Luv'N Lambert Life

A blog about living with Epilepsy, IBHS, Homeschooling and so much more

preschool

Starfall Home Membership {Crew Review}

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Starfall

Starfall Education Foundation has been a favorite in our household for 13 years now.  I was so excited when I saw The Starfall Home Membership come up for review this year.  Starfall has been such a blessing in our home over our years of homeschooling.  It is one of our most recommended programs to other homeschoolers.


As always, Starfall Education Foundation provides a wonderful program to help children everywhere learn to read.  The program is still free but they now have The Starfall Home Membership available for a low yearly fee.  This part of the program offers an informative and fun curriculum that can be used with your young students both at home and in a classroom setting.

Starfall Education Foundation offers an app download to be used by your students.  The app is available on both Android and iPad.  It’s simple and fun to use.

As I mentioned, we began using Starfall many years ago with my oldest son.  It was a program he found fun.  Bonus that it was free to use with him.  Extra bonus that he actually learned from it.

My daughter also began reading with Starfall.  She loved the games and the fun videos that the program included.  We could watch a few of the videos or play a few games and it wasn’t overwhelming.  It was just the right amount of learning and fun.


Add in my third child.  Our love of Starfall continued.  Laycie loved the program just as much as her siblings.

And when the fourth baby came, well Starfall was sure to be a hit with him too.  He was watching the videos with his siblings before he could sit up.  He was singing the catchy songs before he could really talk well.  He was learning and all thanks to this wonderful company that has kept my children interested for the past decade.

Now, though I am an avid lover of Starfall Education Foundation, I had never joined The Starfall Home Membership.  We simply enjoyed the free parts of this wonderful program.  So when this review came up, I wanted to know what it was all about.  Seriously, how much better could this program get!

I logged in and set up our account.  Through our membership we were able to add in Math and even more reading, phonics and fun.  This program is for preschool, 1st and 2nd grade.  It’s a great remedial resource for students who may be a bit older as well.  

The program is not overwhelming.  You can stop at any point and restart again when you’re ready.  You can work all day or just 10 minutes.  You can restart and replay whatever you need to.  


This program has taught my kids so much.  They’ve learned to read.  It’s helped with reading struggles.  It’s helped keep them interested.  It was a savior in our household.

And the Starfall Home Membership is awesome.  You gain access to so much more.  There’s a parent/teacher center where you will find access to full curriculum units that help you teach the basics to your sweet children.  You can download additional helps, like charts and images, readers and so much more.

These items are also available for purchase in the Starfall Store.  Costs vary by product.  These are not needed for the program but they are a great bonus if you wish to purchase while working through the program.

Starfall starts with teaching your child the ABC’s.  We’ve watched these little videos and played the games endlessly.  My kids LOVE them.  They haven’t changed a lot over the years.  They’ve only gotten better.


When your child has a good grasp of the ABC’s, you’ll move forward into Learning to Read.  This just continues to build and build until eventually, your child is reading!  I love it!

Through The Starfall Home Membership, your child learns so much more!  You start with math songs, or you can learn about holidays, calendar math, ABC’s, Colors, Phonics, Nursery Rhymes and so so so much more!

All these things are developed to keep your child’s interest in learning.  For us, it’s been one of the best educational programs we’ve ever encountered.  I am more than thankful for all that Starfall Education Foundation has taught my children.
You can get your own subscription to The Starfall Home Membership for $35 a year.  This is such a wonderful investment for young children and one you will love.  You’ll see them truly enjoying learning right away.
You can find Starfall Education Foundation online at:



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The Starfall Home Membership {Starfall Education Foundation Reviews}

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I Can Study Jonah And Ruth {Crew Review}

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Did you guys know that Greek ‘N’ Stuff carries more than just Greek products to learn with?  Have you been in search of a great bible study to use with your children at home?  Look no further!  I Can Study Jonah & Ruth Alone With God Bible Study in the NIV version by Karen Mohs is amazing!
Honestly y’all, I did not realize just how great this 13 week Bible study was going to be for me and my family.  The study is designed to be used by one student but at $8.95 it’s more than affordable to purchase as many as you need in your home or homeschool.  It’s really good stuff, y’all.
The front of the book has a short parent guide included which prepares you for using this study with your student at home.  It’s short and simple but covers all you need to know in 100 words or less.  This study is really easy to put to use and learn with.
Lessons 1-5 cover the story of Jonah which worked well for us since we were using another curriculum that also covered Jonah’s story to teach diligence in our home and life.  My kids are very familiar with Jonah’s story.  You can’t pass up a story of a big fish when you live with a bunch of fishermen and fish lovers!
This study goes more into depth than your usual stories though.  Each lesson breaks the verses down for each day.  You begin with prayer.  Then you read the verse that you are learning for that day.  There are lots of particular questions that are asked to really get to the heart of the verse your covering.  There’s even an explanation as to why we should do daily devotions.  At the end of the week, there’s a box called “Think and Pray About It”.  This helps to enforce what you’ve been learning all week before moving forward to learn more.
This study covers Jonah in the first five lessons and Ruth in the last lessons.  It takes you slowly through the lessons really allowing you to dissect and learn what the verses mean.  This is also a great way to learn to study the Bible on your own, showing you how to ask questions to deduct meaning and relating the verse to it’s true meaning.  What you learn through this study can be used with so many other things as well.
This Bible Study is meant to be used by one student but we used it for our family by simply using it as a discussion guide together.  We prayed together.  We read the verse together – I wrote the verse on our dry erase board each day along with the questions.  I then allowed the kids to answer the Bible Study questions together.  They then wrote the Verse, the questions and their answers out for copywork.  This was a great way to learn the Bible together as a family and to build skills needed for learning more about the Bible.  For my 4 year old, I printed coloring pages for him to do on Jonah and Ruth as we worked.  Fishie Boy loves Jonah.
You can find I Can Study Jonah & Ruth Alone With God Bible Study in NIV and in KJV from Greek ‘N’ Stuff for $8.95.  There is a sample page available on the website as well.  There are many other Bible Studies also available along with many other amazing products for your homeschool.
Social Media for Greek ‘N’ Stuff:
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  • Twitter:  https://twitter.com/GreeknStuff Tag:   @GreeknStuff   
  • Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/kuriakos/greek-n-stuff/     
  • Instagram:  https://www.instagram.com/karenmohs/ Tag:   @karenmohs   

  • Read More Reviews:

    Teach Me Some Greek {Greek 'n' Stuff Reviews}

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    Preschoolers and Peace {Crew Review}

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    Preschoolers and Peace is a great company that helps those who are new to homeschooling, as well as those of us who are experienced homeschoolers.  They provide inspiration e-Books and tools for homeschooling with little ones at home and give Mom’s that extra boost of confidence that is often needed during this stage of learning and life.  For this review, we were sent an e-Book copy of Preschoolers and Peace: Homeschooling Older Kids with Success While Loving Little Ones At Your Feet.  This book is a must read for all Momma’s with little ones.
    Preschoolers and Peace: Homeschooling Older Kids with Success While Loving Little Ones At Your Feet is just what a Homeschooling Momma needs.  This e-Book is 47 pages long, jam packed with ideas, tips and inspiration that speaks right to the homeschooling Momma’s heart, where it is needed.  Each section is created especially to inspire Mom’s like me and show that we can do this, even when we think we cannot.
    This e-Book contains 13 chapters, a meal planning section, final word of encouragement and resources to use both for creating the book and suggestions for you to read through to inspire you as a Homeschooling Momma even more.  Chapters focus on things like What A Homeschooling Momma Needs, Circle Time with preschoolers, how to bring preschoolers into school time, How to Not Kill Time and how to incorporate preschoolers into day to day things like chores and learning.  All these things and so much more come together to show us how to make the most of this Homeschooling life we live.
    I personally read through Preschoolers and Peace as a book to help myself.  I have three older children I am currently homeschooling and a two year old who is well beyond his age in maturity.  He’s growing fast and sometimes we have a hard time keeping up with him.  It was my hope that through reading this e-Book, I’d refresh myself and gain some helpful tips from my reading.  I must say I was not disappointed in the suggestions given throughout this text or by the inspiration within the book.  It was a great read and left me ready to dive into this journey during this new stage of life: Homeschooling three of school-age with a young child by our side.
    Some of the advice in the book are things we already try to do, so these things were nothing new but reading them in the book gave me the confidence to know that what I was already doing was the right thing for us.  There were other things that we weren’t doing which we will be trying in the future as we continue to grow in learning with each other.  Having this book on hand these last few weeks has been really beneficial to our family.
    I think my favorite section was the one on scheduling.  I often battle to keep a schedule and sometimes just give up.  Reading this section reassured me that it’s okay to toss the schedule at any point and just start again if need be.  As kids grow so do we, and so do our schedules.  That’s how it’s supposed to be and so therefore, it’s okay to just toss it out and start all over as our lives change.
    There are a lot of other great ideas shared within this e-Book but to read them,  you will have to purchase it yourself.  Every Momma who has littles should get a copy for their home to read through and read again as your child grows.  You can purchase your copy of Preschoolers and Peace: Homeschooling Older Kids with Success While Loving Little Ones At Your Feet for $2.99 online through the website at Preschoolers and Peace.  This is one e-Book that is definitely worth the price!
    Don’t forget to check out the Preschoolers and Peace website as well!  There you will find great inspiration through the blog to help you stay motivated in this homeschooling journey.
    You can also find Preschoolers and Peace online in the following places:

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    September Update: Just a post of where we are! {Thoughts From Me}

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    I haven’t been blogging much this month.  I’ve actually been enjoying a little time off.  The weather is gorgeous and it’s inspired me to do a little Fall cleaning around my house.  By the time I wrap up my daily to-do’s around the house, I’m really too tired to be inspired to do much online past my reviews and a quick check-in.

    Last year, when I as pregnant, I wasn’t into housekeeping much so the house is a real disaster but that’s ok!  It’s only one season of our life and it passes so quickly.  Then there is the demand of keeping up with a baby, and his siblings – readjusting schedules, homeschooling through and watching him and them learn and grow.  It doesn’t allot for a lot of homekeeping time there either.

    Add in the baby having reflux, food allergies and Epilepsy on top of it and my time diminishes even more.  Now that he’s a year old, and his reflux, food allergies and Epilepsy are somewhat under control leaves me time to catch up on the things I’ve been putting off.

    Last week, I emptied an entire box that’s just been piling in my house for four years.  This box was full of my paints, my brushes and anything else related to my hand-painting crafts.  This hobby of mine was sadly neglected and not organized at all but now all those paints are stored behind my bedroom door in an over the door shoe organizer and it works for now.  I can see the bright colors which I attempted to sort them into.  I still don’t have a permanent home for the brushes but small steps will get me there.  I want a rolling drawer cart in the classroom so they will either go there or in my cubbies under my kitchen table where I now store my hobby items and review things.

    This week, I’ve been catching up on work that should have been completed months ago but couldn’t be since Jackson was sick.  I’ve also been going through clothes from the building that have piled up.  I missed two whole boxes of 6-9 months clothing for Jackson because I didn’t have time to get out there while he was sick.  Those will now be sold to buy him new clothes in his size, which adds another thing to my must get done list.

    I’ve also be reorganizing things throughout the house to make it better work for us and printing things in prep for school lessons.  I just purchased a great set of Eeboo All Around the World Alphabet Wall Cards second hand from Sam @ Sam’s Noggin.  I plan to use them with Laycie this year.  I know she’s really going to love those!

    We also have our set of Touch Math that we will continue to work through with Laycie this year.  She really loves the hands on uniqueness of this program.  It really works well for her.  She will also continue to use her Logic of English curriculum that we reviewed last week.  Another program that she really loves!

    For the next few weeks, I plan to clean, clean, clean and organize, organize, organize!  I will do my best to update when I can.  I have a few plans for the blog, too, that I can hardly wait to put to work.

    But for now it’s just going to have to wait.

    Gryphon House: The Homegrown Preschool {Crew Review}

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    Gryphon House Publishers graciously offered the Schoolhouse Review crew their choice of two products for this review: Global Art and The Homegrown Preschooler.  I must say I was extremely torn over which I would chose.  Art is a HUGE deal in our house but so is preschool learning for my younger two.
    Weighing my choices, I chose to review The Homegrown Preschooler: Teaching Your Kids in the Places They Live, which actually went very well with my last review, Circle Time by Kendra Fletcher {Read that review here!}.  The books complemented each other well for our lessons but enough about that.
    The Homegrown Preschooler was a great reminder of many of the concepts I have previously used in our homeschooling.  It gives a great explanation of using play and hands-on activities for active lessons with younger children.  The Homegrown Preschooler gives examples throughout the book of activities, ideas and games that can be used with children of any age to develop their learning and life skills.
    This 204 page book is packed with beautiful images of children engaging in various activities.  This fully-colored guide for “Teaching You Kids in the Places They Live”, is jam-packed full with activities dealing with math, science, reading, and much more.  It includes great meal planning recipes for kids along with great recipes for play dough and other useful preschool tools.
    The Homegrown Preschooler guides you in turning your home into an environment in which your children can learn.  This book teaches the parent how to use the things that are available to them to bring learning home, and how to create a safe and educational place for the learning to be done in.  Preschool is about play and fun and all the things that children love to do!
    Inspirational stories can be found throughout this book from the authors and others who have been there done that.  Fingerplays, songs and other fun activities are shared for you to utilize in your own preschool environment.  There’s also a great section of printables and design instructions in the back of the book for your personal use.
    The Homegrown Preschooler is written for parents of preschoolers between the ages of one and five.  I chose to read and use this book with my five year old, who is a bit old for some of the activities.  We were able to use much of the books suggestions though since Laycie is slightly delayed in learning due to her Epilepsy.
    After reading this book, I decided making my own play dough doesn’t sound too bad.  I also started using more hands-on elements with Laycie, creating a few sensory bins using toys, rice and other things we have around our house.  Some of these sensory play times have also made it into our bath where Laycie enjoys making a mess and then washing it up, teaching her the skills of homekeeping as she works.
    Many of the suggestions in the book, are things we have been doing a long time.  We work together and have Circle Times and field trips that allow our family to bond and socialize.  We clean together too, learning skills from one another as we work.  Sometimes I even let each child teach another the skills they are good at.
    The Homegrown Preschooler is a great book for any parent with a young child.  I know I will be pulling it out in the future as Jackson grows and I am in need of a reminder for activities to do with him.  This book will be beneficial for years to come as it teaches you skills and techniques that can really be used throughout the child’s younger years.
    The Homegrown Preschooler is available from Gyphon House for $29.95 plus shipping.  For more reviews of The Homegrown Preschooler, please click the banner below!

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    Ideas for Homeschooling Your Preschooler {Homeschooling}

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    Homeschooling your preschooler should not be a hard thing to do.  Providing fun experiences, playing games and simply being together is often all that is needed to educate a child at this age.  The following is a list of ideas to do with your preschooler:

    1. Take a walk together.  Experiences like these allow your child to view nature up close and absorb the details of the world around them.

    2. Play games together.  This builds self-confidence and promotes relationship skills.  Games can also be used for learning ABC’s, counting and much more.

    3. Fix lunch together.  Choose safe foods that a child can help you make.  My children like to spread pb&j onto bread for our sandwhiches or lay ham and cheese on crackers for us to enjoy.  This promotes life skills along with self-confidence and also relationship skills.

    4. Create cards to send to loved ones.  Young children are often not ready to write and draw but with an adults help they can manage to create something unforgettable to share with Grandparents, Aunts, Uncles, siblings, cousins, and other loved ones that live far away.  This teaches a child to give back to their community.  It also helps them to learn writing skills and social skills such as the almost lost art of writing a letter.

    5.  Bake and ice a cake to take to a neighbor together.  This is another way to give back to those in the community teaching children important socialization skills, as well as cooking skills they will need someday in the future.

    6.  Read books together.  Learning to read is an important skill and children learn faster when they are read to.  This promotes family bonding and also begins a love of reading in a child.  Another bonus is that children can learn about other cultures, animals and skills through books chosen to read together.

    7.  Take a field trip to a museum or other place of interest.  Exhibits, nature walks, state parks, and so many other places provide hands on learning experiences that children will absorb and learn with better than any textbook could provide.

    8.  Simply go to the store together.  Children can learn lots of things in a store.  Counting, adding, subtracting, following a list, search and find needed supplies and so much more.  The store is full of educational experiences for a child.

    9.  Play at the park.  Sometimes it’s just good to take a break and simply spend a little time at the park.  Playing is a huge part of learning for a child.  Parks allow the child socialization experiences, physical activity, balancing skills, following direction and so much more.  Park days are some of our favorite days in homeschooling.

    10.  Build a Lego village.  Doing simple things like building houses with blocks, roleplaying with dolls, pretend cooking and more allows a child to develop necessary skills for life.  Play should be fun and unique and allow a child to use their imagination.  Play is an important part of individual development for any child.

    These are only a few ideas to use in your home preschool.  The important thing is to get your child thinking and moving.  Paper lessons are great sometimes but they should not be the bulk of your preschool homeschool.  Allow your child activities that make them think, react, socialize and get involved.  Those skills and experiences will build a lifetime love of learning.