TOS Review: High School Prep Genius

As part of the TOS Homeschool Review Crew, I was given the opportunity to review High School Prep Genius from College Prep Genius.

High School Prep Genius is a softcover book that sells for $29.95.  This book is meant to be used by the student as they make their way through high school.

Portions of the book are set up workbook style, so the student can keep track of tasks and accomplishments throughout high school.    This is meant to be used as a planning tool, not as a schedule. 

There are also reading sections for both the student, and the parent that go over many important topics for high schoolers preparing for life after high school.  Topics include healthcare, spiritual growth, testing, college prep, study skills and more.

I particularly liked the check lists, and the questions geared towards getting the student to think about the future and what they would like to do.  I wasn't as fond of the section encouraging students to question their faith, mostly because of the way it was worded.  While the intent seemed to be sure students are grounded in their beliefs, it had an air of whatever you believe is ok.  This isn't a book solely for our belief system, so it is understandable.

This is book can be a valuable tool for parents and students to keep communication open about their transition to adulthood.  While by no means comprehensive, it seems to be a good launching point for those that are unsure about the steps needed to get from high school freshman to college freshman.

I would recommend this book to high schoolers and their parents!

TOS Review: Spanish for You!

As part of the TOS Review Crew, I was given the opportunity to review the Spanish for You! program.



  We used the Fiestas program for Grades 7-8 that sells for $39.95



Here are some sample pages from the curriculum:  Fiestas Sample

The program includes a soft cover book, a 24 week lesson guide, self-checking worksheets, audio files of the entire book, and flashcard pictures.  A teacher's guide is also available that focuses on classroom use.

The program focuses on basic vocabulary and grammar.  Several days for each section will cover vocabulary, and then it moves onto a part of grammar.  There are worksheets for each section to reinforce what they are learning, and the audio files aid in correct pronunciation.

Overall, my 8th grade child found it to be a little too simple for her ability and the illustrations seemed geared towards younger kids.  While she did learn from it, she felt that this program would be best for a younger age group.  (She was at the top end of the recommended age range)

We both felt that the audio files and worksheets could have been organized a little better, as it was cumbersome to switch from the book, to the audio file, and then print a worksheet.  I ended up printing the worksheets and putting them in a binder to reduce a step.  Also, the way the files were labeled made it difficult to locate them.

I do think this is a good intro program into Spanish, especially for the price.  And I loved that it included audio of the entire book. I would recommend it for elementary age kids that would like to begin learning the Spanish language.

Just photos...

Photos from around the property today...

Hens and Chicks growing well..

An Orange coneflower

Red Hot Poker in Bloom.

Our neighbor's cow...

and her friends..

Mother's Day Dinner Blog Hop: Homemade instant hot chocolate

Even though its warming up outside, there are some evenings that a hot chocolate still hits the spot!

It's hard to find instant hot chocolate without a list of ingredients a mile long.  When you do, it's usually expensive.  So, I made a batch of homemade instant hot chocolate for less than .25 cents a serving.

Instant Hot Chocolate Mix

2/3 c. Cocoa
2 c. Dry Milk (you can use more if you like it milkier)
1.5 c. sugar (my measurement is using evaporated cane juice, if you use white sugar you may need to adjust a bit)
1 tsp. salt.  (if you don't add salt, it will be very bland)

Mix all the ingredients well.  I used my food processor because I think that it makes it dissolve quicker.  Use 3 tbs. of mix per 8oz of hot water.

Feel free to add marshmallows, and enjoy!


Welcome to the Mango Tango Mother's Day Dinner Blog Hop. Be sure to visit each of the bloggers below for your next course.

Kathys Cluttered Mind - Table Center Piece
Home Sweet Life - Appetizer
Ben and Me - Appetizer
For Him and My Family - Main Course
Through the Calm and Through the Storm - Main Course
Debbies Homeschool Corner - Dessert
Treasuring Life's Blessings -  Dessert
Our Homeschool Studio - Beverage
Following Him Home - Beverage

Have to share....a poem from my daughter.

Kelsie wrote me a poem for my birthday...it made me cry!!

Absolutely wonderful in every single way

Bearing with my craziness throughout the course of day

Caring for our family and others all year round

Daring to be bold and try new things without a bound

Even when we mess up or forget just who you are

Forgetting that your angry, you guide us like a star

Getting our attention even when we think we’re through

Helping us and teaching us, that person remains you.

I hope to think you know this after all that you have done

Joking with us, crying with us, there in pain or fun

Kelsie Sarah Miranda too would proudly stand to say

Love is what we got from you and give to you today

Momma I adore you and on this your birthday fine,

Never wish for more than that you always will be mine

Opening your doors to guests that never have their fill

Praying for the least of us whenever we are ill

Queenly and yet humble, as only a mom can be

Respectful to your elders and again to those like me

Silly me, I ‘bout forgot what I set out to do

Thank you in all aspects, for everything- for you

Unite us as a family, as we will all grow up

Very instantaneous, I toast you with my cup

When in times of sadness, take to heart my prose

X’s and O’s to you, a happiness propose

You are very special, my one and only mom

-Zaniest child of Tom

TOS Review: Progeny Press Study Guide

I was selected by TOS to review Things Fall Apart Study Guide by Progeny Press for High School.  We reviewed the downloadable version which is $18.00  It is also available as a $21.99 Printed Booklet or an $18.99 CD.

The downloadable version is in PDF format, and is editable.  This means that the students can type the answers right in the PDF document.  I loved this feature.  I was able to have my daughter read the book, and then I emailed her the PDF so that she could work on it on her laptop.  She particularly liked not having to write in the answers by hand, and since she does most of her schoolwork on her computer these days, it fit into her day quite well.  She is also able to save the PDF under a different file name, and email it back to me with her completed answers.  

Screen shot from the guide

The guide includes a bio about the author, historical background, vocabulary, bible study, and questions about the story.  It also goes into literary analysis of the book, including characterization, imagery, simile and much more.  Each chapter has additional activities to further the study such as writing poetry, discussion of deeper topics, letter writing, and so on.  I did find that many of the activities were written with a class in mind, but could be adapted to homeschool use. There are 20 different essay questions that you can work from, giving you a lot of material for writing assignments.  The bible study takes different elements from the book, and encourages the student to look up scripture and compare what the bible says to the ideas presented in the book.  

She did not like that the guide was so long.  It only took her a couple of days to read the book, but it will take her much longer to complete the guide.  The suggestion in the guide was to work on a page a day, and at that rate it would take a couple of months to complete.  We don't generally spend that long studying a book, and prefer slightly shorter guides.  It suggested that this be 1/4 of a yearly grade, and that around 4 studies would be done in a year.  We go through a book every couple of weeks, so it just wouldn't work for us as well in that aspect.  That said, it would be easy to pick and choose what the child worked on to shorten the study.  

My daughter, being a word-hound, particularly liked the vocabulary work.  She also enjoyed reading about the tribal culture, and the historical background the guide gave her.  

She didn't love this study guide, but I think a large part of that was the fact that she really didn't care for the book.  When I asked her what if she had done the same guide for The Hobbit, she said that she would have liked working on it much better.  

Overall, this was a very comprehensive study guide, in a great format.  It is easy to tailor it to your needs, and could be used as a very large study covering several different subject areas.  It is a great study for the price.

Click to read more reviews from the Schoolhouse Review Crew

Directing the rain..

Well, it looks like our drainage solutions for our yard are working for the most part.  We are getting heavy downpours of rain this morning, and all the water is going where we wanted:  away from the house and not washing out the driveway.

One of our major problem areas was beside the house.  We are sitting on the bottom of a ridge, and all the water runs down that side.  After careful sloping of the yard in general, we decided to put a large flower bed on that side, and are going to do a dry creek bed path running through it.  The paths I laid out are draining the water right to where we wanted it to.  I am going to have to work on one little spot on the upper side, but  the rest is working well.  

You can see my paths here pretty well.  Now I just need to go get my gravel and rock to keep the dirt from washing away.  This slopes downward from left to right, more than it appears in the photo.

Where it drains out into the yard.  We really need to get some grass growing!!

The other part of our work has been piping the roof water away from the house.  We've buried PVC connected to the gutters to funnel the water down the hill, again away from the house.  You can see the Nile like river running there on the lower right.  Tom is going to extend that pipe a little further and fill in the ditch.

We still have a lot of landscaping work to do, but at least our groundwork appears to be functioning well!