Curriculum Review: Foundations in Personal Finance

One of our summer goals was to complete the Foundations in Personal Finance homeschool curriculum by Dave Ramsey.  We finished the last chapter today and I can honestly say that we both learned so much!

At $89.95, it's an excellent deal, as it will no doubt save you thousands of dollars down the road if you actually apply the principles learned in the lessons.  It's also priced in the same range as many other DVD-based courses, and much cheaper than most online classes for high schoolers.  The kit comes with the DVD set (14+ hours of instruction) and a consumable workbook.  Dave's style is light and accessible, with a "good ol' boy" delivery, but the message is direct.  The aim of the course is to help the student make smart money decisions from the beginning by understanding the way money works.  He drills the anti-debt message throughout each lesson, but does so in an engaging way and makes the sometimes difficult concepts easy to understand.

I highly recommend this course as an elective for high schoolers (1/2 credit).  Buy an extra workbook so Mom can participate, too!

Book reviews: more on homeschooling high school

The last time I posted about homeschooling high school was a year ago - my older daughter was 13 and getting ready for 8th grade.  We were in the "exploratory phase"... trying to figure out if we could pull off high school at home.  Fast forward one year, and our high school journey is days away from officially beginning.  Not panicking.

Two books have rocked my world this spring.  First, I read, What Colleges Don't Tell You (And Other Parents Don't Want You To Know) by Elizabeth Wissner-Gross.  While the book is written for older high schoolers and their parents - those closer to the college acceptance maze - most of the advice is geared to those who got themselves in gear much earlier on.  I was so glad to be reading this book before high school even started.  Wissner-Gross's advice is amazing.  She's a professional "packager" of high school students, and shares her extensive experience with her readers.  It's practical, logical, and although lofty at times, completely do-able.  You must read this book if you are serious about getting your child into the college of their choice.

The second book, What High Schools Don't Tell You (And Other Parents Don't Want You To Know) was written in response to the first book.  The subtitle of the books is "Create a Long-Term Plan for Your 7th to 10th Grader for Getting into the Top Colleges" and, as promised, it gives the reader baby steps to follow in order to set your student up for a top-shelf admission package.  Don't be dismayed by the title; you don't have to have set your eyes on the Ivy League for this book to be meaningful.  Following the steps proposed by Wissner-Gross will make any student with good grades (not perfect - good) and decent test scores more appealing to selective schools.

While these books were not written specifically for homeschoolers (in fact, she doesn't even mention homeschooling anywhere within either book) they will be invaluable to you as a homeschooling parent.  We play the roles of teacher, coach, guidance counselor and parent (plus many others too diverse to name!) so we must be informed of the rigors of the college admission process.  It's our job.  What High Schools Don't Tell You will be $15 well spent.

Homeschooling Through High School

Back from hiatus!

Since leaving my job at the big-box bookstore, I’ve found that I have less access to all the new releases in the book world.  But that’s okay!  I’ve decided to focus on more curriculum related materials (print, web, and other) as well as other homeschool related publications.  My hope is that you find my reviews helpful, that I might introduce you to something you hadn’t considered before, and that we both learn a little along the way. 

Homeschooling the high school years

My oldest is about to have a birthday.  13.  A teenager (teenager!).  And while we still have a year to get our acts together before officially beginning the high school years, we’re taking this next school year as our “trial run”.  So we’re buckling down, hitting the books, counting hours and calculating grades… all while it doesn’t matter.  This will allow us to get into the groove and make as many mistakes as we need to before things really count.  I’m a sucker for over-preparedness.

I’ve been checking out a lot of books lately on homeschooling through high school.  Here are my reviews of a couple of popular ones:

Setting the Records Straight: How to Craft Homeschool Transcripts and Course Descriptions for College Admission and Scholarships by Lee Binz

I loved this book.  Loved.  I wouldn’t say that it’s the most comprehensive book out there, but the areas that it does tackle are done impeccably, and leave the reader feeling confident about their ability to see their homeschooler through to graduation and beyond.  This book doesn’t try to be all things to all people; it focuses on documentation and transcript writing and does it well.  Lee Binz (the Homescholar) uses the transcripts and documents from her own children’s records as examples, as well as those of numerous other students.  It’s helpful to see exactly what a good transcript looks like, especially one that doesn’t require an umbrella school or an expensive computer program (she uses Microsoft Word for all her documents).  Her writing is engaging (lots of exclamation points, which made me laugh) and she drives her point home:  you can do this!  If you’ve made the decision to homeschool through high school, this book will give you the tools you need to document it properly.  If you’re on the fence, Setting the Records Straight may give you the confidence you need to take the leap with your student.

Senior High: A Home-Designed Form+u+la, Updated  by Barbara Edtl Shelton  $28.95

This is a book that came highly recommended to me from several people, so I was anxious to check it out.  It’s harder to find (not available new from Amazon or from any of the brick-and-mortar bookstores I checked) but is available at a discounted price from Christianbook.com.  I have to say that I was sorely disappointed.  Some readers may be drawn to Ms. Shelton’s conversational style (she likens her book to having coffee at her kitchen table with a friend) I found it to be unprofessional and a bit haphazard.  The book focuses more on Bible verses and finding God’s will for your student’s life than anything academic.  Again, that may be the approach that some parents wish to take when embarking on this journey, but I found the content to be lacking in terms of practical advice or direction.

I also found this book to be somewhat anti-college.  The author gave numerous reasons why students should stay away from college, then almost as an aside, presented some information that parents might need to prep their kids for college if they were positive this was the correct direction for their student.  Perhaps if you already know that your student will not attend college (or join the military, or any other path that requires specific academic requirements) this book will speak to you and encourage you on your journey.  As a parent who is unsure of their children’s paths, I would like them to be prepared for whatever direction they choose, and that means college prep courses and record keeping.

 

College-Prep Homeschooling: Your Complete Guide to Homeschooling through High School by PhD David P. Byers, Chandra Byers

This is another book that I’ve found extremely helpful.  Dr. Byers is a college professor and homeschool parent, and writes as one experienced on both sides of the diploma.  College-Prep Homeschooling covers a wide variety of subjects, from encouraging study skills and critical thinking skills to creating schedules, syllabi and transcripts.  While the book is titled College-Prep Homeschooling, Dr. Byers makes clear that the skills covered within will benefit any high school student, regardless of their plans after graduation.  That said, if your student is college bound, this is a book you will find invaluable in terms of preparation for college level study.

DonnaYoung.org

Aside from the stack of books I've read about high school record keeping, I couldn't miss giving a plug to Donna Young and her amazing collection of homeschool forms.  If you haven't visited her site yet, sit yourself down with a cup o' joe and just click away.  Every year when I sit down to plan, I hit her site and download a folder full of marvelous freebies.  She has a full section on high school forms, where you'll find blank schedules, curriculum planners, grade sheets, etc.

I hope this gets you motivated!  Happy homeschooling!

Susan

We're pretty excited about Mockingjay around here

It's here!  It's August 24, the day the Hunger Games trilogy comes to completion.  When, oh when, will the Guy In The Brown Truck arrive?

Here are a couple of reviews: one from the LA Times and one from USA Today.

Suzanne Collins will also be doing a Mockingjay book tour, mostly in the Northeast but with several other stops as well.  Click here for dates.

Happy reading!  (Let me know what you think of the book!)

Elementary Geography

Coming off the holiday break, I'm getting my plan together for our "geography club" (for lack of a better term) that meets here once a week.  It's a small group of 8-10 year olds, and we're focusing on culture with a little bit of mapping thrown in for good measure.  The plan is to hop around the world in one year.  Here are some of the resources I've found to be particularly helpful:

Scholastic Atlas of the World
This is our go-to book for basic info on every country we study.  It's very detailed and could easily be used for much older students.  We use it mostly for detailed maps and to fill out our country fact sheets that I print from Enchanted Learning.

My First Picture Atlas
It looks like this particular one may be out of print, but there are two things about it that I love, and that you could find in another similar book.  First, it's huge.  It's about 11'x14", which makes it great for group work.  The maps inside are large, bright, and cartoony, which makes it very easy to see borders, capitals, and other important landmarks.  When the kids are doing their map work, this is the one I prop up for them to use as a reference because it is so bold and easy to follow.  The National Geographic Picture World Atlas looks just as good and is available from Amazon and other retailers.  I wouldn't use either of these beginner atlases as my only map source since they are very basic, but they are a very nice addition to use along side a more detailed book.                            
                                
                                  Usborne Stories from Around the World

While the kids are working on their maps, I often read to them a traditional story from the country we are studying.  This Usborne title is a nice collection of 22 stories, each 5 to 6 pages long.  It's nicely illustrated, and the print is large, which makes it nice for read-alouds.  The text is written so that most 3rd to 5th graders could read it independently (similar to other Usborne story collections such as their Greek myths or fairy tales).

Kids Multicultural Craft Book by Roberta Gould

This book contains 35 craft projects from around the world. Each entry also contains a good amount of cultural information about the author's experiences in that country (and even includes some photographs from her travels). The craft ideas are very good, have detailed instructions and are not babyish (no paper plate masks, etc.). The only downside for our class is that a good number of them require several steps or long drying/setting times between steps, but for most families this would not be a hindrance.

Unicef's Children Just Like Me  Meet the families of about 40 children from around the world and discover what their daily lives are like!  The kids absolutely love this book, as it brings to life the similarities and differences between cultures in sweet and simple ways.

Another similar book is Children from Australia to Zimbabwe: A Photographic Journey around the World by Maya Ajmera & Anna Rhesa Versola.  This book has more information about the geography and the larger culture in each of the countries, including favorite foods, sports, past times and holidays.

My group likes to cook, so we've used two different books for our recipes.  First is Eat Your Way Around the World by Jamie Aramini.  This one includes a full meal for each country, so we usually choose one or two pieces to make (usually dessert!).  There are also great cultural references included such as how food is served and what traditional foods signify in that country.  And the recipes are delicious, which doesn't hurt.

Kids Around the World Cook! is the other one I find myself grabbing.  The recipes are simple and traditional, and the recipes are arranged not regionally but by course.  So, all the drinks are together, all the desserts are together, etc.  This makes it easy to prepare just a side dish or a beverage to sample the country's flavors without pulling out all the stops for a full meal.

Books about books

Some of my favorite books in the world are books about books.  I have stacks and stacks of them.  I love to read books, but I do admit that my secret pleasure is reading books about books.  Sometimes they're fiction (The Historian comes to mind...  and next on my list is The Book Thief) but usually not.

Nancy Pearl, librarian extraordinaire, has published a couple of books on books.  Book Lust was the first, followed by Book Crush for kids and More Book Lust.  If you ever find yourself in a reading rut, grab one of those books at your local library.  You'll have a list a mile long by the time you're half done.  Nancy makes me want to read everything.


I also picked up Honey for a Child's Heart recently.  Written from a Christian perspective, it's especially good for homeschoolers who have sensitive readers at home.  Most of the recommended books are uplifting stories and have subject matters that conservative readers will think are age-appropriate.  What I love most about the book, though, is the focus on sharing reading together as a family, and how very nourishing that is to young spirits.

But, I found a new must-have for every homeschool library (it's on my Christmas list!).  1001 Children's Books You Must Read Before You Grow Up is my new fave.  Any book that ranks Lemony Snickett right up there with A Chair for My Mother or Goodnight Moon is okay by me.

The book is organized by age group/reading level, from board books up to Young Adult.  The selections are listed chronologically, which I haven't seen before, and gives sort of an interesting perspective on the growth and evolution of children's literature.  The books are reviewed by a team, giving not just a synopsis of the book but also a brief history of it (if relevant).  It's $36.95, which is a big chunk of change for any homeschooling budget, but it's a bit less on Amazon and Borders has it on the BOGO 50% table through the holidays.  (A great gift, but at 960 pages I wouldn't recommend hanging it in your stocking.)


Happy reading!

I'm back!

Little bit of a break... went on vacation and one thing led to another.  I haven't quit thinking of books to share, though!

My latest quest originated from my daughter.  She's 8.  After a library visit where she checked out (yet another!) Scooby Doo Mystery (blech) she laid it on the line for me.  "Mom.  I want mystery books.  But they have to have pictures.  Not picture books, chapter books.  With pictures.  Mysteries."  And so began the search for chapterbooks-withpictures-thataremysteries.  Could she stump the Homeschool Librarian?

Not a chance!  Here's what I found:

A to Z mysteries.   One book for each letter of the alphabet, plus a few bonus books.  Books in the series have 80-90 pages, with b & w illustrations on almost every page.  This gives just enough of a page break-up for young readers.  Main characters are male and female for broad appeal.

Also from this publisher is the Capital Mysteries series.  There are 11 books in the series, and each takes place in Washington, D.C.  Slightly shorter than the A to Z mysteries, at about 80 pages, Capital Mysteries have slightly fewer pictures (one illustration every 4-6 pages).  The publisher's website has activities and coloring pages that correspond to each of the mysteries for both Capital and A to Z mysteries.  Both series written by Ron Roy.

Cam Jansen Mysteries.  22 books in the series, each with about 64 pages.  Illustrations on every other page.  These books have been around for about 25 years. Written by David A. Adler.

From the author:
"The Cams are not simply chapter books with easy reading levels. Children who are just beginning to read on their own, read slowly. They read every word. But they don't think slowly. We can't ask them to speed up their reading, so to keep their attention it's necessary to keep the story moving. The Cams move quickly. Something is always happening. Characters are introduced through dialogue and plot. Scenes are set in just a few words."

Similar to Cam Jansen, Nate the Great mysteries (by Marjorie Weinman Sharmat) have been loved through generations.   Nate the Great books are an excellent introduction to chapter books.  Each is about 32 pages long, with less text per page than most of the other mystery series.  The main character will appeal to boys (although girls will enjoy them, too) and there is a spin-off series with Nate's female cousin, Olivia Sharp. 

22 books in the series, and 4 Olivia Sharp books.  The recent re-printing of the books contain fun activities at the end such as jokes, recipes and craft ideas that correspond with the stories.

Remember Encyclopedia Brown?  He's still around!  First published in 1963, Encyclopedia Brown mysteries have been a favorite first chapter book for families everywhere.  There are 23 books in the series (I still remember reading The Case of the Disgusting Sneakers) and each is about 100 pages long.  Pictures every 4-6 pages.  Written by Donald J. Sobol.

This series may appeal to slightly older readers who still want shorter books with some illustrations (Leroy "Encyclopedia" Brown is in 5th grade).  Publisher's age recommendation is 9-12.

Another made-over blast from the past is the series Nancy Drew Notebooks.  Shorter and simpler than the classic Nancy Drew books, these have 76-80 pages each, with a few illustrations thrown in every 6-8 pages.  Recommended age group on these is 5-8, but I think they would appeal up to age 10.

Similar in appeal is the Nancy Drew Clue Crew.  82 pages each, with illustrations on every other page.  Text is also slightly larger than the Notebooks series.  There are 27 books in the Clue Crew series and 69 books in the Notebooks series.

How many versions of the Odyssey could there be?

And which is the "right" one for me?

We've gone through about 7 versions so far!  Not all from start to finish, of course... lots of hopping around as library books are due, one wants to read ahead, etc.  Here are a couple of reviews:

The Children's Homer by Padraic Colum is a good, solid retelling of both the Illiad (the Trojan War) and the Odyssey (wanderings of Odysseus).  Publisher says it's for ages 9-12, but I think most 9 year-olds would stumble over the King James style English.  But, it's pretty thorough, doesn't leave out any of the adventures, and has a handful of black and white illustrations throughout.  Good for middle grades to read independently.

I find Mary Pope Osborne's (of Magic Tree House fame) version, Tales from the Odyssey, the most... interesting.  Broken into three volumes, the books are highly readable by the younger set - probably those that are used to reading her Magic Tree House series.  However, just because the language is relaxed and there are fewer words per page does not change the content.  The cyclops Polyphemus still bashes the brains out of the skulls of Odysseus' men, etc.  So while you may be able to hand these books over to your second grader, you may not want to.  The Odyssey has some scary stuff in it.  I like it better as a read-aloud, and I find these books on the "light" side for our read-aloud tastes.  I would recommend it for older elementary students that are still having reading difficulty.


So far my favorite version has been right in the middle.  The Adventures of Odysseus by Hugh Lupton, Daniel Morden and Christina Balit is an excellent picture book version that still has a complete text.

This book is just under 100 pages, and is broken into 16 stories including a prologue (Trojan War story) and epilogue.  Each page of text is surrounded by gorgeous watercolor, gouache and gold ink illustrations that really bring the story to life.  I find the narration to be beautifully lyrical (and this story was a poem, right?), neither too antiquated nor simplistic.

"The next morning, when dawn took her golden throne, we said our last farewells to Circe.  She gave us a wind to fill our sail.  When the wind failed us, when the sail sagged, we knew we were approaching the enchanted regions of the Sirens."

I've renewed this book from the library twice already!  Almost time to turn it in for good, so I think this weekend we will read the last few stories and put Odysseus to rest for a bit.  But if we ever get the hankering again, this book is available in full text, for free, on Google Books.

Highly recommended as read aloud for all ages, and independent reader for ages 9 & up.

Life of Fred

I've been hearing about this one for a while, but since you have to buy it from the publisher I've never been able to get my hands on a copy... until now!  There are 8 books in the series, and I only happen to have the first two... but I love these books!

Dr. Stanley Schmidt has found a narrative way to teach math in Life of Fred.  They're engaging, they're funny, and they really, really explain math concepts in a real-life way.  The stories are about a boy named Fred (who also happens to be a math professor) and all his daily adventures.  It's very hard to describe without making it sound ridiculous, so please look at the samples here.

What I love most about these books is that the lessons are really short.  Dr. Schmidt has done a wonderful job of breaking the concepts down into bite-sized pieces, and breaking up the text with illustrations without making the pages too busy.   After every five chapters there is a Bridge, which is a set of 10 review questions.  You must get 9 out of the 10 questions correct before moving on to the next chapter.  The nice thing is, though, that there are 5 sets of bridge questions, so if the students botches the first set, they can go back, correct their work, and begin again on the second set.  So they have 5 tries at getting over the bridge!

There are 8 books in the series, ranging from pre-algebra to calculus.  The first two books in the series are Fractions then Decimals & Percents.  The subsequent books also have a teaching guide (Fred's Home Companion) to go along with them which includes a daily lesson schedule, all the solutions, plus more practice problems.  My understanding is that you probably wouldn't need to have Fred's Home Companion for the advanced books in order to gain understanding of the concepts, but if you choose Life of Fred as your main math program and need to show substantial amounts of scheduled work for high school credit, you might want the extra problems and schedules.

Life of Fred would also make a very, very good review program for test prep and college placement.  I wish I had had it before taking the math placement exam when I returned to college after an 18-year absence!  Here's a word problem to illustrate:

Susan forgot all her higher math skills!  When she decided to go back to school she had to take a math placement test.  Because she did poorly (she hadn't taken math in almost 20 years!) she had to take a college review math class that cost $450 and did not even give her a math credit!  The entire Life of Fred series (with Fred's Home Companion for 6 of the 8 books - 14 books in all) costs $302 (free shipping!).  Which is the better value?

Answer:  $302 < $450 (and much more fun) 

Highly recommended for 6th grade and up.

Math Doesn't Suck

Really.  It doesn't!  Especially with the help of Danica McKellar.

In Math Doesn’t Suck: How to Survive Middle School Math Without Losing Your Mind or Breaking a Nail, mathematician and actress Danica McKellar shows 6th to 8th grade girls that math is fun, useful, and at times even glamorous!  She explains fractions, least common multiples, factoring, decimals and percents with style and humor, and with more quizzes than a Teen Beat magazine.  And it isn't fluff... I learned a few new tricks from Math Doesn't Suck, and I do math for fun sometimes.  =)

The good news is that once you've mastered middle school math, you can move on to Kiss My Math: Showing Pre-Algebra Who's Boss.  I can't wait!  

Here's a fun video of Danica McKellar talking about Kiss My Math. 

Crow Call

If we didn't already love Lois Lowry...

Crow Call by Lois Lowry

Lowry (The Giver, Number the Stars) released her first picture book last week (illustrations by Bagram Ibatoulline).  Crow Call is an autobiographical story of Lois (Liz) as a young girl, her father just returned home from WWII.   He's been gone so long she hardly knows him, and in this early morning adventure they set out to reconnect.  This book is absolutely lovely.  It's as quiet as its country morning setting, and envelopes the reader in its warmth, wrapping us up in its bright woolen shirt.  I hugged it when I finished reading it.  =)

Highly recommended - ages 4-up

Before Columbus: The Americas of 1491

This one is hot off the press!


Based on the adult nonfiction book 1491: New Revelations of the Americas Before Columbus, Charles Mann does his best to make us question everything we think we know about Native American culture before 1492.

Just over 100 pages - Before Columbus: The Americas of 1491 contains beautiful art, but is not your typical picture book.  Target age is definitely ten and up, with several paragraphs of rich, full text on most pages.  Mann does not gloss over the details, but instead tackles eleven chapters' worth of information - covering everything from the Asian footbridge to genetic engineering (of corn) to mummies and tapeworms.

For middle grades to adult, this is an excellent book to add to your studies of American History, especially for the textbook-phobic.

Unite or Die!

Love this little book!

Unite or Die by Jacqueline Jules

If there were ever a fun way to learn about how the Articles of Confederation were replaced by the Constitution, this is it.  For ages 8 and up, this picture book tells the story (in the form of a school play - *very* funny!) of the squabbles among the states during the post-revolutionary period.  Each state, played by an elementary school actor, has its own distinct personality that beautifully displays the concerns and desires of each particular state.

Although it's a picture book, it can easily be enjoyed by older kids.  I learned a few things!  And while my kids are not likely to check out picture books from the library these days, I find that if I check them out and leave them scattered around, they definitely get read and are certainly enjoyed.  ☺

As a lovely bonus, the book's website has a free download of the Unite or Die Reader's Theater, which is a play format of the book for up to 17 actors.  How fun for a group of kids to act out the scenes in the book!

Update: The Magician's Elephant

Well, now that I have read this book, I felt I had to post again.  Amazing!!  I honestly believe that I have to call it my New Favorite Children's Book Ever.  Ever.

Click here for an excerpt. 

I picked it up the other night at work, and couldn't put it down.  Read it all through my dinner, and brought it home that night.  It's completely enrapturing.  Kate DiCamillo is a brilliant writer all around, but there's something so poetic, so lyrical about the writing in The Magician's Elephant that I just haven't seen in a long, long time.  Its simplicity and flow remind me a bit of The Little Prince (which has been translated into 180 languages, so that's saying something).  Because the book is fairly short (208 pages, but typically only 2 paragraphs per page) it would lend itself well to a Junior Great Books style of study with multiple readings.  Read once for action, read a second time for deeper meaning, character study, and critique.

The book's website is hosting a webcast with the author on October 26 (held at Sidwell Friends School in DC, but you can log in via the Web) and I have signed up to participate!

Also from the site, you can download a free Activity Kit and Discussion Guide for the book.  Enjoy!

Susan

The Goldsmith's Daughter

If you love historical fiction the way I do, here's a great new YA title to check out by author Tanya Landman (I Am Apache).  The Goldsmith's Daughter releases Tuesday, September 8.

 

Set in the Aztec city of Tenochtitlan during the Spanish conquest of Mexico, this story explores the devastating collision of cultures through the eyes of the teenage Itacate.  I haven't found too many novels written in this setting, so this is definitely one to add to the list for a study of pre-U.S. American history.

Recommended for grades 7 and up.

Defining Twilight

Am I excited to share this one!   Do you have a Twilight fan in your house?  Exploit the obsession... and turn it into a study session.

From the publisher:

This workbook contains 40 groups of vocabulary words selected from
Twilight. Many of these words will show up on your SAT, ACT, GED,
or SSAT. Beginning at Group 1, refer to the Twilight page where each
vocabulary word appears. Read the word in context and come up with
a definition. Then check your definitions against those provided in
this workbook and make corrections. I’ll also show you synonyms,
word parts, and memorization tools. Read these over a few times, and
then complete the drills. Do that for all 40 groups. There’s no easier or
more fun way to learn 600 vocabulary words! By the end of this book,
your vocabulary will be larger, your test scores will be higher, and
you’ll be a Twilight scholar!

I checked the book out at work, and it actually has a nice layout and decent vocabulary exercises for 40 word groups.  These are not the most demanding lists on the market (from List 1, "noble" isn't going to stretch too many vocabularies, but "ubiquitous" might), though the fact that they're lifted from a real book and can be studied in context - and with the book in hand - is a definite plus, especially for a student that doesn't feel under the SAT gun quite yet.

Click here for a link to a free chapter from the publisher.

The guide to New Moon will be available Oct 26, 2009 and can be pre-ordered from Amazon.