Tag Archives: US History

Online Homeschool Classes with SDA Review

Homeschool parents are blessed to be able to design their kids education as they see best. They pull the educational resources from a variety of places such as books, videos, library resources, local community programs, coops, field trips, life skills, etc.  Sometimes the parents create their own curriculum and sometimes they buy it pre-made, and sometimes they do a blend of both.  Homeschooling is such a blessing to be able to customize your children’s education to fit each child’s individual interests and the priorities and goals of your family.

SDA

If you are looking for a pre-made online course that has everything your student needs to complete the subject of study, then you might want to try Homeschool Courses from Standard Deviants Accelerate.  They offer a variety of affordable classes for 3rd Greade through Adult, including some college prep classes.

SDAoncomputerandiPad

Homeschool Courses

Arithmetic (grades 3+)
Fundamental Math (grades 4+)
Earth Science (grades 6+)
Nutrition (grades 6+)
Biology (grades 7+)
Algebra (grades 7+)
Chemistry (grades 9+)
English Comp (grades 9+)
U. S. History (grades 9+)
AP Biology (grades 11+)
AP Chemistry (grades 11+)
AP History (11+)
AP U. S. Gov. & Politics (grades 11+)
AP Eng. Composition (grades 11+)

Screenshot (243)

Each Course is $9.99 per month and can be used with up to 5 students per family.  So you can have 5 of your kids all studying the same subject for only $9.99!!!  That is a deal!   If you want to study two subjects that month, such as: nutrition, and history at the same time, then 5 kids in the same house can learn 2 subjects and it would cost you $9.99 x 2 = $19.98 per month for the two classes!  You can buy a lifetime membership for up to 10 students for all of the SDA classes available (currently 14 courses) for one low discounted price of $795 (forever access).

Hello!

HIGHSCHOOL CREDIT CLASSES!!

That is a deal!

Each course offers a full year of curriculum, but your student (s) may finish the class as quick or as slow as they desire.  Each child has their own dash board that they log into and it keeps track of their individual progress.

Screenshot (246)

The classes are always open 24/7 so it is flexible for your schedule, and you can work on it as much as you want to.   It contains a variety of videos, note taking, interactive quizzes, writing, reviews, exams, and you can access the courses through your desktop computer, mobile laptop, and smart device like a tablet too.  This greatly increases your options of where and when you can find flexible time to work on your school work.  These classes can be used as your main course work or used as a supplemental program.  Some kids may finish a course quicker in a semester, and some will need the whole school year, depending on the subject being studied and how quick your kids go through the program.  For example, we found it takes longer to learn Chemistry or Algebra than it takes to finish the class in American History or Nutrition.

SDA has been producing digital education videos and resources for 20+ years, when two friends got the bright idea to record full length courses and make them funny.  The idea took off and they have won numerous awards for their high quality educational video courses.

Screenshot (244)

Though SDA has a variety of complete core subjects for middle and highschool students, these are not your usual boring classes.   Instead, they are funny and filled with silly skits that help kids learn and retain the information.

Screenshot (248)

Homeschool Courses through SDA are a great option for when you need a course instructor, pre-made lessons, quizzes that keeps track of all of the answers and grades and everything all in one.  Basically all you do is turn it on and your child can work through it independently and you can keep track of what they are doing through the parent / teacher dashboard.

Screenshot (247)

How We Used SDA Homeschool Courses In Our Home:

We have been using SDA for an entire year now.  I feel confident in sharing my experience with you.  We had a 1 year subscription last school year, and we have a 1 year subscription for this year too, and I am very grateful for the opportunity to review this homeschool program for a second time.

Three of my sons are using at least one or more of the classes offered.  We decided to choose classes based on their skill level and interest level.  Last year I just put them in the class even if they were not very interested because I want to expose them to something new and different that we hadn’t done before.  But this year, it is all about what they are interested in.  We are currently using Nutrtion, US History, Mathematics, Biology, Earth Science, and Algebra.

Screenshot (252)

My kids and I each have our own seperate dashboards on the SDA website.   Each day I have the kids log in and view the video assignment, take notes as they watch the video and save their notes on the computer program.  You can watch this short video about how kids use their dashboard.

After the video and vocabulary learning, they complete any related written work and take the quiz. The notes they type are stored in their “locker” which is a filing system they can keep track of all of their notes for classes.

20151102_111054

On my dashboard, I can view their progress, what areas need more practice or review to improve their understanding.  You can check out this short video on how to set up a teacher account and get your kids set up with with their classes on your dashboard.

Check out this short Teacher Account Video that explains more how this works.

SDA_Lessons

Two of my middle boys are on similar learning levels, and they have enjoyed learning with the Nutrition, US History, and Mathematics courses this past year and have carried them over into this year too.  They have also recently started the Biology course too.  The biology course is a little advanced for my 5th and 7th grade sons, but I want them to take advantage of exploring this opportunity and get familiar with the learning materials.

20151102_111137

Here is a short video clip of one of the topics discussed in nutrition and you can see the humor that is in every video in this example.

Our oldest son is in 9th grade, and he is taking the SDA Homeschool Courses: Nutrition, US History, Biology and Algebra.   I am thankful for a second opportunity to review SDA because this has been very beneficial to retake a class he started last year.  He did great in all but one class last year. Algebra was tougher than he thought it would be.

Screenshot (253)

He started the Algebra class last year, and had to stop after a couple of months because it was beyond his understanding.   He wasn’t ready for it yet.  So we stopped part way through and he took a pre-Algebra class that he did wonderful in.  Now he is ready for Algebra and has restarted this class and was able to pick up where he left off.   That is another great thing about this program is that it keeps track of your progress and you can go as fast or as slow as you need too.

SDA_Lesson_Tabs

Example of Homeschool Algebra:

Homeschool Alegebra curriculum has several benefits for the student and the teacher. Here are just a few:

220 minutes of video (with scrolling transcripts)
54 vocab words (with audio playback)
Note-taking
38 critical thinking questions
205 multiple choice questions
14 drag n’ drop graphic organizers
Re-teaching
Automatic grading
Progress reporting
Meets State and National Standards
RTI alerts
Differentiated Instruction
Editable rubrics
Student-to-teacher messaging

Every class includes the written transcript of the video lessons. This makes it very handy to go back through and read what has been said, take notes etc.

Algebra

Over all my oldest says he likes the curriculum.  He is self motivated to work on it each day. He strives to get good scores on his work and I am proud of his progress.

Homeschool U.S. History:

Another class I will share a little about is the Homeschool U.S. History course for grades 9 and up.  Some of the great features of this curriculum include:

149 minutes of video (with scrolling transcripts)
144 vocab words (with audio playback)
160 multiple choice questions
Note-taking
29 critical thinking questions
14 drag n’ drop graphic organizers
Meets State and National Standards
Progress reporting, Editable rubrics, Re-teaching
Automatic grading, and Student-to-teacher messaging

Screenshot (249)

My 13 year old is taking US History, Nutrition, and Biology.  He began the US History curriculum last year while in 6th grade and after he struggled though for about three months or so, I came to the realization it was too early for him.  I let him off the hook with it and allowed him to just work through the class as an observer and he worked on it 1 day a week after the initial review period was over.  We typically work on review products 3 to 5 days a week for six weeks to write our honest reviews based on our experience.  But once the review was done last year, the only SDA classes this son was enthused about was the arithmetic and mathematics classes and he did well and he recently finished one of them.  However, I saw that his response to the US History class was different.  When his interest level dropped last year, we decided to take do it once a week.

The problem was two fold. One problem he had was deciphering through some of the immaturity in the funny skits that wasn’t really needed to learn the materials.   The second problem was my fault that I put him in a class he wasn’t yet ready for.

SDA Homeschool US History is for grades 9 and up, and he was only in 6th grade at the time. Though a slower pace worked for him, he felt discouraged about the quizzes and writing things out.   He was able to get about half way through last year and I told him I was proud of him for trying and we would try again when he was a little older.   When the review of SDA was offered again for this year, I knew for sure he wanted to retake this class and improve his score. He is currently taking the class 5 days a week, and completes one lesson a day that takes him about 20 minutes or so.  NO prodding or pushing from me.  This time he is ready and wants to do it.

20151102_111524

He likes audio visual methods of learning and excels when school work is presented in a combined audio video format.  He does not like to read a lot, or write a lot of verbiage, so he doesn’t use the SDA course transcripts (his older brother prefers reading everything including the transcripts). Where he got hung up last year was the writing part of the course.  He didn’t want to write out notes and didn’t like the written parts of the quizzes and the essay answer on the exam last year.  These are wonderful tools to gauge learning, but it is hard to gauge learning when someone is reluctant to do those areas.  But things are much better this time around.

He has gone through a lot of maturing this past year, especially over the summer.   He practiced two writing curriculums this past spring and all through summer.  One writing curriculum was practicing in print and one in cursive, and to my surprise he loved them.  I could not believe it. He could not believe it either.  Suddenly it was easy instead of hard.  Since then he has excelled in his writing skills and is no longer reluctant.  This was just the boost he needed and an answer to my prayer to light a fire inside and desire to learn.   He has greatly improved in reading and writing and motivation!  He desires to get his school work done each day and is working on the SDA courses independently, self motivated, and is enjoying them.  I am thankful for SDAccelerate’s fun video style learning program for him to use.

FINAL THOUGHTS

I really like the format of these classes, and how easy and flexible they are to use with homeschooling.  They are great for getting your highschool credits for your transcript too.

However,  as a Christian homeschool parent, there is a word of caution too.  These courses are written from a secular world view and to meet public school core standards.   We do not agree with everything the classes teach and when we come across specific issues, we stop and talk about them.  For example, we disagree with teaching evolution, or that people are related to monkeys, for example.  We believe the earth and all of creation was created by God and our faith plays a big role in our education.  Also sometimes the silliness of the skits take a liberal cultural direction, and imposes a cultural viewpoint rather than an unbiased view.  This can cross over boundaries in many areas of beliefs.   The course work is not written from a Christian perspective and that is something to consider when making curriculum choices.

Pre-made courses can be a good choice in different seasons of life.   As your kids get older, and more independent, or as your life gets busier, this kind of curriculum is very handy.   It also comes in handy when you have a new baby in the house, if you are moving, or if you have little time for prepping a certain course.  Now need to honestly say that I love being creative and making my own curriculum for my younger kids, or tweaking pre-made curriculums for the older kids to fit our family’s needs, but there are times in homeschool life, when having it all done for you is the best option.  The best advice I can give is to weigh out all your priorities, beliefs, and what time you have available to devote to curriculum, and see if SDA Homeschool Courses could work out for you.

Standard Deviants Accelerate on Social Media

Be sure to follow Standard Deviants Accelerate on their social media links for all the latest news, courses, updates, and teaching ideas, and more:

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SDAccelerate
Twitter: https://twitter.com/SDAccelerate
Pinterest: http://www.pinterest.com/SDAccelerate/
Google+: google.com/+Sdaccelerate
Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/user/CerebellumCorp/videos

Standard Deviants Accelerate Review

Check out what other homeschool families on the TOS Review Crew had to say about using Standard Deviants Accelerate with their family.

Crew Disclaimer

Please share.

Tales from the Circle C Ranch Review

We have been having so much fun reading Tales from the Circle C Ranch.  We love these books! This is the second book by Susan Marlow from Circle C Adventures we have had the privilege to review.

Circle C Adventures

What We Received:

We received the Tales from the Circle C Ranch book, and also a PDF download of the corresponding Andrea Carter’s Tales From The Circle C Ranch Learning Lapbook and Study Guide for the purpose of this review.

Tales from the Circle C Ranch

Tales from the Circle C Ranch

by Susan Marlow
Historical /Christian / Fiction /
160 pages
Paperback Book
For ages 9-14
Retails for $7.99

Lapbook

A Journey Through Learning: Andrea Carter’s Tales from the Circle C Ranch, Learning Lapbook and Study Guide.

E-book PDF digital download.
39 pages
Instructions, study guide pages tying each chapter of the book with historical facts, and printout activities to create fun learning lapbooks.
Retails for $7.00

Tales from the Circle C Ranch is a book about a young girl named Andi (Andrea Carter) who lived in the late 1800’s.  The book is a collection of short stories about her life between 1874 to 1881 (about ages 6-13) and relates to the other Circle C series of books.  The author wrote this book to answer questions about Andi’s life sent in by her fans who read one or more of the other books.  Andi has a lot of fans!

How We Used This In Our Home.

We are having a blast with this book and study guide-lapbook combination.   Lapbooks and unit studies are some of our favorite ways to study.

IMG_7574

I received the reading book in the mail, and the lapbook PDF came in an email link.

IMG_7585

When I received the link to the PDF download, I printed it and put it into a three ring binder.

IMG_7586

The Lapbook is 39 pages, and is made up of a little less than 1/2 study guide (17 pages), and 1/2 activities (22 pages).   I printed off a copy of each of the activity pages for the kids, but did not print the study guide pages for them.  I have 6 kids and 22 pages a piece is a whole lot of printing!!!  I also glued two folders together for each child, that will hold their activity pages and eventually become their lapbooks.

IMG_7571

Instead of each of the kids having their own copy of the study guide, we read from the study guide pages from the main copy I put into the binder.  That way each child only had to keep track of their own activity pages, and I kept track of the main copy (study guide, instructions, activity pages) in the binder.   This method worked out well for our family and helped me save a lot of ink and paper!

IMG_7570

I also opted to save more money and printed the lapbook activity pages in black and white and let the kids color them while they listened to the book being read aloud, in instead of printing them in full color.   By having to color the activity pages instead of choosing them pre-colored, it helped them be even more involved in the learning process, and personalize their lapbooks so each one looks a little different from their siblings.

IMG_7569

For this review, each day I gathered all of the children together at the table to learn as a group.  One of the reasons we love lapbooks and the unit study approach to learning is the fun we have learning together.

IMG_7576

Our oldest son read the book aloud to the kids.  He read one short story a day to them, but he also enjoyed reading ahead on his own too.  Several times I found him reading after we were all finished at the table.  He couldn’t wait to get to the next story in the book.

IMG_7565

While he read the book, the younger children colored the corresponding lapbook worksheets.

IMG_7566

They loved coloring while listening to the story.

IMG_7563

After he read the chapter, he would then read the corresponding page about a related history subject in the study guide.  Then I would give the children instructions (cutting, stapling, and arranging the booklet position, and gluing it into their folders) to complete their lapbook assignment.

IMG_7568

The older boys preferred to just listen during the story read aloud, and then work on their lapbook worksheets afterwards while the study guide was being read.

IMG_7567

After completing the lapbook pages for each chapter, the children glued the finished activity into their lapbooks.

IMG_7562

The kids really enjoyed reading this book and creating their lapbooks. They have several things in common with Andi (Andrea Carter).  They could relate to her even though she lived during the late 1880’s.    This made it really fun for them to follow along in the story.  For example:

  • She has several siblings and we have a lot of siblings.
  • She lives on a ranch and has chores and we live on a homestead farm and have chores too.
  • She has horses and we have goats, chickens, rabbits, cats, and dogs as well as a big garden and several acres to play and run on our homestead.
  • Andi is a Christian and grows her faith through the experiences she lives out, and we do the same.  The kids can identify with her trust in the Lord.
  • In the book she buys a gift for her mom for her birthday, and we did something special for dad for Father’s Day and celebrated 2 birthdays during this review.  We celebrated each of these with gifts, cheesecake, and vanilla cake  and chocolate cake.

IMG_7588

There are several things I would like to do before we finish this fun learning adventure.   I hope I can schedule a field trip to take the kids to see some other things relevant to Andi’s life and the experiences shared in the book.

A few additional things I would like to add to this learning project is:

  • take the kids to see some horses, learn about different kinds of saddles and tack used to care for horses, get to feed the horses, maybe find a stables where we can ride horses on a trail, or take a carriage ride.
  •  I hope to find a good youtube video of a recent horse race for the kids to watch.
  • Visit the ocean.  Find a crab and clam shells.  Taste the salty ocean water.
  • Visit a nature center and hold a snake.
  • Attend a ball game.
  • Create some fake snow to play in since it is not winter here, but if you read this book in the winter, be sure to include some snow activities.
  • Visit a photography studio and learn how they process photos.
  • It would be awesome to be able to take a trip out west to see California, Oregon, and Washington where the story takes place.  I visited these states in my youth and those are awesome memories.  But I don’t really see a cross country trip to the west coast happening anytime soon though.
  • Cook food from the 1800’s that Andi mentions in the story, like Molasses Cookies, Crab, Flapjacks, Peppermint Sticks, Apple Pie, Roast Beef Sandwiches, Chocolate Cake, Vanilla Cake,

I hope round out this book, lapbook, and our own unit study of this time in history by planning a field trip to a pioneer village from the 1800’s,  an outing at county or state fair, and to visit a horse ranch, as well as cook a couple of recipes like the ones mentioned in the book that were served for dinner, to enhance our learning even more with this study.

You will enjoy this book by itself or with the additional lapbook.  You don’t need anything other than a desire to read and learn to use either.  But you can also really enjoy this time period in history by including a few fun projects to enhance your child’s learning too.  Either way, this book is a winner and goes into a permanant place on our family book shelves to read again and again for years to come.

About the Author:

We fell in love with the books when we read Thick as Thieves earlier in the school year.   We couldn’t wait to get a hold of more books by Susan K Marlow !   Susan is a homeschool mom who has dedicated her life to her family and to writing wholesome Christian fiction books for kids of all ages to enjoy.

Susan Marlow

Susan Marlow has authored over 17 books and workbooks for children. She offers several free study guides to enhance the learning too.   The sequel to the Thick as Thieves  book we read earlier this year for the 12 and older age group is called Heartbreak Trail and is coming out later this summer.  My older sons are begging for me to get it for them.  I don’t know of too many boys who beg their mom for more books, (especially books that center around a girl character), but these books are a winner!!!

Susan Marlow Books

Each skill level / age level has it’s own series of books to read about Andi’s life as she grows up. To access the various levels of books, from the Susan Marlow web site, you will see this info-graph I have posted above.  Once you click “enter” on the picture of the series or learning level you are interested in, a whole web site for that specific learning level appears with books, study guides, lapbooks, more articles, and fun photos about Andi.  Susan Marlow has done a wonderful job organizing her website into an easy to navigate, and user friendly resource for families.

Susan Marlow lives on a homestead in the state of Washington.   She also teaches writing workshops, and hosts a writing contests for youth too. Her connection with homeschool life and homesteading really comes through in her books and my kids can relate so easily to Andi and the other characters even though the stories are written about a girl and her friends and family who lived in a previous time in history.

I haven’t yet told my kids that Susan also wrote a series of books about a 12 year old boy named Jem who grew up gem mining during the Gold Rush in California.  We enjoyed gem mining and gold panning few times while we lived in North Carolina where the Gold Rush began.  My kids have fond memories of those fun times.  I just know they are going to want every book Susan Marlow has ever published about Andi and Jem as these stories are so exciting for kids to read.

Social Media:

Be sure to follow the social media links for Susan Marlow to find out updates and more about the adventures of Andi’s life in all the wonderful series of Circle C books, study guides, lapbooks, coloring pages, and more.

Andi’s Blog: Circle C Adventures   http://circlecadventures.blogspot.com/
Facebook https://www.facebook.com/CircleCAdventures
Twitter http://twitter.com/SuzyScribbles
Youtube https://www.youtube.com/user/susankmarlow/
Writing Contests
(enter 9/1- 1/10) http://www.circlecadventures.com/Writing-Contest.html

Dynamic Literacy Review

Be sure to check out what other homeschool families on the TOS Review Crew had to say about using this product with their kids.

Crew Disclaimer

Please share.

Thick As Thieves Review

My oldest son loves to read.  He was so excited to receive Thick As Thieves from Circle C Milestones  for review.

Thick as Thieves

Thick As Thieves

Paperback
Historical/Christian/ Fiction
Ages 12 and above
Retails for $9.99

Thick as Thieves from Circle C Milestones

We received Thick as Thieves and the accompanying downloadable PDF Study Guide for this review.   This is the first book in the reading series in the Circle C Milestones ages 12 and above (young adult) reading / learning level by author Susan K Marlow.

Circle C Milestones

Andi Carter is 14 and lives on her family’s ranch called Circle C Ranch. She loves horses and she has a special horse named Taffy who gives birth to a foal during the story. The book is about her life on the ranch, her family and responsibilities like chores, and going to school during the 1880’s in America.

My son is 14, we homeschool, and live on a homestead.  He cares for his animals on our farm daily in addition to some household chores he rotates responsibilities with his siblings like helping with the laundry, taking out the trash, and dishes. He also has schoolwork he completes everyday. Even though he lives 150 years after she did, he could identify with the main character of the book Andi Carter.

reading Thick as Thieves

There is a wonderful FREE STUDY GUIDE offered with this book. It is written like a unit study and is 40 pages filled with cross curricular activities that relate to both the book, but also to this time period in history.

capture image

The Study Guide includes: vocabulary, discussion questions, geography, history, writing, and “just for fun” activities. A great supplement for homeschool unit studies.

crossword puzzle

I don’t want to spoil the plot for you by giving away too much of the story ahead of time, but you can read a free excerpt from the book to “wet your whistle” and see why this is such a great read for teens and young adults.

My son enjoyed this book so much he did not want to put it down.  He has already asked for us to get him more books like this about Andi, and all her adventures at different stages in her life. It is a very well written book with great attention to detail. Many character qualities like work ethic, faith, genuiness, friendship, relationships, responsibility, and integrity of the character comes through.

IMG_5357

Author: Susan K Marlow

Susan Marlow

The author, Susan K Marlow is a homeschool mom who has dedicated her life to her family and to writing wholesome Christian fiction books for kids of all ages to enjoy. She has authored over 17 books for children.  Each learning level she has written for has it’s own series of books.

Susan Marlow Books

If you want to read more books, from the Susan Marlow web site, you will see the info-graph above, and once you click “enter” on the picture of the series or learning level you are interested in, a whole web site for that specific learning level appears with books, study guides, articles, photos and more.  She has really done a wonderful job organizing this into a user friendly resource for families.

In addition to writing books, Susan also teaches writing workshops, and enjoys living in Washington on a homestead.  Her connection with homeschool life and homesteading really comes through in her books and my kids can relate to the Andi and the other characters.

Social Media

Be sure to follow Susan Marlow on her social media links for all the latest news and updates.

Andi’s Blog: Circle C Adventures   http://circlecadventures.blogspot.com/
Facebook https://www.facebook.com/CircleCAdventures
Twitter http://twitter.com/SuzyScribbles

Koru Naturals Review

Be sure to check out what other families on the Schoolhouse Review Crew had to say about reading Thick As Thieves in their homeschool.

Crew Disclaimer

Please share.