Category: Homeschool

As many of you know we just celebrated our daughter’s high school graduation this past spring.  Her junior & senior years of high school were some what stressful for our family because of our circumstances of selling our home in South Dakota and moving our family to Texas. that decision was partially because of our daughter’s choice of the university she wanted to attend.  Neither my husband or I did our higher education in the United States and since Amber has been homeschooled since seventh grade, the whole college application and admissions process was slightly overwhelming for our family.

Snoopy and the Peanuts gang inspire viewers to celebrate Independence Day with the release of This is America, Charlie Brown, from Warner Bros. Home Entertainment.  This entertaining collection is comprised of eight delightful animated Peanuts television specials that have been re-mastered for superior picture and sound quality.  Each of the animated specials centers on various important events in the course of American history, as seen through the eyes of the Peanuts gang.

As our homeschooling journey is now complete, I’ve been winding down on those kind of review posts and topics.  But I couldn’t resist taking just one more on even right when Amber was graduating.  I mean how can you not be intrigued by a book written by a prominent author and astrophysicist that explains the fact that despite what our TV and DVDs tell us; Black Holes Don’t Suck, but also in a way that the average Joe (or Tammy in this case) can actually understand it?! 

Agnitus is a Tablet (iPad, Android, Kindle) app that has over 45 educational games for children 2-6 years old.  This is a great resource for homeschool families with younger children.  I’d say it’s best for the mid range in those ages 3-5.

Agnitus offers curriculum-based, fun learning games and they also offer a grading system & report cards!

The app focuses on literacy and math skills, but they have some other games in there as well including one for tooth brushing.

We have great enthusiasm for superhero movies around our home, so we’re excited about the release of The Amazing Spider-Man 2 on May 2nd.

We’ve always known that Spider-Man’s most important battle has been within himself: the struggle between the ordinary obligations of Peter Parker and the extraordinary responsibilities of Spider-Man. But in The Amazing Spider-Man 2™, Peter Parker finds that a greater conflict lies ahead.

Alone Yet Not Alone by Tracy Leininger Craven is inspired by a true story, which her grandmother Leininger first told her when she was young after tracing their family’s genealogy.

In 1755, Allegheny warriors ambush sisters Barbara and Regina Leininger’s, 12 and 9, house, killing their father and older brother, kidnapping the young girls and taking them to their village.  There they were forced to adapt to the warriors’ way of living—which included dyeing their faces, wearing warrior clothes and adopting the Allegheny ways of worship.

It’s that time of year! Families across the country are gearing up for college campus visits.  Before taking the time (and spending the money) to apply to schools, it’s a good idea for students to visit a variety of campus’ to determine which will be a good fit for them and their family. However, this may not be feasible for many families due to the associated costs. As an alternative to the traditional campus visit, students can do virtual tours on websites such as www.youniversitytv.com, or attend a virtual college fair on www.collegeweeklive.com.

From the time our daughter was old enough to play she took to assembling and building things like a duck does to water.  Puzzles and LEGOS kept her busy for hours and she was building sets geared for older children long before the suggested age on the box.

When other girls were playing with Barbies and pretend food, Amber was mixing up slime and creating science projects.

Ever since he was a small boy my husband has been enthralled with history, specifically the time period surrounding World War II.  It might be because his dad had so many stories to tell from World War II, and likely also because the community we group up in most every family had immigrated right around that time because of the situation in Europe.

If his favorite science fiction or fantasty shows aren’t on, he’s tuned in to the History Channel.