Monday, April 30, 2018

The Disappointing Week Turned Around...



Well we were supposed to be in Tennessee this week.  But I didn't feel very well and was not having a good week.  So the kids and I stayed home.  The kids had been sick, and Lydia was getting over a cold.  So we were disappointed that we didn't get to head down to one of our favorite areas and hang out for a few days.  I quickly threw together some lessons to do, so they weren't just laying around doing nothing.  We all know that this is what they would do!

This week we started a new history/science study.  We'll learn about a new herb daily, and I also have the WildCraft game that I'm going to start playing with them.  It's a neat game, but not exactly what I wanted, so will be making some adjustments.


We didn't have Art/Science club since we were not even supposed to be here.  So the kids and I played Bird Bingo. 

I keep the coffee table stocked with prizes for impromptu awards and treats.


This week I chose the artist Joan Miro for their art study.  After watching videos on his whimsical art, they were told to re-create his piece "Air".



I signed all the kids up for Outschool.com classes.  The boys are taking a Class called Adulting 102 that covers various topics we have already covered.  Including insurance, financing, and even cleaning.  It's an ok class, and if we hadn't already been working on it, would be fine.  But I was a little annoyed at the speed she has been covering topics, and her assignment requirements.  So in true homeschooler style.... just not following her schedule, since the class was supposed to be self-paced anyway.  But even after telling her there was no way Joey could handle the amount of work she was requiring in one day, she gave him an F.  At that point, I just said Screw it!


Caty is excited to have her own email.  She and I have been playing with this all week.  Watch for our review on KidsEmail next month!


Math has been frustrating...so she been using A+ Interactive Math to catch up on skills.


I pulled a Science Kit off the shelf for Joey to use.  It was on Vision & Optics.  He thought this was fun, and something different.


 It's hard to tell, but the window image is upside down.  This is the way we see things, but our brain makes them upright.


Last week was nice.  I was even walking down to get the mail daily.  But holy cow....We got SNOW twice this week!! 

Brayden watching his YouTube class on Outschool.com.


Lydia took a class on using her 3D printer.  The teacher printed something he found for her.  She was excited.  Can't wait to get her printer lined up and ready to go.


Playing Star Wars Clue.  Brayden received this as a gift from his Uncle, Aunt and cousins a couple weeks ago.  It was very neat. 


 Working on her art project.  The dogs were very comfortable.


The boys started their Science fair project on How Clean Are Your Shoes?  They took swabs to see what would grow.


My socks because I had been running all over, including the basement.




New Shoes

 The dogs paws

All labeled and "ready to grow".


We picked up the girls Unicorn bowls they made like a month ago.  This place has very limited hours and it was hard to get back.  They were excited.


We had 4H elections this week.  Lydia is the Club Historian this year.


Brayden and Caty both tried to out for the Game Director position.



 Caty made sugar cookies for gifts for me.



Smores died suddenly.  It was very tragic.  Lydia got a new rabbit.  She decided on a lionhead.  It's name is Daisy.


 We went to a bee pollination event.  The girls were learning about building small bee houses to hang to help the bee population.

 She was all tuckered out and the dogs were keeping warm...lol


The boys had Bingo Night with the social group.  Brayden cleaned up again on prizes.  Don't know how he does it.


Joey won coverall also.



That was our week!  Busy as it was, we made it through again. 

Hope everyone had a wonderful week!  See you all next weekend!!


Weekly Wrap-Up
Homeschool Coffee Break


Thursday, April 26, 2018

Meme Thursday





Wednesday, April 25, 2018

A+ Interactive Math (by A+ TutorSoft Inc.) - Adaptive Math Curriculum Online Review




Recently we had the chance to review the Adaptive Math Curriculum Online from A+ Interactive Math (by A+ TutorSoft Inc.).  This has been a great program to find and work on problem areas in our math year.



The Adaptive Math Curriculum online program helps you to uncover areas you may not realize your child has been struggling with in their math plan.  You can easily pick your child's current grade level, then they take a placement test for that grade level or math topic by grade level.  Once the "grading is done", your child will be provided with the topics that they need to have some help with.

I did notice some areas recently where Lydia seemed to be struggling.  I'm was not sure how she got behind in a couple areas with fractions, but it happened.  So we have been reviewing math topics that may relate to helping her get back advancing in her Pre-Algebra program.  This has been very time-consuming for me.  I have to guess about what area to work in, and even what program would work best to review these topics.  I was excited to get the opportunity to see what A+ Interactive Math (by A+ TutorSoft Inc.) had created to help in this area of review.  We have used A+ Interactive Math (by A+ TutorSoft Inc.) in the past for the boys, and I really have liked using their Family Math package. 

I had Lydia take a placement test that would have been for the grade previous to what she is currently in.  I actually chose two grades for Caty, since she is delayed in Math and has been facing some skills regression.  I liked that I was able to choose the level.  But I could also make adjustments to the grade level that I chose, just in case I misjudged their math understanding.  

The Adaptive Math placement test probably took Caty at least 30 minutes.  She actually started a second time.  The program is very user friendly, she just does not like any math problems.  So she took her first test level twice.  I was able to login and review the test with her, so that she could see what she did wrong (it was also a lesson in learning how to not have a bad attitude.)

Needs some help....
 Got the answer right!

Caty likes the simple video presentation for math.  I'm grateful that she can listen to the explanation (non-Common Core), and if she still is struggling with the topic, I can watch it with her again and then she can practice more questions.  She can also practice with online worksheets.

She has been making progress.  It's slow, but making progress.  So that makes her happy as she watches her little guy move forward on the line.  (She started in the red due to some regression she has had the last few months.)

Lydia has also been making progress.  I'm making her cover every topic area, that she missed any in.  Yesterday I heard a "YES!!" shouted.  It was Lydia passing another level on her placement test.



She is making advancements as we find problems areas in Math.  Instead of hearing, "I CAN'T!!", I'm now hearing, "YES!! Another level conquered!"  That is the sounds you want to hear as they are gaining back their math confidence while using the Adaptive Math Curriculum online materials.  This will help her get back in the areas where she should be by fall so she can continue into the Pre-Algebra program with A+ Interactive Math (by A+ TutorSoft Inc.).

As with the Family Math Package, there is plenty of help available to parents to use the Adaptive Math Curriculum online materials.  Each of your students that you enroll will have a login for their individual courses/levels, and you will have a parent login also.  You can access the results and materials for each of your students under your parent login.  They even provide video tutorials if you have any questions.



Our kids are very sensitive to awful sounding computer voices that you hear on some computer programs.  If the voice is one that they consider annoying they will fight to use it.  We did not have a problem with this using A+ Interactive Math (by A+ TutorSoft Inc.) Adaptive Math Curriculum Online.  There are a couple cute little characters or designs that may appear on the opening screen, but I also LOVE that there is not a ton of cartoon character distractions that some online programs have.

We do not usually do math daily, usually 3 times a week.  I really like that even though we do not have math daily, A+ Interactive Math (by A+ TutorSoft Inc.) still allows them to make advancements in this difficult for most subject.  I'm so glad that we have had the opportunity to review the Adaptive Math Curriculum Onlinefrom A+ Interactive Math.  This is such a budget friendly option for families to choose when shopping for their math studies, and now they are not just full year math curriculum.  Now they also offer a way for students to gain even more confidence in their math skills!

Several members of the Homeschool Review Crew were given the opportunity to review both the Family Math Packages and also the Adaptive Math Curriculum Online that are offered by A+ Interactive Math (by A+ Tutorsoft Inc.).  Click on the link below to see how they used this program in their homes and how their students responded to it.


Family & Adaptive Math Online {A+ Interactive Math Reviews}
 

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