Scholaric Review.

When I find something that I love, helps me and is easy to use...I want to tell the whole world!! I'm a chronic planner, organization junkie and all around nerd when it comes to homeschooling. I'm constantly looking for ways to make my life easier and more streamlined. With 6 kids, keeping our homeschool organized is a top priority.

Before the beginning of our homeschool year in August, I decided that I needed an easier way to organize lessons for my 3 grammar stage kids. Fitting everyone's schedule in my planner just wasn't working and adding any more kids to it was just not realistic. So I decided to give the electronic planner a try.

I started with a popular, downloadable "Tracker" program. It took me a whole weekend to type everything in, understand how to use it and get the ball rolling with it. I was on the brink of throwing in the towel with it's learning curve, but decided to stick it out because of all the time I had already invested in it. But then something wonderful happened. I got rid of my dinosaur PC and upgraded to an iMac.

Upgrading to an iMac is awesome...but not so awesome for Tracker users. I found out that not only could I not transfer my Tracker files, but that I couldn't even start over with Tracker because it is not compatible with Macs!! All that precious time wasted! I nearly cried with frustration!

Thus began my search for a homeschool planner that was Mac compatible. Luckily, it didn't take long before someone recommended Scholaric. Could it be that I had found something I could download to my Mac that would save me from a planning crisis? Read on.

It turns out that Scholaric doesn't need to be downloaded into any computer because it's web-based. That means all your planning stays online and not your computer. I wasn't sure I liked this. My lesson plans floating around in virtual space? I didn't buy into the hype until a light bulb lit up over my head. My lesson plans....accessible from any computer!

Once I realized that I could plan my school week not only from my desktop, but from our MacBook from anywhere in the house, I got so excited! Not only that, but you could use it on your iPad too! How much more convenient and terrific could this Scholaric program be? I signed up for the trial version immediately. After all, not just because you can have easy access to something does it mean that it's easy to set up or use, right?

Well...Scholaric is extremely easy to set up and use. If you like to spend hours typing information into a planner before you actually get to use it...this program is probably not for you. But if you like to get started right away, Scholaric is perfect! Setting up our homeschool account on Scholaric was a breeze. It's like opening a notebook planner and just filling in the days with what you are doing. You can schedule repeating lessons, record time spent on a subject (necessary in some states), reschedule lessons easily and even share lessons if you have more than one student.

Scholaric makes it easy to record grades too and even generates a report card if needed. What I really like about Scholaric, beside all these great features? I can print out a daily or weekly assignment for my kids that they can check off. Here is a quick screenshot (sorry it's blurry).

Is Scholaric perfect? Probably not. There is no perfect planner, although for me it's as close to perfection as I've ever had. Sign up for a free 15 day trial to find out how easy it is to use this amazing online planner. It's only $1 per month, per child after that!

Check them out and become a fan! They post tips and updates on their FaceBook page.

Language Arts Decisions and Reviews.

It seems that if you are a homeschooler, this time of year is mainly focused on curriculum decisions, planning, organizing, and hunting for reviews for new products. It's my favorite time of the school year!!Of course, we are using mainly Angelicum Academy for our homeschool. But after having tried out their language arts curriculum for the past 3 years...I just don't like it!!

(Photo from Habits of a Happy Home blog)

Shurley English was not only torture for me to teach, but Marco totally hated it. So we ditched it and switched to Rod and Staff English. It's rigorous and boring, but I actually like that it's straightforward to teach. Marco doesn't like it, but he doesn't hate it either. I like that there's tons of review, which is important for him. Isabella used it this past year and she flew through their 2nd grade book. She loved it! But she's just that kind of student. I plan on using First Language Lessons for Anthony's 1st grade and then jumping into Rod and Staff for him too.

Well, that's grammar. But how did our year go with using Angelicum's recommendation of Hooked on Phonics for phonics instruction? I totally dislike the program, but the kids loved it. In the end, we're ditching this too. The program might get your kids reading, but it completely lacks phonics instructions. There is no explanation of phonics rules and I felt it was more like teaching word families. So in the future, when your child comes across a more difficult word, he won't be able to apply any phonics rules to learn to read it because none were ever taught!! Come on!! Even I remember learning things like "When 2 vowels go a walkin', the first one does the talkin'." HOP consists of watching a video, repeating the words they say, and then reading the same words in the workbook. Not my idea of a solid phonics foundation.

Anyways...we're switching to Saxon Phonics this year (click for a Cathy Duffy review). After reading review after review, I made up my mind and have received Saxon Phonics 1 for Anthony. It looks fabulous!!! It's completely scripted like their Saxon math program, and I love that! It has lots of review, explains all the rules, teaches coding, and comes with manipulatives. We are starting this next week!! I'm even tempted to do Saxon Phonics 2 with Isabella. She completed HOP 2, but I feel that she needs a better grasp of phonics rules.

And although Saxon Phonics covers spelling, we are still continuing with All About Spelling. It really is a great program and Anthony is doing well with it. Marco and Isabella are also moving along and enjoy the program. By the time the kids are done with Saxon and AAS, they are going to have such a great grasp of phonics and spelling!

Did I cover writing?? Well, after much consideration and back-and-forth, I took the plunge and bought the Institute for Excellence in Writing program. The IEW program always looked pretty awesome, but the price always seemed a little steep. But after hearing Andrew Pudewa speak at the homeschool conference, I was completely convinced! I bought the Teaching Writing: Structure and Style set, as well as two of their themed-based writing books: All Things Fun and Fascinating and Fables, Myths and Fairy Tales. To top it off, I'm also starting poetry memorization using IEW's Linguistic Development Through Poetry Memorization.

Is that all for language arts? I think so. The wonderful thing about homeschooling is finding what works for you and your children. I am completely thankful, however, that there are programs out there that lay out a plan. Most of the thinking is done for you and you know that you won't be missing on any core subjects.

New Books.

Lately, I've been trying to build up my personal library. I'm full of children's books and really want to have some great books on hand for the adults in the house. Since I'm not going to go all out all at once, here are a few books that I got this past week.



OK...you might think that this book is only for children, but in reality it is a beautiful book with wonderful illustrations and a short biography of each saint. I think any adult would enjoy this book! More Saints Lives and Illuminations.




I've been looking for a comprehensive book of Catholic prayers and found this book. I love it because it has prayers for every occasion; from bedtime prayers to prayers when traveling. We have been using it daily at all hours of the day! Catholic Household Blessings & Prayers.





I just started reading this book, so I can't exactly give a full review. So far it seems like a great book, however! Raising Faith Filled Kids.

Sing Spell Read & Write. An Updated Review.

We are nearing the end of using Sing Spell Read & Write (SSRW) for both Isabella (Kindergarten Level) and Marco (Level 1). This program has definitely been a huge hit around here! The songs, the colorful workbook, the readers, and the games have all been favorites with the kids.

As the teacher/parent, I did see some downfalls, however. I found that I am having better success with a constant review of Dolch words. These are included in the program, but not necessarily in list form. I recently have returned to using flashcards and our word wall to reinforce fluency with Dolch (sight) words.

If you have an advanced reader, you might also find that they can go through the program pretty quickly. Isabella will be finishing her Kindergarten level this week and we'll continue on to Level 1 next week. Marco is completing the lessons at the recommended pace, however. Luckily, it is easy to go from one level to the next.

I recently ordered a replacement Level 1 workbook. The newer version is not the same as the previous edition. The picutures seem more attractive, some of the pages in the workbook feature smaller print, and several of the songs don't exactly go with the CD. All small changes that don't cause big problems. I do, however, like the newer workbooks so much better as they seem to cover a little bit more. In either case, I feel like the teacher's instruction manual is completely necessary.

Overall, we really like this program!! My only advice is to have your children practice, practice, practice! Using their readers is not enough for us as my children tend to memorize them rather quickly and use the pictures for reading cues. Mixing in other readers is helping us with fluency and with using all the phonics rules learned. Be prepared to spend about an hour (maybe more!) going through the lessons. This might seem like a lot, but with the use of the games and songs, the time really flies! It's easy to split the daily lesson in half if you want to cover part of it in the morning and the other half later in the day.

We are planning on continuing SSRW for 2nd grade. I've heard great things about it and I'm planning on getting both the home kit and the readers (these aren't included in the home kit).