Meal Planning Monday

So, it's not the weekend but it's still meal planning. 

Lots of things going on this week, too many changes and it seems like I barely got to enjoy the weekend before it's Monday again.  Even now, I barely got  3 hours of sleep and I just want to go back to bed and order pizza later.. haha   But I did manage to get to town yesterday, get some grocery shopping done and get the meal plan set up.

These next two weeks, we will be having an extra mouth to feed.  One of our friends is going to be alone for the next two weeks as her husband will be away with military duty.  Our friend is also pregnant, so to take some stress off of her, we will be setting an additional place at our table for her.   On the flip side of that, we will have one less person sleeping under our roof as each night my oldest will be going back to our friend's house to keep her company each night. 

On top of that, my husband has been switched to day shift for the next few weeks leading up to when he leaves for 5 weeks for his own military stuff.   I'm already exhausted!!  lol

Sunday: Sopa Azteca with Chicken with tortilla chips and avocados

Monday:  Bolgogi with rice

Tuesday:  Braised Chicken in Tomatoes with green beans, olives and orzo

Wed:   Chicken and Waffles (Alyssa's cooking)

Thursday:  Creamy Bowties with Ham and Peas and honey-glazed carrots

Friday:  Cheeseburgers with sweet potato fries

Saturday:   Jerk Chicken with coconut rice, tomato and cucumber salsa

Transcripts Made Easy (A Homeschool Crew Review)

While my kids are still elementary aged and have a number of years before we start worrying about high school leveled courses, I was super glad to be given the opportunity to review the digital copy of Transcripts Made Easy: The Homeschooler's Guide to High-School Paperwork written by Janice Campbell and published by Everyday Education.

My oldest daughter went to public schools in the state of California.   Unfortunately, her high school only provided enough courses to meet the requirements for a high school diploma and attend a 2 year college but did not provide enough for her for admissions into a 4 year college.  She lacked a 2nd year of foreign language and a third year of math, yet 2nd year Spanish was only offered to 12 students per year as a zero hour class and Algebra 2 was not offered at all.    Sadly, her high school failed her.

Luckily, I can avoid these types of issues when the time comes with Ashleigh and Garrett.  By planning ahead of time, I can guarantee that they each complete the courses they will need for university level acceptance. However, I honestly would not have the first idea how to organize the information in the form of a transcript to provide to potential universities.

That's why Transcripts Made Easy is such a wonderful resource.

In it's 4th edition, the digital version of Transcripts Made Easy is a 138 page PDF format that walks you through the hows and whys of preparing a transcript for your homeschooled high school student.  This resource is very straight forward and lacks the fluff and filler that you often find used to pad the length of other books.  Instead, Janice Campbell gets straight to business in taking you step by step how to organize your student's high school paperwork and translate that to a polished transcript that can be submitted to any college or university.

Included in the table of contents:

Part 1
Meet the Transcript
What is a transcript?
Who needs a transcript?
Who will see the transcript?
What are the parts of the transcript?
Overview of the Transcript Process
Where to Start in This Book

Part 2
Plan with the End in Mind
What to Study in High School
Sample High School Requirements
Skills and Habits to Cultivate in High School
Scheduling Courses
Sample Four-Year Schedule for College-Bound Students
Standardized Tests to Consider
Seven Strategies for a Successful First Year at College
College Alternatives
Six Things Your Teen Can Do While Homeschooling High School
High School Q&A
Teaching Teens

Part 3
Keep Simple Records
High School Binder
Student Work Samples to Keep
How to Use Class Profile Sheets
How to Use Subject Worksheets
Naming Classes
Special-Needs Records and Transcripts with Judith Munday
Special Needs Resource Recommendations from Kathy Kuhl

Part 4
Grades, Credit, and the GPA
Grading Realistically and Ethically
Use Simple Credibility Clinchers
How To Grade Written Work
Writing Evaluation Rubric
Grading for Unschoolers and the Chronically Relaxed
Non-Grading Philosophy
Retrospective Grading
Define a Grading Scale
Assign Quality Points
How to Grant Credit
Granting Credit for Honors Classes
Granting Credit for AP, Dual Credit, or College-Equivalent Classes
Calculate a Grade Point Average

Part 5
Create the Transcript
How to Issue an Official Transcript
Transcript Formats and Examples
Horizontal Transcript Format
Vertical Transcript Formats
Sample: Vertical Transcript Organized by Subject
Sample: Vertical Transcript Organized by Semester
Sample: Vertical Format with Lines
Check-Off Transcript Format
Sample: Check-Off Transcript
High School Diploma Format
How to Create a High School Diploma
Text for Diploma

Part 6
References, Resources, and Reproducibles 
Glossary
Resources for Planning and Learning
Reproducible Forms

About Janice Campbell

Janice Campbell and her husband Donald are the parents of four sons whom they educated at home
from preschool through early college using methods combining Charlotte Mason, classical education, and the Thomas Jefferson method.  Janice is the author of the Excellence in Literature curriculum  and other homeschool resources.  In addition to writing for various homeschool resources, she had also been a speaker at multiple home school conferences since the 1990's. 


My Thoughts

As mentioned, my kids are still in elementary grades.  However, it is never too early to start thinking and planning for the final end game for their home based education.  While at this point Garrett hasn't expressed any interest in attending college after high school (hopefully that will change), Ashleigh has stated she does want to continue her education and pursue a career in the sciences  (at this point she has stated she wants to study Veterinary Medicine but that could of course change). 

Sample form from Transcripts Made Easy

Transcripts Made Easy gives me the stepping stones needed to make sure that I provide the educational courses that Ashleigh would eventually need in order to get acceptance into the best possible school for the career field she would like.   For example, if Ashleigh's interest remains in Veterinary Medicine, she would most likely wish to attend Texas A&M.  Texas A&M without a doubt has one of the best Veterinary Medicine programs in the country - a fact that the Longhorn in my hates to admit - haha.    Incoming Freshman wishing to be admitted to Texas A&M must have the following courses:   4 years of English, 4 years of Mathematics - three of which must be Algebra 1, Algebra II and Geometry, 4 years of Science  - two of which must be Biology 1, Chemistry 1 or Physics 1, and 2 years of the same foreign language.

Knowing these requirements, I can now sit down with the forms that are provided in Transcripts Made Easy and begin planning out what courses we will have to take in order to meet these requirements.    Then, the book helps walk me through to know now much weight I can credit each course that Ashleigh will eventually take. Does psychology count as a half credit or a whole credit?  What does an acceptable grading scale look like and how should I grade my student's work? What about CLEP tests, the GED or the ACT and SAT - should my student take any of these? And what about those duel credit classes - how do I determine those situations?  Transcripts Made Easy helps the parent navigate all of these types of questions and then translate them ultimately onto paper to best display their student's learning to prospective higher learning establishments.

Overall, I am very grateful to have such a wonderful resource that is straight to the point to walk me thru something that will be one of the most important pieces of paper in my children's education and it will be very valuable in the future.

For more information about Transcripts Made Easy: The Homeschooler's Guide to High-School Paperwork from Everyday Education and author Janice Campbell, please visit their website.  You can also find more information on the following social media platforms:

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/janicepcampbell

Twitter: https://twitter.com/janicecampbell

Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/janicecampbell/ 

Be sure to click the banner below to read more reviews from other Crew Members who reviewed Transcripts Made Easy.

Wordless Wednesday

Forgot to hit post on this so I'm posting it late..  But  Ash and Garrett got to try an Acai Island Bowl for the first time on Wednesday.   It's acai sorbet, coconut, granola, bananas, strawberries and blueberries with a drizzle of honey.. They both loved it!!

Harriet Tubman (A Homeschool Crew Review)

When I was in school, I found history to be extremely boring.  The teacher would say open your textbook to page such and such and the next hour would be spend trying not to fall asleep while taking notes on dates and events that were presented in a very dry, boring manner.  Thankfully, one of the benefits of homeschooling my kids is that we can learn history in more interesting manners than a cut and dry textbook.

One particular way we love to learn history is using the hero biographies from YWAM Publishing. Over the course of the last few years, we've had the opportunity to review four different selections from the Heroes of History series:  Captain John Smith, Alan Shepard, George Washington, and Daniel Boone.   When I was given another opportunity to review another selection from YWAM Publishing, I decided it would be a great opportunity to teach the kids about the woman who might one day soon soon be gracing the $20 bill - Harriet Tubman.  For this review, we were given a physical copy of the book Harriet Tubman: Freedombound as well as the digital copy of the Study Guide that accompanies the book.


About YWAM Publishing

YWAM Publishing is part of the YWAM (Youth With A Mission) Ministries that was founded in 1960 and offers a large selection of quality books written about figures whose lives not only had a huge impact in history but also showcase how their faith helped shaped them and how God used them to make a difference in the world.  With books about Presidents such as George Washington and Ronald Reagan, great inventors like Thomas Edison, pioneers such as Davey Crockett or Meriwether Lewis , Civil Rights icons like Harriet Tubman, Sports icons like Lewis Zamperini and Missionaries such as Nate Saint and Corrie Ten Boom and even people like Ben Carson who are making an impact today, there's so many options that are sure to spark interest in any reader.

YWAM Publishing brings each story to life through engaging biographies written by Janet & Geoff Benge.  Each book focuses on extraordinary people whose faith helped them to achieve some of the greatest accomplishments in history.

About Harriet Tubman: Freedombound and the Study Guide

This 208 page paperback biography is written for readers 10 and up and follows the life of Harriet Tubman, one of the most prominent leader of the Underground Railroad during the days of slavery leading up to the Civil War.   Starting with her childhood, to her early days as a slave, the head injury that would plague her throughout here lifetime, thru to her days a the conductor of the Underground Railroad as well as a spy for the North during the Civil War, the story of Harriet Tubman comes to life thru a well written story about a remarkable women. 


 In addition to the biography, we were also given a digital study guide to be used in conjunction with the book.  Loaded up as a web page, the file gives access to the 61 page PDF file that contains a multi-subject study guide to help incorporate language arts, science, writing, economics, ect into the study while reading the book. 

Sample pages from the Study Guide

How We Used It

We tend to like using YWAM books as a read aloud selection and this time around was no different. We found that reading a chapter a day was a perfect pace for us.  The kids would use this time to eat their lunch while we sat together reading about this amazing woman. 

The kids really enjoyed learning about Harriet and I'll be honest, I was learning right along with them.  I don't honestly remember learning a whole lot about Harriet Tubman in school, outside of the Underground Railroad.  Through the pages of Freedombound, we learned about some of the amazing things this woman did.   We learned that she was called Moses, because like the Biblical leader of the Exodus, she lead her people to freedom, first to Pennsylvania and then on to Canada when laws changed.  We also learned about her work during the Civil war, the work she did post war, and the recognition that she was given, including a shawl from the Queen. 

During especially intense parts of the book, Ashleigh couldn't be bothered to wait til the following day and on a few occasions, I found her curled up in her reading chair jumping ahead to find out what was going to happen next. 

After every chapter, we would refer to the study guide to answer a few reading comprehension questions.  Each chapter has 4 questions - the first question being a vocabulary question, which we used for a word study exercise each day while the other three questions asked questions about what was read.  I was shocked at how often Garrett was able to answer the questions as he typically doesn't do well on reading comprehension.   

Once we finished reading the book, we decided to do a few of the activity suggested in the Study Guide.  Ashleigh loves making stuffed animals. so she quickly decided that she wanted to make the cloth doll of Harriet Tubman.   So a trip to the fabric store and this was her creation.  

Other activities that we enjoyed were memorizing a few different quotes - one of which was from Harriet herself.  There is a section of quotes in the book that are easy to incorporate either as memory work or as copy work.  We opted to work on memorizing a few of them  - the first being "God - he's helped me six times, and He never failed on me the seventh either", a quote contributed to Harriet Tubman.  This was the first quote we began working on, so each time we read the at quote in the book, the kids would say it together.   The second quote we memorized was "A hero is no braver than an ordinary man, but he is braver five minutes longer" - Ralph Waldo Emerson. 

On another note - reading is one thing my son hates.  Even being read aloud to, he rarely pays attention and cannot wait til the selection is over so he can go on with his day.  However, this time around, Garrett asked repeatedly for me to read our chapter each day, making sure it was not forgotten.  After the book was completed, he asked which book we could read next from our selection of YWAM books.  This is the first time my son has actually ASKED for a book.  While I have a small selection of YWAM books that I have purchased and we will begin reading about Milton Hershey and Nate Saint in the upcoming weeks, I've promised him that he and I will set down together to select several selections from the YWAM catalog so that when we attend the Homeschool Convention in June, we can purchase them. I really like that there's such a wide selection of amazing individuals that he can choose from and I think we'll have a great time sitting and reading about George Washington Carver, Ronald Reagan and William Bradford, for example.   

Reading about Harriet Tubman really whet our appetites for more of these types of stories and I hope that YWAM continues to increase their library collection. One particular hero that Harriet Tubman's story made me wish to see as part of the Heroes of History collection would be that of Frederick Douglass and I think he would make a great addition to their collection. 

For more information about the wide selection of biographies available from YWAM Publishing, be sure to visit their website.  You can also find them on the following social media platforms:

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/YWAM-Publishing-482973445102/

Twitter: http://twitter.com/YWAMpublishing

Pinterest: http://www.pinterest.com/YWAMpublishing

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ywampublishing/

Members of the Review Crew were offered a wide selection of choices when picking the book they would like to review.  Be sure to click the banner below to read reviews for any of the 30 choices offered. 

Camping in Red Rock Canyon State Park (Wordless Wednesday)

Latina Christiana (A Homeschool Crew Review)

Ashleigh loves Latin.  After trying our hand with Chinese, Spanish and French, we struck gold when two years ago we were given the opportunity to review Prima Latina from Memoria Press.  Ashleigh absolutely loved it and her choice in foreign language was cemented for her.  This time around, we are reviewing Latina Christiana which is the next level Latin curriculum also from Memoria Press.


About Latina Christiana

Latina Christiana is considered an Introduction to First Form Latin, written by Cheryl Lowe.  As like most of Memoria Press's Latin courses written by Ms Lowe, it follows a Trivium learning path - grammar, logic and rhetoric learning.  In the first stage of learning (Prima Latina thru Fourth Form Latin),  students memorize Latin grammar and vocabulary words to create the foundation needed to progress to the Logic and Rhetoric stages of learning.   The Logic stage brings mastery of syntax and translation skills and the final stage, rhetoric has students reading Latin literature such as Ovid, Caesar, and Vergil.

Designed for grades third and fourth, the course is designed so that younger students will be prepared to move on to First Form Latin with success. Lessons are structured in such a way that even a parent who has had no previous education with teaching Latin can easily pick up the teachers guide and successfully teach the material. 

Latina Christiana picks up where Prima Latina leaves off.  The course is taught by Jessica Watson, Latina Christiana goes beyond simply memorizing vocabulary words and begins to introduce conjugations and declensions.  Designed to be taught as a beginning Latin course for students, the course is broken down into 25 weekly lessons.

For this course, students learn two of the five declensions and three of the six conjugations found in Latin.   By the end of the course, the student should be able to:

• pronounce, spell, and translate approximately 200 Latin words, 25 Latin sayings, 2 prayers and 3 songs
• understand concepts of tense, number, gender, and 1st, 2nd, 3rd person
• conjugate first and second conjugation verbs in the present, imperfect, and future tenses
• decline first and second declension nouns and adjectives
• give the singular and plural forms of first and second declension nouns

What We Received

For this review, we were given the following items:

• 3 disc DVD Set:  Contains all video lessons for the curriculum.  Roughly 5.5 hours of lessons taught by Jessica Watson. 

Screen Capture from DVD of Ms Watson

• Pronunciation CD: Audio CD containing complete pronunciation for each lesson as well as prayers and songs covered in the lessons. 
• Student Book (Fourth Edition):  105 page softcover book that serves as both the student text as well as workbook.  Contains 25 weekly lessons as well as 5 review lessons. Exercises reinforce memory work and teach grammar in incremental steps through simple translation. Grammar coverage includes 1st-2nd declension nouns, 1st-2nd conjugation verbs, 1st-2nd declension adjectives, the irregular verb to be, and 1st-2nd person pronouns.
• Teacher Manual (Fourth Edition): 187 page, soft cover, spiral bound teacher's guide that is designed for teachers who have no prior background in Latin.  Contains the complete copy of the student book with overlaid answers, comprehensive teaching instructions, grammar overview, as well as tests and quizzes. 

• Latina Christiana Flashcards:  pre-cut 3.5 x 2.5 inch heavy cardstock cards that contain all vocabulary, Latin sayings, and grammar forms taught in each lesson.  Latin is printed on one side while the English translation is printed on the opposite side.  Cards are numbered in the top corner to indicate what lesson the material was presented.

Flashcards for practice

How We Used It

Memoria Press uses a Classical Education approach to their learning materials, something my kids do not typically do well with, especially with their literature studies.  However, their approach to Latin education has always been well received in our home - Ashleigh does VERY well with their format.  Unfortunately, we hit a stand still last year when we tried to skip right to First Form Latin, which she wasn't ready for so we took a bit of a break.  I was pretty happy to be offered the opportunity to review Latina Christiana, the step below First Form, to allow Ashleigh to jump back into her Latin lessons without being overwhelmed.

Latina Christiana has been perfect for her needs.  While it wasn't part of the review items, we did purchase the lesson plans for the program from Memoria Press, which helped to break down what we should work on each day.  From there, it was really easy to add Latin back into our homeschool routine and only add roughly 20 minutes extra to our day.

Optional Lesson Plans for Latina Christiana

Our schedule worked as followed :

On Monday, Ashleigh watched the video lesson located on the DVDs.  These lessons are roughly 15 minutes in length and we found Ms Watson to be very easy to understand, although there were times we had to pause the video to allow Ashleigh to complete tasks in her book.   Each weekly video does a great job of breaking down the lesson so that Ashleigh can understand it.  Graphic slides, when presented,  are clear and easy for Ashleigh to read and follow along with in her book.

Capture from Latina Christiana Lesson 

After watching the lesson, Ash would work on her vocabulary drill sheet, simply writing each of her ten vocabulary words both in Latin and English as well as the weeks Latin saying.   Monday is also the day we would add her flash cards to her growing pile to work on all vocabulary during the week.

Ashleigh working on her Day 1 Vocabulary Drills

Tuesdays we listen to the included audio cd which helps to solidify proper pronunciation of her vocabulary words.  This audio lesson is also taught by Ms Watson and is perfect for uploading onto her tablet.  We also converted the CD to MP3 and put it on a thumb drive so that we can listen to the lessons when riding in the car.  After listening to the audio cd,  Ashleigh then works through the exercises located in her student workbook.  We also drill through her flash cards at least once and then she works on filling out another copy of her vocabulary drill sheet.  Tuesdays also have her working on her Grammar drill sheets where she can work through the conjugations and declensions of her words.

Day 2 Bookwork

Wednesdays and Thursdays are review days.  We spend a good bit of time working though flashcards, listening to the audio CD, and working on our vocabulary and grammar drills.  Ashleigh's goal over the course of these two days is to be able to write her Latin vocabulary words properly from memory to prepare for her weekly quiz. To help accomplish this, I will dictate the word to her and she fills out her grammar sheet, writing first the word followed by the English translation.

Finally, on Friday, Ashleigh has a quiz.  These quizzes are located in the back of the Teacher's Manual and can be printed out for the student to use.  These tests are pretty short and to the point - simply translating the English translations into her Latin vocabulary words as well as to show knowledge of her grammar portion of the weekly lesson.

One of Ashleigh's end of the week quizzes

Final Thoughts

Latina Chrstiana has been the perfect bridge between Prima Latina and First Form Latin and I really wish we had not tried to skip this step previously.  Ashleigh was completely over her head with trying to figure out the declension of nouns and the conjugations of verbs that it really shook her confidence in learning Latin.  Latina Christiana eases the student into this material, allowing them to get comfortable with it slowly so that they fully understand the process.    This has been a game changer for Ashleigh and I have no doubt that once she finishes this particular curriculum, she will be more than ready to move on to First Form Latin - the next step offered by Memoria Press in their Latin language curriculum.

For more information about the many different products Memoria Press offers, including their huge selection of Latin curriculum, be sure to visit their website.  You can also find them on the following social media platforms:

Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/memoriapress/ 

Twitter:  https://twitter.com/MemoriaPress    Tag: @MemoriaPress     

Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/memoriapress/         

Instagram:   https://www.instagram.com/memoriapress/    Tag: @memoriapress     

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/memoriapress/ 

In addition to Latina Christiana, members of the Crew were offered the opportunity to review curriculum for Phonics, Latin, and also Prose and Poetry.  Be sure to click the banner below to read their reviews today.