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Sonlight Pre-K Homeschool Curriculum Review

Sonlight is a homeschool curriculum provider that offers a wide range of programs for children of different ages and grades. In this review blog post, we’ll focus specifically on their Pre-K Program. We chose to add the Level K readers to our Pre-K package as well!

We were gifted the Sonlight Pre-K Kit from Sonlight in exchange for our honest review.

The Sonlight Pre-K homeschool curriculum is designed for children aged 4-5 and focuses on developing foundational reading, math, science, and social studies skills. The curriculum comes in a comprehensive package that includes everything you need to teach your child at home, including books, instructor guides, and activity sheets.

Fully Planned Out Pre-K Curriculum

Using the fully planned out Instructor guide, you can plan to spend anywhere between 20 mins to 1.5 hours per day, 4x a week. Using the Sonlight Instructor Guide- you can rest assure everything is planned out and nothing is getting missed, just open and go!

Literature Based Pre-K Curriculum

One of the standout features of the Sonlight PreK homeschool curriculum is the emphasis on literature-based learning. The curriculum includes a large selection of classic children’s books that are used as the basis for many of the lessons. This approach to learning is not only engaging for young children but also helps to develop important skills such as listening comprehension, vocabulary, and critical thinking.

The curriculum also includes hands-on activities and projects that help to reinforce the concepts being taught. These activities are designed to be fun and interactive, making learning an enjoyable experience for both parent and child.

Want to see everything that’s included? Check out this unboxing:

Sonlight Pre-K Covers all Subjects

In terms of the subjects covered, the Sonlight PreK curriculum covers all the basics such as math, science, and social studies. The math lessons focus on developing basic counting and number recognition skills, while the science lessons cover topics such as the human body, animals, and the environment. The social studies lessons introduce children to different cultures and traditions from around the world.

Sonlight Teaches Practical Life Skills

As much as we love the traditional school subjects covered in our Sonlight Pre-K program, one of my favorite things is the weekly life skills included. Throughout the year, your child will practice practical life skills like washing dishes, pouring and measuring, watering plants, and much more!

These life sills help build basic foundations for numerous things and are both mine and my sons favorite activities during our weeks.

My Final Thoughts on Sonlight’s Pre-K Program

Overall, the Sonlight Pre-K homeschool curriculum is a well-designed and comprehensive program that provides a great foundation for early learning. The literature-based approach, hands-on activities, and flexibility make it an excellent choice for parents looking to homeschool their young children.

If you are new to homeschooling and have no idea where to start- this is a wonderful option, because it is everything you need.

We are very excited to be adding this curriculum into our homeschool days! We upgraded our program and added the Kindergarten readers and Language arts doing that, we plan to use this both both our Pre-K and Kindergarten year.

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Free Homeschool Unit Study: All About Raccoons

This free homeschool unit study comes from my natural curiosity to learn more about one on my favorite animals. These animals often get a bad rap, being called “pests”, I hope you learn how awesome raccoons are and the importance of them in our world.

These lessons can be used across all elementary age levels and can be adjusted for lower and higher grades. Any resources used including books and videos should always be prescreened by the parent, just because it works in my home does not mean it will work in yours. This will be such a fun and engaging addition to your science curriculum.

This unit is faith neutral leaving it up to the parents to decide which direction to take it.

Additional Resources

There are no required resources. This unit can be used stand alone as it includes informative reading passages. These resources below are not required, just additional add-ons if you want to enhance or extend the lessons. Please pre-screen any recommended resources, just because they work in my home does not meet they will work in yours.

There is a recommended video to watch for each lesson. These really tie together the entire unit.

I created an Amazon page where I included all recommended books, be sure to check out your local library.

Recommended Lesson Video Playlist

Learning Objectives

  • Identify and describe the physical characteristics of raccoons.
  • Explain the importance of animal tracks in identifying animal species.
  • Define mammals and describe their characteristics.
  • Describe the habitat of raccoons and explain its importance to the survival of raccoons.
  • Describe the characteristics of the temperate forest biome and identify its location.
  • Explain the adaptations of nocturnal animals.
  • Describe the lifecycle of raccoons and identify their different stages.
  • Understand the purpose of animal rehabilitation, and describe the basic steps involved in rehabilitating injured or orphaned animals.
  • Compare and contrast raccoons to other animal species using Venn diagrams.
  • Research and create presentation on an animal and their habitat, including information on their physical characteristics, lifecycle, and other interesting facts.

Unit Updates 4/25/2023 – Lesson 1 Updated – Raccoons live up to 15 Years should be 3 years in the wild. Updated unit emailed out to any customers with downloads. You can also repurchase (for FREE) and download the updated unit.

Access FREE Raccoon Unit Study

You can get the FREE homeschool Raccoon unit study clicking on the button below! You will need to add to your cart and check out.

Do you like Free Homeschool Units? Check out my Free Human Body Unit

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The Newest Online Learning System: Homeschool+ Review

Homeschool+ is a new online learning system that aims to make learning fun and engaging for children aged 4-8. Designed by a team of educators, the platform features a range of interactive games and activities that cover topics such as reading, math, science, and social studies.

I was given complimentary and early access to the Homeschool+ beta version to review and share my honest thoughts.

Fun Fact: The creators of Homeschool+ are the same creators from ABCmouse and Adventure Academy!

Overview of Homeschool+ Online Learning System

We were so excited to try out the beta version of Homeschool+! My son, who is 4, loves learning games and took to this right away! I was able to plan a “schedule” with daily lessons for him to complete. After he completed a lesson I was able to review his progress and see the lessons adapt to his needs.

Some of the subjects you will see on Homeschool+ are:

  • Math
  • Reading
  • Art
  • Science
  • Grammar
  • Geography
  • Spanish
  • Community

We can’t wait to see all Homeschool+ has to offer once this learning system is fully released!

Homeschool+ Unique Adaptive Learning Model

One of the strengths of Homeschool+ is its adaptability. The platform adjusts to the child’s individual skill level, providing appropriate challenges and rewards as they progress. This ensures that each child can learn at their own pace and stay motivated throughout the learning process.

Homeschool+ Daily Lessons

When your child first logs on they will see any lessons you planned out prior, or they will be shown free play options. I love the adaptive Match and Ready Academy sections! Once your child is in a lesson they will interact with the lessons by selecting responses and playing games.

My son really loves the Reading Academy and when familiar stories are read to him like “One, Two, Buckle My Shoe”.

Homeschool+ Lesson Planner

I really enjoy the lesson planner option. I am able to add or delete lessons and plan out our homeschool week easily. It’s extremely responsive and flexible- which is a must in our homeschool.

Homeschool+ Progress Tracker

Parents will also appreciate the platform’s tracking and reporting tools, which allow them to monitor their child’s progress and identify areas where additional support may be needed.

This progress tracker is perfect to track learning milestones and if you are required to meet certain standards.

Daily Printable Lesson Plans

Homeschool+ not only offers engaging video lessons and online learning games, but they also offer printable lesson plans and activities you can use with your little ones!

I absolutely loved this option to take a break from the screentime but still have educational resources!

This is an example of a Human Body lesson you would download and print to complete:

Our Favorite Things About Homeschool+

Another noteworthy feature of Homeschool+ is its emphasis on learning through play. The platform is designed to be both educational and enjoyable, with games and activities that encourage critical thinking, problem-solving, and creativity. Children can earn virtual rewards and badges as they complete challenges, adding an extra layer of fun to the learning experience.

My son doesn’t even call this “school-work” he totally views it as fun games he gets to play!

Overall, Homeschool+ is a fantastic online learning game that provides a fun and effective way for young children to learn and grow. Its adaptability, emphasis on play, and tracking tools make it an ideal choice for homeschooling families or anyone looking to supplement their child’s education.

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Homeschool Spring Time Fun – Sonlight Butterfly Unit Review

We are looking forward to some warmer weather and can’t wait for spring in our homeschool! Its been a cold winter and we can’t wait to move some of our school work outside in the sun! This spring we are so excited to be using the Butterfly Unit Study from Sonlight.

We were gifted the Butterfly Unit Study from Sonlight in exchange for our honest review.

The Sonlight Butterfly Unit Study is an educational and enjoyable homeschool unit study for springtime. The unit study covers a range of topics and activities that help to make learning fun. This unit study is intended for ages 7-12 or grades 2-6. This is the perfect unit to use as a family.

Sonlight Homeschool Curriculum offers you everything that you need to succeed on your homeschool journey, from preschool through high school.

The Sonlight Butterfly Unit Study is an educational and enjoyable homeschool unit study for springtime. The unit study covers a range of topics and activities that help to make learning fun. This unit study is intended for ages 7-12 or grades 2-6. This is the perfect unit to use as a family.

What’s Included in the Sonlight Butterfly Unit Study

Traditional Sonlight Instructor’s Guide

If you are familiar with any of Sonlight’s curriculum, one of the best things are the instructor guides than plan each day and activity out for you!

Something unique in the Butterfly Unit Study, the weeks are planned around the life cycle of your butterfly. In this unit study your kids will see the magical transformation of a butterfly from egg to a beautiful butterfly.

Live caterpillars are not included, you will need to purchase those separately and ensure you have them when you start your unit. Also note that your daily temperature needs to be above 55 degrees for your butterflies to survive.

The Sonlight Butterfly Unit Study is an educational and enjoyable homeschool unit study for springtime. The unit study covers a range of topics and activities that help to make learning fun. This unit study is intended for ages 7-12 or grades 2-6. This is the perfect unit to use as a family.

Literature

In true Sonlight fashion, there had to be some great books included:

This Unit Study package includes Caterpillars and Butterflies, which lays the foundation for this unit study. How do caterpillars turn into butterflies? What do they eat? How do they protect themselves? All these details and more in pages full of beautiful pictures.

Velma Gratch and the Way Cool Butterfly tells the story of first-grader Velma who is the youngest in her family. Follow along as she changes from living in the shadow of her older siblings to a confident young scientist.

Butterflies for Kiri celebrates one girl’s creativity as she experiments with colorful origami. It’s the perfect lead-in to creating your own origami butterfly.

Activity Sheets

Student Activity Sheets are included in the Instructor’s Guide for Caterpillars and Butterflies. They include vocabulary review, comprehension questions, and a variety of matching, true/false, and fill-in-the-blank activities to reinforce learning. An answer key for the parent/teacher is included in the Instructor’s Guide.

The Sonlight Butterfly Unit Study is an educational and enjoyable homeschool unit study for springtime. The unit study covers a range of topics and activities that help to make learning fun. This unit study is intended for ages 7-12 or grades 2-6. This is the perfect unit to use as a family.

Project Supplies

This unit study comes packaged in a durable cardboard box with the supplies you need to complete each activity or project, except for a few household items. Inside the unit study box you’ll find the following supplies:

If you are using this unit with multiple kids, I recommend purchasing additional supply kits for each child

The Sonlight Butterfly Unit Study is an educational and enjoyable homeschool unit study for springtime. The unit study covers a range of topics and activities that help to make learning fun. This unit study is intended for ages 7-12 or grades 2-6. This is the perfect unit to use as a family.

Would I recommend the Sonlight Butterfly Unit Study

The study allowed us to go outside and observe butterflies in our own backyard, which the kids really enjoyed. The activities included in the unit study were simple enough for my 4-year-old to understand, but engaging enough to keep my 8 and 10-year-olds interested. The activities helped to reinforce the lessons and made learning fun.

Overall, we had a great experience with the Sonlight Butterfly Unit Study. It was an educational, fun and memorable experience for all of us. I highly recommend this unit study for any family looking to add a fun and educational homeschool unit study to their spring plans.

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2022/2023 Homeschool Curriculum Picks

Better late than never, right? I am sharing the curriculum choices we have been using for the 2022/2023 school. I figured you might be interested to see what we have been using before I share our picks for next school year.

During the 2022/2023 school year I have a preschooler, 2nd grader, and 4th grader.

We made ALOT of changes this year, pretty much all the curriculum we started the year with was changed by mid-year. The good news is we absolutely love everything we changed to, and you will see a lot of that carried into our next school year.

Just to avoid any confusion our 2022/2023 school year is July 2022- June 2023.

Most of the curriculum we use, I have also made YouTube Videos on it, I will make sure to link those below !

2022/2023 Family Subject Homeschool Picks

One of the big changes we made this year was moving some of our subjects from individual to family subjects- at least for my 2nd and 4th grader.

Language Arts

IEW Structure & Style Level A Year 1

After doing the 3-weel FREE trial from IEW, we decided that their structure and style writing program was a perfect fit for both my daughters. The recommended grade level is 3rd – 5th, since we started this mid-year, we will continue working on this next school year.

Guest Hollow Beowulf Grammar

This program is designed for grades 2nd – 6th and was that perfect addition to our homeschool. We needed a more in-depth curriculum on basic grammar principles and this has been the perfect fit.

Unit Studies – Science / History / Social Studies

2022/2023 4th Grade Homeschool Curriculum Picks

Math

Saxon 5/4 with Nicole the Math Lady Video Lessons

Foreign Language

American Sign Language with Mr.D – Check out my Review Here: Learning American Sign Language: Mr.D’s ASL Course for Homeschool

Handwriting

Cursive – The Good and Beautiful Level 4 Handwriting

2022/2023 2nd Grade Homeschool Curriculum Picks

Math

The Good & Beautiful Math 2

Times Tales

Saxon 3

Foreign Language

Song School Spanish

Handwriting

Cursive – Handwriting Without Tears Kick Start Cursive

2022/2023 Preschool Homeschool Curriculum Picks

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Learning American Sign Language: Mr.D’s ASL Course for Homeschool

Learning American Sign Language (ASL) in homeschool is an invaluable skill that can open the door to a world of opportunities. As a parent of a homeschool student who has an interest in learning ASL, and has tried various programs, I was thrilled to discover the Mr.D ASL course for homeschooled students.

I did receive access to this ASL course in exchange for my honest review.

Not only does this course provide my daughter with the opportunity to learn ASL, it also allows her to do so in a convenient and enjoyable way. The course is designed to be both informative and engaging. The materials are accessible and easy to follow, and the instruction is clear and thorough.

My daughter particularly enjoys the interactive activities that help to reinforce the concepts she is learning. Additionally, the instructor, is friendly and engaging, she has a vast knowledge of ASL and sign language. She has been able to answer all of my daughter’s questions and has been extremely helpful in guiding her through the course.

The Benefits of Learning American Sign Language

The benefits of learning ASL are numerous. For starters, it allows people to communicate with those who are Deaf or Hard of Hearing. It also introduces students to a whole new language and culture, one which is rich in history and full of interesting people. Learning ASL can also help to improve communication skills and enhance problem solving skills, and can even help to improve literacy.

  • Increased Cognition
    • Studies have shown that learning American Sign Language (ASL) increases cognitive abilities such as problem-solving, memory, and spatial recognition.
  • Increased Empathy
    • Those who learn ASL gain a greater understanding of the deaf community and develop more empathy for the deaf and hard-of-hearing.
  • Improved Communication Skills
    • Learning ASL helps improve communication skills, both verbal and nonverbal, which can be beneficial in any profession.
  • Improved Academic Performance
    • Learning ASL has been linked to improved academic performance in areas such as reading and writing.
  • Enhanced Job Opportunities
    • Those who know ASL may have access to jobs in fields such as teaching, healthcare, social work, and interpreting.

Mr. D’s American Sign Language Courses

We have tried various ASL programs, and by far Mr.D’s ASL courses have been our favorite. The self-paced courses, amazing teacher, and quick feedback will keep us continuing to use these courses.

We are currently using the ASL 1 course designed for grades 6th-12th. This is a middle school/ high school level course. They offer ASL 1, 2, &3 at this level. If you have a highschool student and your state requires and accepts ASL as a foreign language, these can be used to complete high school credits.

My daughter has been learning ASL for over 2 years, so we decided to choose this higher level course. If you have an elementary student who is just starting out learning ASL, I would recommend starting with Mr.D’s ASL Elementary course. This course is designed for grades K-5 and is great for beginners.

These courses are self-paced. The student logs onto the portal and works through the course and lessons at their own pace. Each lesson has videos, activities, printables, quizzes, and homework.

In my daughters course at then end of each lesson she has to submit a video as her homework. ASL is something that needs to be visually seen, submitting videos is a perfect way to ensure she understands. I am able to help her take a video on my phone and I just log in to her course to upload the video.

My favorite thing about this course is the feedback she receives after submitting her video assignment. Her teacher is fluent in ASL and gives her quick feedback about hand placement and any tips to work on.

Check out my Youtube Video Review on Mr.D’s ASL Course:

Would I Recommend Mr.D’s American Sign Language Courses?

Overall, I highly recommend the Mr.D ASL course for homeschooled students. Not only does it provide a convenient and enjoyable way for students to learn ASL, but also offers numerous benefits. My daughter has been taking the course for a few months now and has already seen an improvement in her ability to understand and communicate using ASL. I’m confident that with continued practice, she will be able to become proficient in this amazing language.

We plan on continuing to use Mr.D’s American Sign Language courses throughout our homeschool journey and as our foreign language credits in highschool.

The courses cost around $6 per lesson, and $197 for the entire course. These are very well priced, I haven’t seen any lessons on ASL for less than $6. If you need to budget monthly for cost, factor in about $16.50/month for this course. The online program we previously used was $39 per month!

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Step by Step Planning for the Upcoming Homeschool Year

Many of us are only half-way through out current homeschool year but already thinking about planning for the upcoming homeschool year! Regardless if you are brand new to homeschooling, planning your first year, or a vet homeschool mom planning their 10th year- we all need a little help getting organized planning for the upcoming homeschool year.

In this post I am going to share my step by step guide to how I plan for the upcoming homeschool year.

Step 1: Determine any Homeschool State Requirements

This is an extremely important step if you live in a state that has homeschool requirements. If you aren’t sure if your state has requirements- I recommend using HSLDA to find your state and any legal requirements: https://hslda.org/legal

Some states have specific requirements, such as a certain number of hours of instruction per year, specific subjects to be taught, tracking requirements, or testing. Make sure you are aware of these requirements and plan accordingly.

Thankfully the state we currently live in has very low requirements, however because we plan on moving in the future, I try to keep records for attendance, curriculum, and testing.

Step 2: Plan for Co-Ops, Extra Curricular Activities, Camp, and Vacations

Planning for all the “extra” things is also an early and important part of my planning process. Its not always easy knowing 6 months or a year from now exactly what is going to be going on but the more you can plan and anticipate for will help you in the long run.

For example – I know we have 2 co-op sessions, each one running about 9 weeks. long- 2x a week. I can factor in these days as school attendance days, as well as I might not need an extra school subject because it will be completed in our co-ops.

I also tentatively know around what months we will take breaks- like for example in December we usually take around 2 weeks off. My kids also enjoy summer camp, so as much as I would love to be year-round homeschoolers, I know with summer camp we take a longer break in the summer months.

Step 3: Plan Out Your Homeschool Year

This can be done in a variety of ways, depending on your family’s needs and preferences. You may want to follow a traditional school calendar, or you may prefer a more relaxed approach.

If you have notes and some ideas from Steps 1 and 2, then you can start formulating your school year.

I tend to use a 40 week school year, and break that into 4 quarters, each being 10 weeks. Doing it this way gives me about 12 “no-school” weeks.

We don’t school every day, and typically we only school 3x a week because of those extra things like co-op. So if I take 40 weeks times 3 school days – that equals 120 actual school days PLUS- I can also count in our co-op days which is 36 additional days. Attendance wise, we school around 156 days per year.

Our state has no attendance requirements, so this works just great for us and gives us the flexibility we need.

If you are like me and like physical papers to plan I have FREE planning resources available here

Step 4: Choose Your Homeschool Curriculum

Now, this section is not “How To” choose curriculum, that will be its own blog post. This is just saying in the planning process, this is where I start picking curriculum.

This is the longest process for me, but because I have completed the above steps, I at least have a general game plan.

I know we have 120 at home school days, so when looking at curriculum, if I choose one that has 180 lessons I must be realistic and understand we won’t complete it in 1 year, or we would have to double up lessons on some days.

This is also where you don’t want to over buy, its hard to think about those fun holiday units- but we know we will all end up wanting them. Leave yourself some wiggle room and don’t over commit.

Last bit of advice in choosing curriculum as far as the planning process- decide between teacher-taught, self-taught, or outside-teacher lessons. This obviously will depend on your kid’s ages, your time restraints, and more- but if you have older kids and are ready to hand over the reins on some of the teaching part- there are tons of great curriculums out there!

Step 5: Be Realistic and Don’t Over Plan

Even though this whole post is on planning – don’t over plan !

Don’t try to do too much in the upcoming year. Plan the basics and give yourself wiggle room! It is always easier to add more in, than take some away.

Be realistic with your time, there are only so many hours in a day and only so much our kids and us as teachers can handle.

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Why We Stopped Using The Good and Beautiful Homeschool Curriculum- The Pros and Cons

Homeschooling is becoming more and more popular as parents take control of their children’s education. As with any educational choice, there are pros and cons to each and every curriculum. One of the most popular homeschool curriculum is The Good and Beautiful Homeschool Curriculum, which is designed to be an easy-to-use, open-and-go type of curriculum. We used this curriculum for multiple years and multiple levels and made the decision to stop using the Good and Beautiful Homeschool Curriculum.

We used The Good and Beautiful homeschool curriculum for multiple subjects over multiple years.

Our Experience with The Good and Beautiful Homeschool Curriculum

We had been using The Good and Beautiful Homeschool Curriculum for multiple levels with multiple children, covering multiple levels and subjects such as math, language arts, history, and science. It helped us get in a good rhythm and routine in our homeschool, but the actual content was lacking. I didn’t feel like my kids were learning and growing their knowledge.

For new homeschool families, this curriculum is an excellent choice because of its ease of use and its straightforward approach. However, after years of use, we found that this curriculum began to lack in-depth teaching of topics and review of subjects.

I will state that the art and geography lessons were truly enjoyable, however, we needed a solid Language Arts curriculum. These extra lessons took away from the normal day to day Language arts lesson. This was another reason we decided to stop using The Good and Beautiful Homeschool Curriculum.

We enjoyed the extra art and geography lessons that were included, they were very engaging but took away from our dedicated Language Arts time.

The Issues We Faced Using The Good and Beautiful Homeschool Curriculum

The Good and Beautiful Homeschool Curriculum is designed for a broad range of learners, from preschoolers to high schoolers. As such, the material is designed to be accessible to all learners. However, because of this, the curriculum lacks the depth and complexity of higher-level learning.

This became problematic for us as our children began to outgrow the basic material. In addition, the curriculum does not provide enough review of the subject material. Without sufficient review, our children struggled to retain the information they were learning. We found that they needed more comprehensive instruction and more opportunities to practice and review the material in order to truly understand the concepts they were learning.

Even after the revisions that the good and beautiful made to their curriculum, we still noticed the lack of depth in the lessons
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The Pros and Cons of Using The Good and Beautiful Homeschool Curriculum

Cons

  • Lacks in-depth teaching of topics
  • Does not provide enough review of the subject material
  • Lacks complexity for higher-level learners

Pros

  • Easy to use and open and go type of curriculum
  • Accessible to a broad range of learners
  • Great for new homeschool families

For these reasons, we stopped using The Good and Beautiful Homeschool Curriculum after four years. Although it is a great curriculum for new homeschool families, it is not well-suited for tenured homeschool families who need more depth and complexity in their lessons. We found that as our children advanced, we needed a more comprehensive curriculum that provided more detailed instruction and more opportunities for review.

Want to hear more about our decision to change homeschool curriculums? Check out these videos:

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Teaching a Preschooler to Write Letters – ABC Writing Lesson Review

This past August we “officially” started preschool with my son who was 3 when we started. I say this very lightly as we have no official preschool schedule. We have lots of different resources that we sit down and use whenever we have time and my son is in a school mood. Mostly we focus on things like playing- that’s really all a preschooler needs!

My son actually likes doing school, so that is why it’s more led by him when we ask when we will do some lessons. He has been extremely interested in learning to write his name- which is pretty exciting! I remembered that Timberdoodle gifted me with ABC Writing Lessons and it was the perfect resource to pull out for my preschooler learning to write.

I work with Timberdoodle to test out a product they include in their curriculum for kids. They gift me products at no cost to share my honest review.

From Timberdoodle Website:

ABC Writing Lesson

Because legible handwriting remains an essential skill, necessary for communication, give your pre-K student a valuable edge with the new colorful ABC Writing Lesson. This uncomplicated handwriting method is based on repetition in the form of tracing. There are multiple practice pages devoted to each letter, both uppercase and lowercase. Then, after working to develop muscle memory for that letter, the last letter page is for practicing the letter without tracing. 

An instructional example starts each line, so there is no guessing as to how to form the letter. The ABC Writing Lesson pages are nice and thick and easy to erase if necessary. The spaces are very generous and wide. Also included is practice for numbers 1-9. 

When Should My Child Learn To Write?

Honestly, I don’t know if there is a perfect time. I don’t think preschool is the traditional age- this is more commonly started in PreK – and kindergarten which is why this book is included in Timberdoodle’s PreK Kit.

The only reason we have been focusing on writing is that my son wants to we love taking an interest-led approach in our homeschool so if he wants to learn to write his name, then that’s what we are going to focus on, plus seeing him write out is name is ADORABLE!

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How Do We Use ABC Writing Lessons in Preschool?

Using the ABC Writing Lesson book as been a huge help! Some letters like “O” my son can just look and copy with no issue, but the letter “C” he was having a hard time grasping where to start and stop which is where this workbook came in perfectly!

This work book took out the guess work for me as far as proper letter formation and gave my son colorful practice pages!

In the workbook you get about 4 pages total of each letter practice which includes both capital and lowercase letters. I do wish there were more practice pages, however, inside the front cover it does say you can get a PDF version from the website ReadingLessons.com and print multiple copies of the pages for extra practice.

Our Final Thoughts on ABC Writing Lessons

Overall I think this is a great tool to have in your resource pile for preschool up to Kindergarten. It really helps me as a teacher show proper letter formation and gives us a good path to practice letter writing! Its colorful and great quality- my son is able to follow the instructions and learn his letter formation.

Even a bonus, it starts teaching number 1-9 towards the end. This is an extremely affordable resource you will want to try! Check it out here: ABC Writing Lesson

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Homeschool Computer Science – Let’s Start Coding Kit Review

If you follow me here on my blog, on Youtube, or my Instagram– you know I am a huge advocate for incorporating computer science lessons in your homeschool.

Computers and Technology are used in every career field, computer skills are extremely important for kids to learn, especially at a young age.

My interest in finding engaging and easy computer science is forever ongoing as there are always new skills to teach our kids. I was so excited when I received the Let’s Start Coding Base Kit from Timberdoodle to review!

I work with Timberdoodle to test out a product they include in their curriculum for kids. They provide my products at no cost to share my honest review.

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Let’s Start Coding Base Kit – What is It?

My oldest daughter who is 10 and currently in the 4th grade, has a great interest in coding and robotics. She just finish a semester of robotics in her co-op class. Her eyes lit up when I showed her the Let’s Start Coding Base kit. Unlike past coding classes she has taken which have been online based ( which we did enjoy) this was a physical kit she could touch and create something!

From the Timberdoodle page:

Let’s Start Coding Base Kit, designed by parents, educators, and engineers, gives your creative child a chance to experience hands-on coding. Using the same code language used at NASA, Let’s Start Coding teaches C++ coding through 50 kid-friendly projects. With a computer and Let’s Start Coding, kids learn how computer programming can control physical objects. And they get immediate feedback by plugging in and coding the LED lights and speaker. Parents who are new to coding will be grateful that each project incorporates an online video. It will take your child through the code line by line, clearly explaining the concepts at work. Students with no prior experience will learn how to edit, compile, and execute code with Let’s Start Coding.

Our First Experience Coding with the Let’s Start Coding Base Kit

The way this kit is designed is to be student-led. They give you a website link that is easy step-by-step instructions the student should be able to follow independently. Obviously, I needed to be around to share our experience, but I wanted to stay as hands-off as possible and see if my 10-year-old could complete this.

So…. how did it go?

My 10 year old, who is in 4th grade, was able to follow the initial set up directions to install the USB and make sure the connection was working.

She was able to easily identify the parts in the kit and match them up to the directions.

I will say this kit is more of an intermediate level, this is real coding. My daughter has done previous coding classes but they were not as in-depth as this. The website you use www.letsstartcoding.com does complete the actual coding for you, but for a kid that has never seen code before might be a little mind-boggling.

If your child is more on the beginner level of coding I highly recommend you are sitting with them completing the activities.

Now with all that being said- my daughter had SO much fun with the different activities. She was able to manipulate the code with hints and recommendations to change the outcome, which made her more confident in the process.

Final Thoughts on Let’s Start Coding Base Kit

I absolutely love that this is a hands-on coding kit. This is actually showing a child code from a screen in real life going to a device. That in itself is amazing and for that reason I highly recommend this coding kit.

I do think that Timberdoodle has this in the 5th grade homeschool kit for a good reason, its more intermediate. I would even say this would be great as a middle or high school elective for computer science.

We will continue to work through our kit and develop or coding skills! Once we get through this kit, I am excited to try out all the other kits that are offered!