Christian Home Educators of KY Blog

Institute for Excellence in Writing .  Andrew Pudewa. Both names are well-known and well-respected. Anyone who knows me knows that Mr. Pudewa ranks up there in my top 3 as far as conference speakers go.  His approach to teaching is very common sense.  I trust him.  I believe him. I was thrilled to receive his Phonetic Zoo spelling curriculum, but a little nervous, too.  I will admit up front that I've never used a spelling curriculum with Ben (4th grade) before.  I usually pull vocabulary words out of our unit studies and sometimes use those as spelling words, using the Charlotte Mason method for spelling, which is a visual method. I think this method has worked well for Ben, so I haven't really sought out another way to teach spelling.  I wasn't sure how I would feel about using a spelling curriculum. I was nervous for no reason.  Phonetic Zoo is a great, common sense method to teaching spelling. Once again, Mr. Pudewa has not disappo...

Spring has sprung! And nowhere is this more evident than during a nature walk. Birds are singing, flowers are blooming, and the sun is shining bright. It's the perfect time to get outdoors and explore nature! Why not begin with the loveliest creation of all--those blooming beauties--wildflowers? If you're like me, you might not be sure where to begin. NaturExplorers' Wonderful Wildflowers , from Shining Dawn Books , makes it easy to figure out! This awe-inspiring unit study lays out a plan perfect for one nature walk or a dozen. With living books, carefully selected non-fiction books and websites, tons of hands-on activities, notebooking pages, and a complete list of ideas for how to learn about and enjoy wildflowers, your students will be begging for more nature walks and creating a lifetime of memories while photographing and drawing all of their discoveries. For the Charlotte Mason fan in you, this unit (and all NaturExplorers units ) also incorporates studies of...

Modesty Matters will once again be a welcome vendor at CHEK!  This article is contributed with permission by Malia Russell of Homemaking 911, a Featured Speaker and vendor herself! *** I would like to share a new curriculum that I am using with Anne Mary (9) and Sarah (12) so that we could learn sewing together at home this fall as part of their “Home Economics” Credit. We purchased a curriculum that is made to teach basic sewing skills. Each lesson is brief and on video so that it is very visual- an easier way to learn sewing. With basic instruction and easy-to-follow instructions my daughters are learning sewing machine basics, different types of stitches, fabrics, and other sewing essentials. Over the course they will learn to sew an apron, a skirt and other projects as well. We are really enjoying it so far. Here is an article written by Deanna L. Carmichael, the founder of the curriculum. The Lost Skills of Home Making In 1985, the year I graduated from high ...

I wanted to let you all know about a new feature at The Old Schoolhouse Magazine -- Schoolhouse Teachers . You may have noticed that the new digital version of   TOS Magazine is open access, meaning it is free to everyone now. There are even FREE apps available for iPhone, iTouch, iPad , Kindle Fire , and Droid .  In the past, when you subscribed to the magazine, one of the side benefits was the Teacher's Toolbox. We enjoyed  the Teacher's Toolbox, especially the freebie unit study each month, but we didn't really utilize it much more than that. Things have flipped. While the magazine is free, the paid subscription service is now an updated version of  the Teacher's Toolbox, called Schoolhouse Teachers . But it's so much more than the old Teacher's Toolbox ever was. One of the coolest features of Schoolhouse Teachers is that there are now real live teachers  for  several subjects who are providing lesson plans on a daily or  monthl...

Math.  Just the word can send many homeschool moms running for the hills. In our 5 years of homeschooling, we've tried at least that many math programs. We've yet to use the same math curriculum 2 years in a row. Nothing seems to click well with my son.  So I was excited to get to try A+ Tutorsoft , in exchange for an honest review. My son loves the computer, and since this is a software-based program, I had high hopes it would click with him.   A+ Tutorsoft is interactive, easy to implement and, for the most part, does the teaching for you. We received the Interactive MATH Full Curriculum CD for 5th grade. On the CD were the year's worth of lessons with a suggested lesson plan, interactive flashcards, printable worksheets with practice problems, printable exams, and a solutions guide. My son has not minded using this math program. Because it is self-paced, he has not found it overwhelming, even though he has found it challenging. I have apprecia...

If you're a typical working parent, according to Israel Wayne's newest book, Full-Time Parenting A Guide to Family-Based Discipleship , you are spending just 19 minutes per day looking after your own children. Pair this statistic with the even more sobering statistics mentioned in his book regarding the number of hours a child spends away from home during the day, hours and type of media consumption and exposure to "non-parental information and life-changing worldviews" and you may not be surprised that according to Mr. Wayne, "65-88% of all Christian youth leave the faith their freshman year of college. " It begs the question, "Did they leave long before then?"  What is a concerned parent to do? In Full-Time Parenting, A Guide to Family-Based Discipleship , Israel Wayne provides a blue-print to take back the raising of your own children and move from being a "part-time" parent to a "full-time" parent while establ...

"Today, the study of history has become a study of dates, facts, names, and events, with no consideration for their cause and effect. This approach to history has produced students who regard history as dull and boring and who have some knowledge of facts (or effects) of history, but no understanding of the cause of history and the individual's importance in His Story. Studying history with an effort to determine the cause and effect of the events gives life to the subject." ~Ruth J. Smith The Might Works of God    history series is a child's Providential History of the United States of America, written by Ruth J. Smith ( Pilgrim Institute ). This series contains 3 volumes, written for the elementary-aged student: The Might Works of God: Self Government  ($17.95) In this first volume, r eaders learn about Christ as the cause of Self-Government, the historical effect of the Bible in English, God's Providence in the discovery of the New World, the peopl...