Such a Time As This

Faith, Hope, & Love

Splash into Summer {Giveaway}

bloggersummergiveaway

I can’t believe Summer is almost here! My favorite thing is relaxing at the pool with the family and enjoying grilling out and fresh watermelon! I’m so excited to share in the festivities and excitement that I’ve collaborated with some other bloggers to offer you a huge giveaway. We’re giving away two pools and one slip and slide to help you stay cool all Summer long! Read on to find out how to enter!

  • 2 winners will win a Summer Escapes 15′ x 36″ Quick Set Round Above Ground Swimming Pool with Filter Pump System (Retail Value: $120.00 each)
  • 1 winner will win a Slip & Slide (Retail Value: $25.00)

This Giveaway will run from 6/1 – 6/14 11:59 PM EST. Make sure to complete as many of the entries below as possible for the BEST chance at winning! We also have a bonus entry you can do every single day! (Bonus Entry: Tweeting a message about the Giveaway!) No entries are mandatory.

Enter below and Good Luck! (This giveaway is NOT being sponsored by Summer Escapes)

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*Giveaway Disclosure: No purchase necessary. Open only to legal residents of the United States, who are 18 years of age or older as of date of entry. Void in Puerto Rico and all other U.S. territories and wherever prohibited by law. Subject to all applicable federal, state, and local laws and regulations. Decisions of the Sponsor are final on all matters pertaining to Sweepstakes. By participating, entrants agree to be bound by these Official Rules and decisions of the Sponsor. Winning a prize is contingent upon fulfilling all requirements set forth herein.

This promotion is in no way sponsored, endorsed or administered by, or in association with, Facebook, Twitter, Summer Escapes, or any other social media network.

Chances of winning vary based on the final number of entrants. Giveaway ends June 14th, 2016 at 11:59 PM EST. Winner will be chosen randomly and notified by email on June 15th, 2016. Each winner has 48 hours to respond or they may forfeit prize. My Momma Taught Me will be responsible for prize fulfillment. If you have any questions, please contact [email protected].

Essential Skills Advantage {Review}

Essential Skills Advantage Review
Are you looking to add some fun activities to keep your children from forgetting what they’ve learned this school year or maybe to brush up on some skills that might not have clicked?  I want to share what I’ve found that uses computer-based learning to reinforce skills for multiple subjects. You could check out Pluralsight which is a website that helps you develop IT skills and is suitable for children who are only just learning about the world of IT to expert adults who are looking to expand their career. If you would like to learn more then check out Get Educated Online’s Review Of Pluralsight. For the past several weeks my son and daughter have enjoyed practicing language arts, geography, math and science concepts using the Complete  Home Learning Suite from Essential Skills Advantage.

 

We received a one-year online subscription to Essential Skills Advantage Complete Home Learning Suite for two of our kids.  Complete Home Learning Suite is an online learning program geared for kids in grades K-6 and offers over 14,000 lessons in the following subjects: Math, Science, Spelling, Reading, Grammar, Creative Writing, and Geography.Essential Skills Advantage

My kids who used this program just finished grades 3 and 5.   I had them each focus on certain parts of the program.  My daughter worked through multiple sections of language arts and some of the US geography, whereas my son worked on some spelling, geography and a few sections of math and science.  The set up was easy and each of my children has their own log-in and page to work on.

 

Such a Time as This (96)After using it with my two kids here is what I found that stuck out at us.

What I liked:

  • Easy spoken directions for each section
  • Short Units – 10 questions per section, before the student moves on to the next section
  • Fun and Interactive Lessons
  • Lots of repetition for easier memorization
  • Full panel of information for the teacher

What My Kids Liked:

  • My son and daughter both loved the Geography section
  • My son said he really like the matching game for spelling
  • The US Geography section features a states memorization unit, capitals, landmarks and other famous cities and other sections of the countries
  • The quick lessons allow the student to choose to continue “playing” or finish after the lesson is done
  • My daughter liked the creative writing units the best – it was good reinforcement to some things she had been learning

Essential Skills Advantage

This program is fun and pretty easy.  My son who used this is going into 6th grade but struggles with reading and writing because of dyslexia.  We worked on several of the spelling stumpers and the other spelling section.

 

What I found is that the spelling is broken down into long vowel pairing for his grade range.  So for instance, there is a section on the “ai” helper and another on the “oa” and others including the “ee”.  By the clicking on a section, you open up a unit of practice which focuses on about 10 words.  These words are practiced in each section a slightly different way.  They may ask the student to do a memory matching game, a different matching which is based on the shape of the words, organizing the words by alphabetical order, matching the scrambled letter words to the correctly spelled word, a word search, or identifying the correctly spelled word among two other misspelled words.  I also liked the flashcard section where a word is shown for a few seconds and then disappears.  The student is then asked to spell the word correctly.

 

I was impressed with the amount of different games and exercises that were featured per unit.  With each section of words, my son had ample opportunity to practice those words and the spelling rule for that section.  Spelling is his biggest pitfall, I love this extra amount of practice he received from using Essential Skills Advantage.  I also appreciated that the directions are spoken aloud to the students, which is very helpful because of his struggles to read.

Essential Skills Advantage

My daughter had a lot of fun using this program.  She loved the language portion of Essential Skills Advantage.  She did multiple sections of the creative writing story building unit of the program which includes information on setting, plot, crisis, mood, characters among a few other things.  She also worked through the grammar section including common nouns, proper nouns, abstract nouns, rules for plural words (and lots of practice for all of this).  The math page features a lot of review and practice as well!

Essential Skills Advantage Review

The science units are aimed at grades K-3 and although I tried some of it with my son, it was very easy and way too simplistic for him (which I should have expected because he is just finishing 5th grade and loves science).  However, he really enjoyed the geography section which is intended for grades 4-6 and he was excited to learning the state capitals as part of the unit on US Geography.

 

The teacher section is awesome, as well.  It allows me to see what my kids have been working on, how much they have done, what their scores are as well as how many minutes total they have been using the program and how many minutes per unit.  This is really good if you want to see how well your kids are grasping concepts or to just double check that they are doing what is assigned.

 

Essential Skills Advantage

Essential Skills Advantage Complete  Home Learning Suite would be perfect to use this Summer as a fun review to help your kids keep their skills fresh until the Fall.  Although at first glance I was thinking this program is better for the younger grades (possibly K-3), I now think there are enough activities included that your kids will be able to find some new things to keep them busy learning some different concepts, as well!  While this is sold in monthly, semi-yearly and yearly subscriptions I think it is worth the cost especially if you have more than one kid using the yearly subscription.  It is only $129.99 for up to 10 students for a year!  I think that is a great deal if you have a large family and are teaching more than one kid in these grade ranges.

Essential Skills Advantage Review
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Essential Skills Advantage Review

Brand New Babysitter Notes {Printable}

Babysitter Notes

 

Check out these super cute babysitter notes that you can print and put in your homemaking binder!  I just love these cute notebook pages that fit right in your binder.  Keep them on hand whenever you get a date night!  toddler babysitter notes

These are completely free but you will need the password.  These are free to e-mail subscribers.  To download, see below:

 

Download here

Finding Joy in the Everyday

Finding Joy in the Everyday

May Contain Affiliate Links, please see my disclosure policy.

Maybe it was from watching  Candace Payne’s viral Chewbacca video last week that got my mind focused on the joy in life, but I absolutely love finding joy in the little things of life.  This week has reminded me of this fact.  The little things are what life is made of.

 

I can’t help to see how much God has taught me through this big family and through the trials and triumphs of homeschooling.  I believe God brings us to the end of ourselves so that we may cling to Him, and to grow up spiritually.

joy

I’m not naturally joyous.  I have to admit that my own human nature makes me somewhat of a pessimist.  I can get grumpy.  I can get annoyed.  I can get all doom and gloom.  Sometimes for no good reason, I can be in a bad mood and suddenly seeing the word through grey-tinted glasses, inspecting my life for all the wrongs, the hurts, the bad things that have or are about to go wrong.  That is probably my natural state.  Maybe this is what Paul felt when he said, “I don’t really understand myself, for I want to do what is right, but I don’t do it. Instead, I do what I hate.” Romans 7:15

 

Something happened this week that I believe was from God.  I started to see the good, the blessing, feeling hope rising up in me … I started to find joy in the unexpected.

 

It all started last week, when our brand new washing machine broke out of the blue.  One minute I was doing laundry, and then the next minute it sounded like a freight train was roaring through our living room.  Days later we found out part of the clutch had broken in half.  I truly hope that isn’t indicative of how Samsung machines work – because other than this incident, I really have enjoyed this machine.  We found out on Monday that they would be back out on Friday with the extra part.  So needless to say, we’ve been trying to conserve clothes and live without doing our typical load of laundry this week, and part of last, that we would have done.  I have found joy in the fact that I have a very good excuse to not do laundry.  I’m enjoying my lack of homemaking this week in the form of this rest. 🙂

joy scotty dog cupcake cake

Earlier this week, after we did the kids’ routine dental appointments on Monday, my 9 and 11-year-old worked together to create a cupcake – cake in the shape of a Scotty Dog.  They wanted to try it out and my 11-year-old designed it with his own original sketch and template of where each cupcake should be placed.  I love that they worked together and accomplished this goal.  This is totally not healthy, but so much fun for all.

 

Then we kept the joy coming as we decided to get an early start to our school day on Tuesday morning.  The kids and I made a list of everything we needed to get done and we actually followed the list!  We got done by lunch time with everything that was planned and had a wonderful time playing the game Carcassonne with the three older kids in the afternoon.

joy carcassone homeschooling fun

Wednesday morning, I awoke to my 11-year-old son teaching my 5-year-old how to play the same game.  I truly wondered if we would be able to learn it (it is listed as ages 8 and up on the box) but delightfully he learned it and he loves it!  We decided to make another list for Wednesday and got all our work done, plus finished a new book we had been reading called “The Glass Castle” (look for my review of this awesome book next week).

 

Today, after our work got done, I told the kids we needed to drop some books off at the library.  Once we got there, my son spotted one of his friends also there.  It turns out his family was hanging out at a nearby park and he had run in quickly to pick up something at the library.  We ended up swinging by the park for a quick playdate and to catch some sun.  This was quite the serendipity – the Lord knew I needed some time with other moms and my kids enjoyed playing with the other young children.

joy

There were other small joys that I got to witness and just breathe in this week.  Like my 1-year-old taking some of her first steps with the help of her little big brother and sister.  They encouraged her, they came beside her, they helped her along.  It made me so happy to see how they love her and how they cheered her on.

 

My older kids stepped in and helped me after I wore myself out a few afternoons this week.  I’m so thankful for their acts of service to our family.

joy

I get asked all the time how I handle so many kids and many people ask how difficult it is to be home with your kids all day every day.  My answer to that is – it is whatever you make it.  I absolutely love spending time with my children.  I love having the opportunity to teach them and to form relationships with them – every day of the week.  Although, I do love being at home most days, sometimes even I have days where I need to get out of the house and see some other adults.  What is great about that is, we live in a time where there are so many places we can go!  When the kids and you get stir crazy, head to a museum or the zoo, to the park, to the library… there is no need to stay cooped up all day, unless that is what you want!  I’m so thankful for the time that I get to spend with all my kids in the moments of life.  I don’t at all consider it a burden – it is 100% a blessing for our whole family.  Sometimes, however, I need to remind myself of this fact because it is easy to listen to the nay-sayers of the world and to start seeing my own life through their tunnel vision.

 

This week was full of unexpected joy in the mundane, the trivial, and even in the obstacles that life throws our way.  I’m thankful today for love, for relationships, for smiling faces, laughter, good talks, and unexpected gratitude.  I’m realizing something else too, maybe joy is contagious … maybe it is catching.  I’ve already started to see it spread throughout my children in their bedtime prayer and praise.  Though I didn’t plan for this, I’m thankful for these small surprises and big blessings.

Math Games for 4th graders Multiply and Divide {Sunya Review}

 

Math Games for 4th & 5th Graders learning to Multiply and Divide

{Sunya Review}

Math and Science {Sunya Publishing Review}
We love family games.   We look forward to finding new games for family fun nights, a spare time during school hours, and sometimes just for the kids to play in their free time.  For the last several weeks, we’ve been playing a new math game from Sunya Publishing called Sunya – The Magic and Wonder of Math and Science Multiplying & Dividing.

math games for 4th graders sunya
Sunya – The Magic and Wonder of Math and Science Multiplying & Dividing is a card game geared toward kids ages 9 and up and is comprised of two decks of cards: sixty playing cards and thirty fact and riddle cards!  Sunya sent me the cards and a pretty extensive instruction booklet which goes with the Multiplying and Dividing game.  math games for 4th grade multiply divide sunyaThe sixty playing cards are numbers, wilds, and the multiply, divide and equal signs.  Although there are multiple ways to play this game listed in the booklet, we stuck with the basic game.

Math and Science {Sunya Publishing Review}
In the basic game, you deal four cards out to each player, and then the dealer lays down a number sentence to begin the game.  The number sentence can use any of the cards except 0s, 1s, or wild cards.  Once the number sentence is on the table, the game begins.

math games for 4th grade sunya Each player gets to take a card from the deck, on their turn, and then try their best to make a new number sentence (by laying as many cards as they can on top of the existing number sentence).  The player may choose to use some of the cards that are already on the board, or use all new ones (from their hand).  The game ends when the first player uses all their cards that they are holding.  Before they “go out” they must say “Sunya” which means empty in Sanskrit.  Math and Science {Sunya Publishing Review}At the end of the game, when the winner is revealed, they get to pick a card from the pack of facts and riddles and read it to the rest of the players.  They get to peak at the correct answer (on the card) and help the other players come up with the answer.

Math and Science {Sunya Publishing Review}
My kids and I enjoyed playing the basic version of Sunya – The Magic and Wonder of Math and Science Multiplying & Dividing.  We played with my oldest three kids ages 9, 11, and our special needs 13-year-old.  We played many open hands to assist the two kids who are still learning their times tables.  This is a fun way to reinforce what they are learning and to help them sharpen their recall on their math facts.  It was also a good reminder for my 11-year old who does know his math facts.  We played this game sometimes during school hours, as part of our math lesson for the day and we also added it to our family fun nights a few times, to change things up.  I think this a fun game that is also very educational and would be great for kids learning to multiply and divide.

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Math and Science {Sunya Publishing Review}

 

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