Luv'N Lambert Life

Mental Health, Homeschooling, Epilepsy and More

Writing

IEW: Fix It! Grammar {Crew Review}

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For this review, we were given a copy of the Institute for Excellence in Writing’s Fix It! Grammar.  We were allowed to choose which book we reviewed and I chose the first in this series for my children: Fix It! Grammar: The Nose Tree.  We received both the Fix It! Grammar: The Nose Tree  Teacher’s manual and the Fix It! Grammar: The Nose Tree Student book for Book 1.  This is a 6 book series which sells online for $19 for the teacher’s manual and $15 for the student book.  This program series is for students in 3rd grade and up.
IEW’s Fix It! Grammar is one of the best programs I have used thus far.  The program is wonderfully thorough and so easy to use.  It was perfect for our homeschooling.
We have been looking for a great Grammar program to use for a while, especially for Emmalee.  She’s a very independent learner and doesn’t require or want a lot of instruction from the programs she uses.  So I had been searching for a program that would teach her exactly what she needs to know as quickly as she learns.  The program also needed to be somewhat adjustable and easy to pick up on because Emmalee wants to learn so quickly right now that instruction bores her and makes listening hard for her to do.  
With Fix It! Grammar: The Nose Tree, Book 1, I was able to give Emmalee a brief lesson on what she was learning and have her jump right into completing her lesson in the student workbook.  The Teacher’s manual covered everything I needed to teach Emmalee how to use Fix It! Grammar and what we were learning about in the section we were working on.  It also helped that Emma is a great student and she loves learning which made the program flow a lot easier for us.  I would not have had the same results with my son, who does not learn as easily as his sister but this program is still great for him as well.
Students do need a binder for his program which will need to be purchased before they get started.  Within the binder should be dividers organized as Fix Its, Grammar Glossary, Rewrite, and Vocabulary.  Students should start their week out by reading through the “Learn It” section, being sure to cut out the weekly grammar cards that are located at the back of the student book.  I laminated these to make it easier to use and keep up with them since they are to be used for the year and beyond of learning through Fix It! Grammar.  The first few times we did the lessons, I helped by modeling the lesson on the dry erase board to show Emma exactly what was expected of her while using the program.  As I already mentioned, it did not take her long to catch on.
Emma enjoyed fixing the passages she read through.  She also enjoyed the interesting reading that was provided through some of the passages she edited.  She also enjoyed the rewrites for each lesson.  It made for great copy writing practice to help build her handwriting skills as well.
This was such a great program for her to use and just what she was needing for the stage of learning she is now in.  I’ve watched Emma blossom in her learning while working through Fix It! Grammar: The Nose Book these past few weeks and I love seeing the love of learning on her face.  It’s the best feeling ever to have a product and know it’s working so well for your child’s learning skills.
Institute for Excellence in Writing can be found online in the following places:

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Essential Skills Advantage {Crew Review}

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If you’ve been looking for a great online program for teaching children to read, look no further than Essential Skills Advantage.  Essential Skills Advantage is for students in grades Kindergarten through 6th.  It’s a great way to learn reading and language skills for young students.

Essential Skills Advantage offers a full Premium Membership program for your students which teaches important skills for reading and language development and comes with bonus content.  Cost for a Premium Membership is $9.99 a month.  Essential Skills Advantage is now offering a sponsored version of the program for free.  You can sign up for this free version at www.ESAlearning.com.  The free version includes most but not all of the features of the Premium Membership.  It also has adds which keep it free.
For a limited time, you can sign up using the code TOS50 to receive this program for 50% off of the original price.  This code is good until October 1st and will remain applicable for as long as you are a member of the Essential Skills Advantage program.  That makes the program $4.99 a month instead of the usual $9.99 a month.
This is a wonderful program for all young children.  My three school aged students were given access to the program for this trial.  All three enjoyed using and learning with the program.
To use this program, you need the internet with a Java script enabled browser.  Sound is necessary as well.  And finally, you need Flash Player 10 to use the program.
Each parent/teacher is given a special URL for sign-in.  You will need to bookmark this for repeating visits.  You simply go to the URL and then you or your student can select which level they will be working on.  Once you choose the level, you will be taken to another page where you will be able to log-in using that students username and password.
Once logged in, the student can then select what they wish to work on.  This will take you to another page of selections for learning.  At the bottom of the page, is a bar that fills up as your child works through the program.  This shows the child how much work has been completed and how much is left to go.  There’s also a star that can be clicked which also shows just how much the student has completed within the program.  This is a great visual for both the student to see how far they’ve come and the teacher to see what the student has completed and what needs more work.

This program promotes learning to read, spelling, phonemic awareness, comprehension and so very much more.  Lessons are thorough and designed to fit the grade level they are created for, yet they are also fun and keep your child interested.  Children truly gain so much from using this program.

The program is easy to use.  It’s a lot of clicking through pages to get started but this goes quickly once you have logged in a few times.  The program is fun to use and captivates the attention of students of any age.  The imagery is perfect for Elementary students and the concepts are easily grasped.
Essential Skills Advantage is perfect for all the students in our family.  Jack, of course, is a bit young for it yet.  Winston uses the program for review and also for building reading comprehension.  It’s great for his remedial reading skills and has been a huge confidence booster for him.
Emmalee enjoys the program too.  She was able to do many of the higher grade level lessons and has worked through them fairly fast.  She’s a great reader so this is expected for her.  It’s been great to polish up her skills though.
Laycie is using the program as a beginning reader and has no problem keeping up.  This will be a huge help for her this year as she learns more and more reading skills.  It captivates her attention and keeps her wanting to learn more.
We look forward to continuing to use Essential Skills Advantage for reading and language development through the year.  It’s been a great program that  we’ve all enjoyed and it definitely  has helped us in so many ways.  I’m sure you will love it too!
You can find Essential Skills Advantage online in the following places:

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WriteShop {Crew Review}

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WriteShop is another of our curriculum favorites.  WriteShop is a top of the line writing curriculum for kids.  This program beats any other I have used.  For this review, we received a copy of WriteShop Primary: Book C e-Book Set to use.
WriteShop is easy for kids to understand and also easy for parents to put to use.  The program features packages for Kindergarten all the way to 12th grade with different levels to fit your student’s needs.  WriteShop covers writing for everyone!
WriteShop Primary: Book C Set is for students in 2nd-3rd grade and remedial 4th graders.  If you’re unsure if this level is right for your child, there is a placement test available to help you choose!  This simple and quick test will help you place your child into the correct level of WriteShop for them.
WriteShop Primary: Book C Set comes with both a teacher’s manual and one set of the student activity sheets pack.  These can be ordered in print or as an e-Book set.  I chose the e-Book set because I am able to reprint it for home use as many times as needed.  This allows us to redo any worksheets that my children may not understand and to print the lesson for multiple students.  This is great for us since my older children work on the same level for school lessons.
Both the teacher and student activity sheet pack for Book C are adorable.  They are filled with cute animals throughout to help make the lessons fun.  This also helps keep students and teachers from getting bored with the program.  Imagery is used throughout for this purpose.
The teacher’s guide discusses how the program works.  It helps you set up lessons that work for you and your students.  It suggests ideas to help in the process of teaching the lessons.  It provides ideas for extra work and games as well.  The guide is thorough and easy to understand for even the most inexperienced of teachers.
WriteShop also helps you to set up a plan for your lessons covering more than one student on differing levels so that you, the teacher, are not overwhelmed with teaching multiple students.  This is a great help for Mom’s like me who has multiple students on one level and another student on a lower level of the program.  Because of the suggestions in the program, I was able to create a plan that worked great for us to use at home.
WriteShop also helps you to set up a Writing Center for use in lessons as well.  The Writing Center helps to promote better writing skills in students.  This can be a permanent or portable station for you to use.
In the Writing Center, students can find a manuscript writing chart, cursive chart, and upper and lower case letters.  There should also be paper of various types, mostly lined.  A children’s thesaurus and dictionary is also suggested for this center.  And don’t forget writing tools such as crayons, pens and pencils! Putting all these things into one place makes learning easier for your students.  There are a great many additional suggestions for a Writing Center shared within the teacher’s guide for Book C.
Every WriteShop lesson has a focus and a theme.  The focus provides an important skill to be taught.  The theme helps make the focus interesting and fun.  These work together to provide a great lesson that keep students interested.
In the teacher’s guide, you will find objectives listed at the beginning of each lesson.  You will also find a list of needed supplies and before-hand prep to be done to make the lessons flow smoothly.  Utilize this as it’s there to help keep you organized and ready to go.
The 254 page teacher’s guide covers everything you need to complete your WriteShop lessons.  The plans are extensive and are easily implemented in your home studies.  It can be printed for use by the purchaser only to be used for lessons at home.
The student activity sheet pack is 25 pages in length and can be printed for use as home for multiple students as needed.  This activity pack provides all the worksheets to be used for the lessons taught in the teacher’s guide.  They are complementary in design and fun for students to use.  An evaluation chart is provided in the back of the student activity pack to help you evaluate how much your student has learned and see where additional practice is needed.  
WriteShop Primary: Level C Set is available for purchase for $35.95 in print or $29.50 as an e-book which is what I used for this review.  Additionally, the Student Activity Sheet Pack for Book C can be purchased in print for $5.95 or as an e-Book for $4.50.
You can also find WriteShop in the following places online:



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B is for Blogging {Blogging Through The Alphabet}

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Ben and Me

B is for Blogging

I’m a blogger.  That’s just what I do.  I love blogging.  I enjoy sharing with others and using this creative outlet to speak my mind.

I began blogging in 2009 simply as a way to express myself.  I wanted to share with others about our life.  I wanted to find a way to write again, which I hadn’t been doing a lot of simply because I had very little time.  Blogging gave me a reason to write.

I began reviewing not long after I started blogging.  I started with book reviews.  It was a great way to get free books and share with others about what I was reading.  Those are two things I greatly enjoy.

I began working as a reviewer for The Old Schoolhouse about 4 years ago.  Being a homeschooler, TOS was a huge part of my life.  The materials gifted through the amazing online parties thrown occasionally by Gena Suarez were impressive and Gena herself is an amazing woman to look up to.  The things Gena does for the homeschooling community and the genuine love of others that she has was a huge inspiration to me.  Gena is the main reason I wanted to become a TOS reviewer.

The first year I applied, I did not finish my trial.  I gave up and I honestly regretted not joining up.  Every time I saw a TOS review for that next year, I mentally kicked myself for not following through with my tryout and joining the review team.

When the next TOS try-out came along, I applied again and I made it all the way through.  I am so glad I did.  The crew has been a great blessing to me and our family.  I have enjoyed reviewing and blogging while working on the Schoolhouse Review Team.

Writing is a huge part of my life.  Blogging allows me to write and get out how I feel.  I use blogging to express myself, to share my feelings, to share great products with others and to learn more about myself in unexpected ways.  There is just so much to it.

Over the last 5 years, I have greatly enjoyed this blog.  I plan to continue to blog for as long as possible and I look forward to sharing with each of you our ups and downs, our happiness and tears and all the things along the way.  I hope you enjoy our blog as well.

So tell me, if you blog, why do you do it?  Share your stories!  I look forward to reading them.

Busy Again These Days {Thoughts From Me}

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I have taken a few days away from writing blog posts, except for reviews, and I’ve been concentrating on my photography for the past week.  I’ve also been working on our family’s tree and doing some much needed housework.  The mix of everything has definitely been keeping me busy.

The photos are coming out great and I have several shoots lined up in the next few weeks which will be keeping me very busy now the Crew year has ended.  It’s been great learning new things, editing and seeing images “pop” in ways I never expected.  I’m finding that I am enjoying taking pictures again.

The family tree has also been fun.  I’ve learned so much about our ancestors that I never expected.  It’s been interesting to learn where we came from and telling the kids stories I’ve come across about our various ancestors.  They’ve enjoyed the history and the family relations as much as I have.

I am excited for all the new ventures in our lives and the Holidays that are coming up as well.  It’s a busy but fun life.  It’s fulfilling and I find that I’m once again Luv’N Lambert Life.

Five Minute Friday Part 1 {5 Minute Fridays} {Epilepsy Awareness}

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So I was reading about 5 Minute Fridays on another blog and thought, what a cool thing to do!  And here I am.  Today’s subject: Story.  Starting my 5 minute alarm now.  Here goes:

You can find our story all through this blog.  Our life with Epilepsy.  Our years homeschooling.  Our family and our love for each other.

Five Minute FridayAll of these things add up to tell our personal story.  It’s been a long journey since I began blogging.  It’s been a tiresome year this year for us.  Adding to the story more and more every day.  This thing called Epilepsy, it doesn’t hide and it doesn’t seem willing to give us a break anytime soon.

Story: the kids favorite things are books.  They enjoy reading and I’m thankful.  It shows me this homeschooling thing has paid off for us.  So many doubted my choices in the beginning.  They did not understand why I chose to be different.  They questioned my beliefs.  But I feel we have proven others wrong.  Homeschooling is like everything else.  It’s not perfect but it does work.

It shows every time my children pick something up and read it.  My son struggles with his reading abilities but he is coming to learn that he can read more than even he realizes.  And my Emma, well she is great at reading.  She’s avid and loves to read things that truly teach her, like science stories.

 Laycie is quickly following in her footsteps.  Every day she has a new series of books that she wants someone to read to her.  It’s amazing to see just how many words she’s come to recognize.

This year she begins truly homeschooling, but even that won’t be rushed.  I will allow her to grow and learn in her schooling.  I will allow her to take the time she needs to learn what is most important to her.

— So the bell has rung and my time is up.  Not too bad for my first Five Minute Friday!

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