Thrift Schooling

 

  What is the absolute worst advice that you could ever give someone? Google it. No, I am not telling you to Google the answer.  “ Google it, ”  my friends, is the worst possible response that could ever be given or received. Here, someone is coming to you looking for advice, suggestions, experience, or an opinion. Do you honestly think that this person does not know that Google exists? They are coming to you because they value your opinion, your views, and your thoughts. Responding by telling them to Google it could mean one of two things.  One, it is possible that you honestly don't know so you are innocently telling them what you would do. You would Google it. But think about how that response sounds. It can make the person asking the question feel bad for asking. It would be comparable to asking a grocery store clerk where the mayonnaise is and he tells you it is in the store. Wow. Thanks, clerk. I know it is in the store. I have purchased it here before, I am si...

For my final review of the Ninth Grade Timberdoodle kit, I am excited to share with you  Grammar for the Well-Trained Mind . What I love about these books is that they are colored coded depending on what level your child is using. My son used the blue series. This included a workbook, teacher key, and instruction manual . From diagramming sentences to learning the basics rules of grammar this series has it all. I love its simplistic approach. It is not too overwhelming for the child that is not strong in grammar, as I mentioned in my previous review, this is not a strong point for all of my children.  The teacher's manual is perfect for the parent that is not comfortable teaching grammar. I enjoy teaching it (even though my boys despise learning it) so the word for word instructions in the manual was not needed for me but I have used that method of teaching for other subjects and thrived on it. If you are looking for a scripted teaching manual then this is absolutely for ...

One of the biggest struggles in my homeschool with my ninth grader, hands down, is grammar. He blames it on his friends who are "true southerners." This is where ain't is an actual word. My son even looked it up in the dictionary to prove to me that is was legit. Now don't get me wrong. I know that contractions are not usually used in professional writing, but I will use them one in a while. But never will I use the contraction "ain't." I just can't do it. Now, my son likes to pick on me because I love grammar and he could care less about it. I think the biggest laugh we had was when I picked out a top of the line novel and one of the main characters often used that contraction. This means my son laughed hysterically as I would cringe and read "ain't" over and over again.  Well the last laugh is on him because I found a way to sneak grammar into his homeschool without it technically being a "grammar" book.  Word Roots Level 3 ...

Who says homeschooling has to be rigid? I know when I first started homeschooling I made sure to have desks and a flag hanging in the front of the classroom (yes, I had a classroom). My, so much has changed over the years and for that I am thankful. One of the joys of homeschooling is to be able to add in activities and materials that fit your family. Two materials that were part of the Timberdoodle ninth grade kit include a  Stress Ball Angry Putty  and Buildings of the World Puzzle . A fun aspect of using the Timberdoodle curriculum is you can pencil in what you want your child to work on each day. Penciling in this putty was fun. My son was surprised but it actually came in handy. I would have him play with it during our family's read aloud each morning. As I would read, he would be able to keep his hands busy. His little brothers were jealous but it wasn't used as a toy as much as it was used to help keep him focused. Sometimes it is easy to think that your doodler or fidg...

An incredible addition to my son's ninth grade curriculum this year has been the  Mand Labs Premium Kit . This truly is electronics at its best. This high-quality kit is complete with over 165 components. What makes this kit unlike anything we have ever used in our homeschool is it comes with an actual curriculum. That's right. It has two books with detailed activities—over sixty of them.  Ranging in difficulty from easy to challenging, my ninth grader found this to be more challenging and educational than any other kit he had tried in the past. Not to mention, one of the first lessons had him stick a nine volt battery on his tongue. Being all boy, and a risk taker, he loved it and couldn't believe that was part of his school that day.  In a day and age where computers and technology are on the rise, learning the basics of electronics is key. I love how this kit makes it fun yet it is educational. Oftentimes in our homeschool we know that we have the freedom to add in ext...

  I have to be honest. I have a favorite math curriculum that I use in my homeschool. Yet what I learned was, my ninth grader was not a fan. My eleventh grader loves it and my second grader loves it, but not everything will work for all kids. That is the true joy of homeschooling though, we can adapt and adjust to each child. My ninth grader flat out said to me that he did not want to be sitting in front of a screen for his classes, and the math curriculum I general use is online-based. I listened to him and asked if he was open for a compromise. I asked him if he would be willing to take a math course that had one video tutorial per week (on a DVD) and then he could work through the concepts in a workbook, with my help if needed.  He thought that was a great idea which is what let us to begin  Math-U-See Geometry . Part of the  Timberdoodle 9th Grade Curriculum Kit , I knew the flow of the Math-U-See courses and thought it would be a good fit for my son. I was absol...