OneLuckeyWife

My devotion to All About Learning Press is bordering on a personality trait at this point, so naturally, we moved straight into  All About Spelling Level 2  the moment we cleared Level 1. My first order of business? Surgically removing the spine of the Teacher’s Manual and replacing it with a spiral binding at Staples. There is something profoundly satisfying—and perhaps a little nerdy—about a lay-flat book that stays open exactly where you need it. It’s the ultimate homeschooling luxury, and I highly recommend it for your sanity. This program is a multisensory extravaganza that ensures your child hears, sees, and physically manipulates the language. It comes with everything but the kitchen sink: phonogram cards, word banks, and even a "jail" for those rebellious words that refuse to follow the rules. While the program traditionally uses letter tiles, we’ve opted for the tablet app to prevent the inevitable tragedy of me vacuuming up the letter 'Q.' However, we haven...

I got a lot of people asking for my reviews/tests I give my kids. If you would like one let me know by emailing me at daisy.oneluckeywife@gmail.com Each grade’s review cost 1$/subject. Below is part of our review. Payment in the form of PayPal or Zelle. Please keep in mind the reviews are based off our curriculum. By no means does it mean you are not doing enough if your child doesn’t know the answers or y’all haven’t gone over what we have. Our curriculum of choice is Timberdoodle. You’ll find everything we use here .  Pre-K Subjects:      Math      Geography/Social Studies      Thinking Skills      Science      English (reading)      Social/Emotional Skills (emotions to know) Kinder Subjects:      Math      History      Thinking Skills      Science      English (reading)      Social Skills (emotions to ...

We are officially approaching the penultimate stage of our literacy journey:  All About Reading Level 3 . This curriculum has been nothing short of transformative, offering a meticulously organized structure that has empowered me, as a dyslexic parent, to effectively facilitate my daughter’s reading development entirely on my own. If you’ve followed our previous reviews, you know that I treat curriculum organization like a high-stakes competitive sport. From spiral-binding the teacher’s manual at Staples to laminating the game pieces and sequestering them in labeled zip-lock bags, I’ve turned "prep time" into a well-oiled machine. The student workbook is where the real magic—and the organization—continues. I’ve found that tearing out the pages and placing them in sheet protectors is a total game-changer; it not only keeps the materials pristine for my younger child to use later but also allows my daughter to repeat lessons if we hit a snag. This level includes two delightful ...

We enjoyed the first volume of  Story of the World  so much that I felt like a certified historian by the end of it—honestly, I learned as much as she did! Naturally, we’ve graduated to Volume 2: The Middle Ages this year. I handle this particular curriculum with a bit of "editorial discretion." History can be a tad more... stabby ... than my sensitive seven-year-old prefers, so I make it a point to pre-read each section. I summarize or omit the particularly gruesome bits so we can focus on the "cool" parts of the fall of Rome and the rise of the Renaissance without any nightmares. The Activity Book is an absolute necessity and, in my opinion, the heart of the program. It is brimming with supplemental reading lists that allow us to fall down wonderful "rabbit holes" of extra literature. The instructor's section also includes structured review questions and narration exercises that ensure her brain is actually absorbing the information. We usually aim...

It appears we have stumbled upon the Great Homeschooling Divide: the polarizing world of standardized testing. While many of my fellow educators in the Republic of Texas enjoy our state’s blissful lack of mandatory assessments, I have opted for a more proactive—albeit slightly clandestine—approach. I incorporate tests, quizzes, and reviews into our schedule with all the subtlety of a secret agent. My daughter remains blissfully unaware that she is being formally evaluated, mostly because I refuse to treat these sessions like a high-stakes interrogation. I might occasionally mutter about a "review week" while hovering over my planner, but since I maintain my composure, she views it as just another Tuesday rather than a daunting academic hurdle.  Last year, we introduced  Test Prep  into our repertoire, and I must admit, I am quite enamored with its efficiency. It elegantly synthesizes the two pillars of primary education: English and Mathematics. The literacy portion is su...

I set goals for the school year at the beginning of the year. I go through all the curriculum and see what it goes over then make goals from that. For example in our Math-U-See curriculum for 1st grade it mostly goes over addition/subtraction and solving for X. While the child can use the blocks to help them I set the goal that by the end of the year I would like our daughter to be doing the problems either entirely on her own or using her finger or blocks as little as possible. For subjects like history and science my goals are they she remembers the main ideas from the sections we read. Our youngest, is 2, is just about to start school so she will be doing preschool. In preschool I just teach the basic things. So my goals for her are that by the end of the she can do the following: letters; upper and lower numbers; 0-25 counting shapes colors weather and what you wear for them animals and their sounds drawing different kinds of lines kinds of vehicles same, different sizes places bod...