Shhh . . . Don't say anything . . . But . . .

Our family is about to get bigger!

Yep! That's what I said!

More details are coming later this week.

That's one of the reasons I have been so slow in writing to you all! I can't wait to let you in on all of the details!

I’m Writing Music!

Not really, but kind of.

   

You see, I have made up a song for each one of my kids that I sang to them when they were little and even sometimes now. I even wrote a song for a little guy that didn’t have a father figure in his life for his first few years of life so I “adopted” him (even now that he has a step father he still calls me “Daddy Tim”).

Well, with three more boys about to converge on our household decided it was time to get busy and begin writing songs for them. Thankfully they aren’t all three coming at once, but will come at intervals as soon as they are finished with the programs in the boy’s homes where they are staying. We do pray to get the first next week so get ready for some exciting announcements.

PS. I won’t reveal the songs yet. The three precious boys who they are written for get to hear them first.

I’m in Print!

Most of you know that I review homeschool products for The Homeschool Review Crew. Last summer I was given the opportunity to review a great product, however, it wasn’t for The Homeschool Review Crew, but it was for it’s parent company’s magazine named The Old Schoolhouse! My review was for a fantastic Bible study for boys and their dads called Manhood Journey. Please check it out! It’s a full page and, since I know that you all will want to check out my review right away I’ll just go ahead and tell you it’s on page 83!

The Old Schoolhouse Magazine can be found in many of the major supermarkets and stores like Krogers, Food City, Walgreens and more. Although it is mainly about homeschooling, it has a lot of interesting articles that traditional school parents would find helpful as well. If you are like I was when John Allen went to public school, I wanted to help him all I could at home as well so I did a lot of extra things with him. The Old Schoolhouse Magazine covers those types of things and more.

If you can’t find the magazine in your local store, or if you would rather buy it online, just click here and it will take you to The Old Schoolhouse website. They have a lot of great things on their website as well so even if you bought your edition of this year’s print magazine (to read my review of course), click on through to the website and check out what they have.

Let me know what you think of the review by leaving a comment below!

Times Alive–The Fun Way to Learn Times Tables–A Homeschool Review Crew Review

 

 

I have mentioned before that my kids are very smart in certain areas. I guess that kind of goes with the territory of autism. However, they also have their super week areas. In some ways Joshua and Jacob are the same but in some ways they are opposites. One of the ways that they are opposites is in the area of math. Jacob catches on to arithmetic super fast but Joshua has a very difficult time with it. Despite their age difference, they are really almost on the same level in math. That’s why I was excited to be able to review Times Alive by Times Tables the Fun Way.

I decided to begin using it with Joshua since he still has a very difficult time with his times tables. He has loved using this program and, despite me being super sick for much of this review period and not able to keep up with homeschooling as much as I should, Joshua has learned a lot and is very excited about continuing to use the program.

What I really love about this program is that it uses a very non-traditional way to teach the multiplication tables. Although it’s very sequential in it’s teaching, it is unusual in all other aspects.

 

After a super easy registration process, I was given a three month access to their online lessons with animated songs and stories to learn times tables the fun way. And, let me tell you it really is fun.

There are 18 lessons in Times Alive and each lesson has 3 – 5 sections to it. Joshua was easily able to do every section in a lesson in one sitting, but, as I mentioned before, we have not completed the whole program so he may not be able to complete every part of a lesson as the multiplication facts that are being taught get more difficult. Each section takes only a few minute and each lesson does not have to be completed all in one setting at all, they can be divided up to accommodate the student. It is recommended that a child works with the program for about 20 minutes at least twice a week.

 

Joshua began by taking a quick test to see how much he actually knew. It was to be taken as quickly as possible but, being the perfectionist that Joshua is, he took way too much time. After a few minutes a kind voice came on saying that he was taking too much time.

After taking the quick test, the fun begins. As I mentioned before, everything is done in a sequential manner. The first sections he watched were “Zero is the King” and “The Lonely Ones”. Each fact is taught in a very fun way using animated stories and/or songs. After each fact is taught, the child is quickly quizzed on what he has learned.

 

Next comes “The Three Blind Mice” and so on. Each fact or set of facts is taught with an animated song or story then followed up with a quick quiz. Periodically a test to review what has been learned appears for the child to take and, every so often a fun game or activity such as painting a picture will show up for a child to do.

I love the master page where you can see what has been done and what is coming up next. Although you are able to skip around, it is recommended that you do everything sequentially because one thing builds on another.

 

As I mentioned before, Joshua loves this and is excited about using it. I am going to begin using it with Jacob as well. To find out more about Times Alive by Times Tables the Fun Way just click on any one of the highlighted links above. You can also check them out on social media by clicking on one of the links below. To find out what other members of the Homeschool Review Crew had to say click on the banner below. Happy Homeschooling!

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/LearnMultiplication/
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F35_ZRpRzJI

 

   

Sorry Everyone!

I'm sorry for not keeping you all updated. I was sicker than a dog for nearly two weeks worth sine kind of nasty cold. I am feeling much better so I should be back to regular blogging tomorrow. I have a lot of neat things to share. So much for my everyday for a year challenge.