learn how people lived in ancient Egypt, Greece, Europe, Africa, India & China.

Because it is literature based there are some great read aloud books included in this curriculum including Charlotte’s Web, which we are really enjoying. We have been enjoying reading it each morning as a fun slow way to start our school mornings.

Reading/Spelling

BookShark Reading with History 1 isn’t just about history but about the reading as well. Included are Level 1 readers but use the quick reading assessment to make sure that is where your children are in reading. I love listening to my kids reading the Dr. Seuss books together.

We are also doing some spelling work, thank you I Can Read It… a set of books with reading lists, and simple stories to go along with each week’s reading list. The reading books have their stories broken down into lessons too so you always know which stories are going with the lesson you are working on. I don’t have to worry about finding stories to use the words they are learning which saves this busy homeschool Momma a lot of time.

Reading with History, just like other choices come with the Instructor’s Guide with includes a 36-Week, 4-Day schedule with lesson plans, teaching tips and more.

This year reading history books are NOT boring.

You can check out my Instagram feed to see more in dept views of the BookShark curriculum in our home. I am sharing pictures and stories each week as a peek into secular homeschooling. As well as check out BookShark’s Instagram account to see how others are using the curriculum.

Educational and Fun Screen Time with Reading Eggs

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We are getting back into the swing of back to school and all the things we use more so then. Reading Eggs isn’t one of them though despite how much my kids have learned from it. And it’s because they are learning so much that I love letting them have screen time.

Educational & Fun Screen Time with Reading Eggs

Educational and Fun Screen Time with Reading Eggs

*This post a sponsored posted, I am 100% honest, and we truly love Reading Eggs and have for a number of years.*

We have been using Reading Eggs for a few years now, and I love it for my kids. It has taken some of the pressure off me when it comes to teaching my kids to read. Not that I am not teaching them still, but they are having fun online reading along and learning with Reading Eggs.

Reading Egg Levels

I currently have three using the program because there are four different levels:

  • First Steps – 3-4 years.
  • Ready for School – 5 years.
  • Fun Practice Makes Perfect – 6-7 years.
  • Continue the Reading Journey – 7-13 years.

The program has been developed by a highly experienced team of teachers, educational writers, animators and web developers. It focuses on a core reading curriculum of skills and strategies essential for sustained reading success.

Your child won’t be pushed through a level until he or she ready. I have seen my child a little frustrated that they are still on the same level for a while, but once they do master that skill/level, wow, they are so happy!

I love seeing them take the skills to read from a fun engaging place and games to a book. My 3 year old is already starting to sound out words and completely blow his Momma away with all that he is learning, and he just sees it has having fun on the computer like his big sisters.

Reading Eggs hits on another important point for me: it’s safe. There is nothing for your kids to click on and end up somewhere else online.

You can try Reading Eggs for a FREE 4 week trial where you’ll have access to the thousands of interactive activities and over 2500 e-books that make up Reading Eggs.

We have had issues in the past with the game freezing up and not letting one child move past a section, but either a quick refresh of the page fixes it, or one time, their support quickly helped to fix the issue. And it was on our end, needing an update, but they were great to deal with.

Educational & Fun Screen Time with Reading Eggs