Teaching Textbooks Math 4.0 from Teaching Textbooks Review

Disclosure: I received this complimentary product through the Homeschool Review Crew.

As a busy homeschool parent of multiple kids in different grade levels, I was super excited to get the opportunity to review the new interface Teaching Textbooks Math 4.0 from Teaching Textbooks.  

Anyone who has followed our blog over the last ten years knows that I do not enjoy teaching math, especially for the older grades.  Throw in the fact that I am now working full-time, and I am struggling to stay afloat.  Teaching Textbooks Math 4.0 has been the answer to my math curriculum search.

Teaching Textbooks has been a program that we have used since beginning our homeschool journey.  We actually started out with the computer disk and printed workbook.  The boys worked their way through and they would work on the computer and also through the workbook.  This worked well.  But they have improved on the original options and now offer this completely online option for parents.

Teaching Textbook 4.0 offers interactive math lessons for students.  Each grade level can contain roughly 130 math lessons that includes quizzes over materials.  The lessons present the material with video how to solve the problems.  Students are asked to follow along with the step-by-step process and answer questions as the problem is solved.  This is meant to give extra practice that may be needed.

Each lesson builds on previous lessons, and this includes practice questions from previous lessons.  Those first 10 practice questions are great for building on skill to mastery.  It's a mix of past and current lesson.  Theses questions are not counted in the lesson grade.  And yes....I said grade.  Teaching Textbooks Math 4.0 does track lesson grades and gives you this information for quick reference.  Under your parent account, parents can opt to delete lessons that students failed and have them repeat the activities to improve on their score.

I love that questions are read to the student.  The voice can usually be picked from a short list, as well as the avatar that students would like to be.  Usually there are even a couple of puns cracked during the lesson.  I can tell when Caty is truly paying attention because she'll either crack up or go "man, why???"  You know like most of us do when we hear a pun.

Originally the Teaching Textbooks Math 3.0 online platform was through a specific website.  We have been using that since it's upgrade in January 2021.  Now Teaching Textbooks Math 4.0 is an app that we can download on our desktop.  We both have an individual login, so that I can track her.  I can also download ebook pages from her lessons if she is struggling and I want to verify how she is being taught to solve a problem.  I do not consider what Teaching Textbook uses as Common Core.  But you know how sometimes the way I learned math, and then adapted my way of understanding for my brain to get "it".  Well that's usually slightly different than the "teacher" in the app explains it.  With access to the online material, I can print out the lesson and help her to understand the lesson.

The new platform is extremely user friendly.  When you download the program to your computer platform, you do still need internet access to use the lessons.  You can download up to 6 lessons though if you are traveling or even struggle with internet access.

Teaching Textbooks Math 3.0 was a digital product also.  But you had to use the web interface.  I like that Teaching Textbooks 4.0 is a digital product, but you have a program on your device to access the materials.  Purchase of Teaching Textbooks 4.0 gives you access to the content for 12 months.  You do get lifetime access to the gradebook.  But say you are taking a few weeks off from school, you can actually pause your subscription for things like vacation and breaks.  That time will not count toward your 12 months, since you did not access the program.

Having such a long period to finish the lessons, this gives you time to your student to work through the entire grade level they are going through to take their time and not rush through the lessons if they need some help to master the material.

If you are not sure about the grade level your student will be tackling, you can easily take a placement test and find your student's placement level.

The benefits I have found using Teaching Textbooks Math 4.0:

• Students can work independently
• Automatic grading
• User friendly interface (Students can easily find there they left off)
• Access to the ebook for the program that your student is using
• Ability to download several lessons so that you can work on the go when you may have limited internet
• Parent login so that I can check their grades and what questions they are struggling on
• Questions are read to students
• Hints are given for various problems that allows for quick reminders on how to solve problems that students are struggling with
• Kid friendly avatars allow the student to personalize their lesson, but not be overly distracting.
• Very budget friendly for families.  They offer large family discounts also.
• Free trial subscription so that you can see if you like the program

We are definitely continuing to use Teaching Textbooks Math 4.0.  We have used them for many years, and I love the improved format.  I'll keep recommending them to my homeschooling friends.

Several members of the Homeschool Review Crew were given the opportunity to review various grade levels of Teaching Textbooks Math 4.0.  Click on the link below to see how they felt about using these in their homes.

   

                

My New Cleaning Schedule

With work and school, life is going to be very hectic.  I have some major health issues that have been going on, but life still needs to go on.  I have been working hard at getting myself into a set schedule for cleaning and making sure that our house stays safe and clean.  I need to make sure that I have time for lesson planning, work with the kids, and even spend time with Joe.  It's going to be rough.  

A very sweet friend of mine made this schedule for me to print and keep handy for reference.

I bought some extra meal prep bowls for myself.  Hopefully it will help from from eating crap.  My diet is really horrible right now.  I need help to try and cut back on flares.  I will cook a couple days ahead and even freeze a couple single serving meals for myself to help me out.  I cannot do leftovers for long due to my histamine disorder.  I must have nutritious food handy though.

So far I have been almost able to keep up somewhat with cleaning.  There are a few areas for improvement, even during a flare that I was struggling through, I have been trying my best.  

What are some things you do to keep yourself organized?  I'm going to make about 4 weeks worth of lesson plans this weekend to try and work ahead for the girls.  I do know that I will continue to rely on some online resources for their education.  They seem to be doing ok on some of their courses and working independently.  This summer we will be reviewing some math techniques that they struggle with so that we can keep advancing in that area.

I'm all ears...meal planning tips, cleaning tips, organizing...help this struggling mom out.  We can all support each other!

See you next time!

Renita

New Changes......

Life has been absolutely crazy at our house.  Working full-time.  And everything extra has been a struggle.  

Joey was sick for a couple of weeks.  He had something similar to diverticulitis.  He was miserable.  It was awful.  We had to take him to the ER twice.  This made his anxiety run off the chart, but he was so miserable he begged to go to the ER one day.  He is doing better now.  But it was very rough.  He's almost back on normal meds.

I have been looking to open up more independent employment options for myself.  So I am heading back to school part time this summer.  I'm going to try full-time this upcoming fall semester.  The past 21 years of being a mom has really prevented me from reaching degree goals.  It's time to close up the gap.  

Lydia is working at the zoo part time.  We have allowed her to go one day a week and help in a non-public position.  Where she can get hours, but not be overly exposed to possible close-contact situations.  She has really been enjoying this, but alas the shifts will end at the end of this month.  So they promised to find her something else to do, to keep her protected.

Caty has ..well.. Caty has been a typical 13 year old.  She keeps me on my toes.

Brayden is staying under the wire in the house.  He is working on updating his room.  He's doing a great job.  Constant reminders, but he's making sure he's doing just enough work to stay out of trouble.

I am in planning stages for summer.  I honestly have been exhausted.  The girls have gotten an impromptu week off from school.  They are supposed to be cleaning their rooms and reorganizing them.  We are shifting around beds.  The girls are redecorating their rooms.  I would like it all done in the next few weeks.  I think I have figured out our summer work.  I'll do a separate post about that.

I went for more bloodwork.  I may have an official diagnosis...maybe?!?!  I don't want to be hopeful, but it would be nice.  I would hopefully know a way to try and start healing and feel a bit better.  I have had several reactions.  Chronic pain, fatigue, brain fog, weight gain, depression, anxiety attacks, the list just goes on and on....That is a whole other post.  I will update.

This is just a brief update.  I had to get a new laptop and still working on connecting and downloading photos from my phone.  I should have it all figured out soon.

I hope everyone is having a great week...we are experiencing a pretty heavy snowfall on the 20th of April.  It's crazy to have spring flower buds now under snow.  When I can think clearer later in the week, I'll post progress on all the kids.

Menu Monday

Has anyone reached that part of the winter where they have cooked so much...yeah they are over it??  My planning brain is struggling.  We have food.  But WOW...I just can't some days.  I am trying hard to plan as much as possible to keep myself organized.  I work full-time from home (fortunately), but it's still a struggle.

Sunday

B - Pizza

L - Leftovers

D - Lasagna

Monday

B - Ground turkey hash

L - Leftovers from weekend

D - Loaded chicken w/ mashed potatoes

Tuesday

B - Mini egg muffins

L - Leftovers

D - Poor mans burnt ends w/ sweet potato tots

Wednesday

B- Toast and smoothies

L - Leftovers

D - Baked nachos 

Thursday

B - Freezer Waffles or Pancakes

L - Salad and mac/cheese

D - Peanut butter chicken and noodles

Friday

B - Cereal

L - PB&J Rollups

D -Smoked ham, corn cake, roasted sweet potatos

Saturday

B - Corn mush and ham
L - Udon noodles

D - Loaded Potato soup

***This is important.....some days I change things around.****  I print a menu and keep it on the cabinet.  If something happens, I change the menu in pencil.  I make sure to keep track at the bottom of the menu of the meals that get moved, and we still have the ingredients for.  

This biggest thing to remember.... BE FLEXIBLE!!  I cannot express this enough.  Do not down yourself if you need to move your menu around.  You might be exhausted, need to work over, or a sports practice gets moved....all these things have happened to me in the last few weeks.  Flexibility is the key.  I also have given up some control in the kitchen and make sure that the kids are involved as much as possible in making meals.  Some day they will be able to cook the entire meal themselves!!  Whoohooo!!

I know I didn't share any recipes, but if you are interested, please email me.  renitakuehner@gmail.com.  I'd be happy to share a close variation of what we make.  I seriously do not really follow recipes well...lol

Hope that these ideas help and everyone has a great week!!!

Renita

ARTisitic Pursuits, Inc. - Beginner Level, Art Core 1, Drawing with Graphite Pencils Review

Disclosure: I received this complimentary product through the Homeschool Review Crew.

                            

The girls love art time.  We recently had the opportunity to review Beginner Level, Art Core 1, Drawing with Graphite Pencils from ARTistic Pursuits Inc..  Affordable art instruction brought to you at home!

Beginner Level, Art Core 1, Drawing with Graphite Pencils was created for 4th grade through adults.  We received the hardcover textbook with DVDs, as well as the access to the online course.  This is the part that I fell in love with.

As I log into our account, I have full access to the hardcover textbook in digital format.  The lessons can be watched, just like with the DVDs, but since our laptops do not have drives, we are not missing out on that video instruction.  I can flip to the exact lesson I want each time, or simply click on the links.  You can see an example in the above picture.

The interface is extremely user friendly, which is very important for Caty.  She can sometimes struggle with navigating websites.  The Flipping Book program really allows for easy and quick use of the textbook virtually.

Each girl can actually keep track of where she is.  I'm actually enjoying the lessons also.  I have always wanted to learn how to draw better.  Using Beginner Level, Art Core 1, Drawing with Graphite Pencils has been a relaxing addition to my week.

The textbook course includes lessons on line, space, shape, texture, value, form, animal forms, human forms, and man-made forms.

There are 9 video lessons, that you can access on either DVD or online.

Examples are included for each style.

One of my favorite ways that ARTistic Pursuits, Inc. chooses to teach art is by including other pieces of art in their lessons.  When teaching a topic, students are able to see the art form in another piece of art.  This not only introduces them to a little art museum at home, but also helps them to associate that no matter their skill level they can become a wonderful artist.  Every piece of art can be broken down into a simple design with details added.  

The supply list for Beginner Level, Art Core 1, Drawing with Graphite Pencils is very budget friendly also.  Basic drawing supplies that you can get from almost any big box store, or you can order the supplies from Artistic Pursuits, Inc. and just add them to your order.  ARTistic Pursuits, Inc. really does want to make it super easy to teach art in your home.

Since the beginning of the pandemic, we have been paying for individual drawing lessons for the girls.  Some teachers have been better than others. It has been a bit of a struggle to find teachers that work with personalities, and even the expense has been far greater than the access for us to use Beginner Level, Art Core 1, Drawing with Graphite Pencils.  

I have always loved the curriculum offered by Artistic Pursuits, and recommend it to all new homeschoolers.  But didn't realize that the curriculum is now being offered online with streaming.  Something that makes it more accessible for the girls on their laptops.  We will continue using the online accessibility of ARTistic Pursuits, Inc. Beginner Level, Art Core 1, Drawing with Graphite Pencils and then continue with the other programs they offer.  

I also have added an extra group that I will be recommending ARTistic Pursuits, Inc. products too.  That includes parents and caregivers of adults with special needs.  The ease of use with this interface makes this program a great addition to their days.  

Several members of the Homeschool Review Crew were given the opportunity to review various program levels from ARTistic Pursuits, Inc.  Click on the link below to see how they used these programs in their homes and what worked best for their families.

                            

Homeschool Funny

How many have their capes on today???  Homeschool families unite!!

Everyday Education - Excellence in Literature Handbook for Writers Review

Disclosure: I received this product free through the Homeschool Review Crew.

We recently had the opportunity to review Excellence in Literature Handbook for Writers from Everyday Education.  This has been a great addition and reference to help our writers both in school, but also into adulthood.

We received the PDF of Excellence in Literature Handbook for Writers.  It is a unique one-stop reference for how to write essays, use proper punctuation, style, and usage of punctuation.  It was created to use along with the Excellence in Literature curriculum, but we used it independently.

Lydia struggles in this area.  She has been using a personal tutor for the past few weeks to help her with sentence structure, forming paragraphs, and smoothing out her final drafts of papers.  Needless to say this has cost us an absolute fortune.  

After reviewing the materials we received from Everyday Education, I was thrilled to see how she can use the Handbook for Writers Excellence in Literature to keep building on the foundation that the tutor has been helping her put in place.  

Excellence in Literature Handbook for Writers has two main sections.  The first provide detailed samples for how to build your papers and write essays.  The second part hits the mechanics.  This book is not to be an independent instructional curriculum, but actually as a reference.  I had a book similar to this when I was in high school.  I was able to use it to correct my writing, and make sure that I was actually creating my writing project in the correct form.  I used that book for several years, even after graduation and when I was working I would use this book also.  I like the layout.  The ease of using the index and table of contents to seek out the section you are looking for.  

Even as a parent, I can use the Excellence in Literature Handbook for Writers to make sure that the girls are completing writing project properly. There are rules of grammar that have changed since I was in high school and college.  So I can make sure they are doing thing accurately.

Even though it is not an "instructional" manual, Excellence in Literature Handbook for Writers really can help student construct an argument, debate or research paper through suggestions and the examples provided.  It breaks the materials down paragraph by paragraph in some cases.  It helps the student to really break down their writing and make sure that they are getting their point across.  

The Handbook for Writers Excellence in Literature would even make an excellent gift for students who are entering high school or college.  It can give them a guide to their future success in writing.  I encourage you to visit their website and explore the Table of Contents and see all that is available.  Since we did receive the PDF, I have the pages printed and put inside of a large binder so that we can keep it on the shelf for referral.  

Excellence in Literature Handbook for Writers will definitely be our go-to for literature and writing assignment for a long time to come.

Everyday Education gave several members of the Homeschool Review Crew the opportunity to review various products from their catalog.  Click on the link below to see how they felt about the products they reviewed and how they used them in their homes.

12 Gates Publishing - Hamelin Stoop: The Ring of Truth Review

Disclosure: I received this product free through the Homeschool Review Crew

We recently had the opportunity to review the third book in the Hamelin Stoop series - Hamelin Stoop:  The Ring of Truth.  This series is published by 12 Gates Publishing.  You can purchase this series from major online book retailers.

                                       
The Hamelin Stoop series is based off of the story of Hamelin Stoop.  His parents were forced to make a drastic decision to protect him by secretly leave him on the porch of an orphanage.  

There are two other books in this series,  Hamelin Stoop series - Hamelin Stoop:  The Eagle, The Cave, and the Footbridge and Hamelin Stoop:  The Lost Princess and the Jewel of Periluna.  I do recommend that you collect the whole series.

In Hamelin Stoop: The Ring of Truth you will be taken on an adventure of mystery and intrigue, and a healthy side of adventure as Hamelin is pursued by the evil Chimera and his agents.  Hamlin suspects his friend Layla is the lost princess form the Land of Gloaming.  Hamlin's stories trigger memories with Layla.  Is Hamelin alone in his quest?  Or does he now have a friend by his side in the question for the Ancient One's purpose? 

The Hamelin Stoop series is written for kids roughly late elementary through middle school.  I would say actually suggest they are at a Young Adult/early high school.   Lydia and Caty have been reading through our copy.  It will take the average reader a bit longer to read this story.  Which is great for Caty, but more frustrating for Lydia.  The story though has kept her attention, which is great.

12 Gates Publishing along with Robert Sloan are working on a Readers Guide to help students with their literature studies and they will be releasing this soon.

Caty and Lydia are truly enthralled with this new series.  They both love other science-fiction monster or ancient gods series fantasy series, and the Hamelin Stoop series has become a favorite with the girls.  In fact, Caty and Lydia have both asked me a couple times if they are going to be making a movie from this series.  This fantasy series is a definite read for tweens!!

Click on the link below to see how other members of the Homeschool Review Crew enjoyed this series and what they families thought of them.

Menu Monday

Has anyone reached that part of the winter where they have cooked so much...yeah they are over it??  My planning brain is struggling.  We have food.  But WOW...I just can't some days.  I am trying hard to plan as much as possible to keep myself organized.  I work full-time from home (fortunately), but it's still a struggle.

Sunday

B - Sausage and Potatoes 

L - Taco Rice

D - Burgers and fries

Monday

B - Pumpkin Cake

L - Corn dogs 

D - pork burrito bowls

Tuesday

B - Cereal

L - Chili dogs w/ salad

D - Pizzas (make your own kits)

Wednesday

B- Breakfast burritos

L - Potato soup

D - Ukrainian pancakes and sausage

Thursday

B - Pancakes

L - PB&J wraps

D - Chili and cornbread

Friday

B - Quesadillas

L - chili fries (with leftover)

D -Teriyaki chicken and rice

Saturday

B - Waffles
L - Open

D - Goulash 

***This is important.....some days I change things around.****  I print a menu and keep it on the cabinet.  If something happens, I change the menu in pencil.  I make sure to keep track at the bottom of the menu of the meals that get moved, and we still have the ingredients for.  

This biggest thing to remember.... BE FLEXIBLE!!  I cannot express this enough.  Do not down yourself if you need to move your menu around.  You might be exhausted, need to work over, or a sports practice gets moved....all these things have happened to me in the last few weeks.  Flexibility is the key.  I also have given up some control in the kitchen and make sure that the kids are involved as much as possible in making meals.  Some day they will be able to cook the entire meal themselves!!  Whoohooo!!

I know I didn't share any recipes, but if you are interested, please email me.  renitakuehner@gmail.com.  I'd be happy to share a close variation of what we make.  I seriously do not really follow recipes well...lol

Hope that these ideas help and everyone has a great week!!!

Renita

How are you doing right now?

As we are all surviving this pandemic, we may wonder how we will even make it.  Will our employment hold out?  Will we get sick?  The anxiety can be too much.  It's been just about a year since we started talking about this on an almost daily basis.  Would this COVID we were hearing about in China affect us?  A year ago we had no idea the impact it would make on our lives and change them permanently. 

I just wanted to share a couple of thoughts from my brain.....

1.  Make sure you are being open and age appropriate honest with your children.  Life may be totally backwards for them right now also.  Tell them we are doing all we can to keep our family safe.  Explain the recommended steps and why you are choosing to do them.  Let them know decisions you make are not made lightly.  Encourage questions if they have any.  Our kids are older, but they are delayed in many ways.  Some understand, and others do not.

2.  Know that they are going to be emotional.  I'm sure you have shed a few tears also.  We all face disappointments.  Our kids are watching us.  If we are not handling the changes well, and we are showing it, they will pick up on that.  Their outbursts may increase also.  Instead of arguing, walk away.  Both parties need to calm down.  

3.  Help them keep in touch with friends and loved ones.  I personally have set up Zoom art times and hangouts for the kids.  The girls even had a "virtual sleepover".  It was fun for them.

4.  Keep somewhat of a structure. But throw in a few surprises.  Maybe pizza for breakfast.  PJ day.  But make sure they know that they must keep up on their chores/household responsibilities.

5.  Remember the treats as you can.  Not just for the kids, but you too.  I figured out how to color my own hair...just because.  I also do times where I let the girls experiment with color in their hair.  They do crazy make up.  I've even gotten them a few courses on professional makeup application.  The boys we encourage with wooden crafts for Brayden.  Joey is doing some project building from Eureka crate and even signing him up for some drawing classes.

6.  Include some game/tv time.  Maybe follow a specific series as a family.  We have had several nights watching Mandelorian and even the new WandaVision show.  Get out the popcorn bar or hot cocoa bar.  Throw in some surprises.  I was doing Star Wars themed meals during Mandelorian.

7.  Find a way for your kids to help others virtually or online.  We have been mailing out cards to various ones in our Kingdom Hall.  They just have an encouraging message that we love seeing them on Zoom meetings or in Virtual field service.  This encourages our kids and helps others.  We never know the true struggles that others are facing with a smile on their face.

I do try to find self-care.  I feel defeated many days.  Special needs and mental struggles are hard without a pandemic.  But it's really been hard, especially when we hear about loved ones who are sicks and even when we lose loved ones.  Activities that were normal for us, even if they are open again I find that we are choosing to remain in our little bubble for our family's protection.  I do try to get up early and enjoy my coffee before the storm.  Read my Bible and pray.  I look at Psalms 55:22 a lot.  We know that we can rely on God, and throw our anxieties on him through prayer.  He is there for us, our rock.  The power of prayer can help provide us peace like a river flowing over us.  I know I am not as strong as a rock.

We all can only do what is best for our own families.  So we need to stop comparing ourselves to others, their situation is different.

I hope you are all doing well.

Renita

Snow Week....

This is how my week is going....we went from a snow deficit to having more snow on the ground than when the Blizzard of '78 hit. We received 14.5 inches of the powdery white stuff.

But since we are all working and schooling virtually we are not really affected.  We had been able to prep and make sure we were stocked so we did not need to go anywhere at all this week!  

Hope everyone is handling the snow well.

Cold Weather Ideas

Since so many of us are on limited or not participating in outside activities due to restrictions.  I have older kids, so these are some options that we have been ingHere are some suggestions to look at:

1.  Help the kids get involved in the cooking.  This is a great time to really sharpen their cooking skills, and for you to learn some new cooking techniques.  Plan a themed cultural meal weekly or monthly.  Whatever your budget allows.  Have a cooking contest.  Can you "Nail" a recipe or project you find on Pinterest?

2.  If you are looking for social options, check out Outschool.com.  There are a wide range of virtual opportunities for kids to hang out with other kids who have the same interests.  Just search for "social group (kids interests)". I actually host several Minecraft meetups for kids of all ages and building levels.  The girls have really enjoyed this break up in their schedule.

3.  Have you checked out Kiwi Co?  I know this is not a free option.  But the kids have enjoyed these crates.  Currently we have subs to Eureka and Maker Crates.  They really break up the activities.  All the supplies are included!! 

4.  Find some great drawing tutorials on Youtube.  Make a goal to create some sort of art/craft everyday.  Look at reusing recyclable materials from your home.  You could also open the up the world on Pinterest.  One of my favorite drawing channels is Art Hub for Kids.

5.  Bring out those board games.  Maybe you are bored...get that "bored" with some of them.  Encourage your kids to create a new game using materials from an old game that none of you like.  They could re-write the cards and even change the board up.

Hope you can use some of these.

Have a great day!

Renita

renita@krazykuehnerdays.com

Will Phill see his shadow or Not?

Will Phil see his shadow or not???  I predict he will see his shadow this year.  Hey if we get more snow...I'm staying home anyway.  I'm ok with that.

Have a great day!!

Renita

renita@krazykuehnerdays.com