Spanish for You!

I recently received a Spanish program to review called Spanish for You. My daughter is in high school, and this program is for elementary and middle school, but we have never really done any Spanish programs before, so we thought we would try it out.

Spanish for you is one of those curriculum's that can be used with many grade levels at once. All of your children are learning the same content, but they each have their own worksheets that correspond to their grade level. So if you have children of multiple ages, this program would be a great one to try.

You can choose from two programs:

This package theme is Celebrations.

This package theme is Seasons.

ALL Spanish for You! packages come complete with:

• soft cover book or e-book (currently only our trial pkgs.)
• 24-30 week lesson guide for the grades you need (24 weeks for G5-6 & 7-8, 30 weeks for G3-4) (PDF download)
• self-checking worksheets (PDF download)
• audio files of entire book (includes bonus audio of native speaker of entire book) (MP3 download)
• flashcard/activity pictures (PDF download)
• *Teacher lesson plans are NOT included. These need to be purchased separately. Please visit our CLASS USE page for important information on using Spanish for You! with classes.

When we received our downloads, we set out to try this program. I must admit that we tried it a few different times, and became so frustrated with the program that we stopped, and tried again later. The reason for this was that the downloads were not organized in a manner that made it easy to find what you needed for each lesson. The grade levels were mixed and I had a hard time finding the correct lessons to the corresponding ebook lessons.

BUT....The company listened to the reviewers and changed this problem PRONTO!!! So that is no longer an issue. The reason I am mentioning it at all is that we did have trouble putting it all together for a while, so I don't think we got the most use out if it, or was able to use it as much as I would have liked to before posting a review. . Now that everything is fixed, it should be no problem to use.

My daughters thoughts: "I think this program is a good program, and effective. I do think that it is more geared to the younger grade levels. I think that it is a great program for elementary, but middle schoolers might think it is a little childish."

Her reason for this is because of the flashcards, and the way the program looks. However, she did think it was an effective program.

I think now that the program is better organized, it would be a great program to use in a household with multiple children of different ages.

You can find this program here. You can purchase each program for $64.95 for all the grade levels. (3-8) OR, you can purchase individual grade levels for $39.95 apiece.

Apologia Ultimate Planners - Truly Are the Ultimate in Planners!!

Most of you already know about Apologia, and know that all of their products are totally awesome! The new Ultimate Planners are no exception. As for planners themselves, this IS THE BEST planner I have ever seen.

I have gone through many planners in my time and have never actually stuck with one for more than a few weeks. This planner has so many things going for it. First of all it is beautiful.

This planner comes in two different designs for you to choose from. I like that option. I chose the first one. It is even more beautiful in person. It has a lot of purple, which is my favorite color!!

Besides being beautiful, it's more than just a homeschool planner. It has a place for you to track character goals as well as academic goals, resource lists, a one year planning grid, monthly and weekly planning pages as well. It has plenty of room to write down all of your academic lessons, plus tons of room for extra notes. This can be your all around planner, date book, everything.

One of my favorite parts of this planner is that it is also a grade book. I don't have to keep two separate books! I also love that it has a place for you to keep track of everything your students are reading, or plan on reading.

I am very honest in my reviews, and I wouldn't say that I loved a product if I didn't. I love this product!

It is just so beautiful, and well laid out, and it just plain makes sense. If you have used many planners before, you know what I mean by this.

Besides the Ultimate Planner, I also received a student planner.

I received the Student Planner for Teens. This is pretty much a smaller version of the Ultimate Planner. Your child can write down all of his/her assignments in their own planner and keep track of what they need to do, and what they have finished. It even has a place every day to keep track of how many minutes/hours were spent on each subject.

I will say this...If you can only afford one planner, get the Ultimate Planner. Your kids can just look at it for their assignments, but if you can, get both. MY daughter likes having her own planner. She likes the fact that it is smaller, and she loves the All About Me section in the front. She can write down her favorite, books, bands, movies, etc..

I like that at the top of each weeks schedule it has an SAT word for them to learn. It also has a place for grades and reading lists.

Some really, really neat features of this planner are:

Credit Tracker
High School Records
Guide to Punctuation, Italics, and Capitalization
Fractions, Decimals, Percent Equivalency Chart---Totally Awesome!
Periodic Table Chart
Measurement Equivalency Chart
Algebra and Physics Review Charts
Maps and History Timelines
And More......

I highly recommend getting this planner along with the Ultimate Planner.

The cost of The Ultimate Planner is $28.

The cost of the Student Planners are $19.

I can honestly say that I can not see myself ever using another planner again. I will be sticking with this one...

So many things....

There has ben a lot of changes in my life over the last year and a half, but I am finally seeing a lot of good coming from it. I really need to sit down and take the time to make some posts, and I will soon.

But for those of you praying for me and my family, know that I appreciate it, and keep praying for us.
We are going to have to make some more changes, but I think they will all be for the better.

We Choose Virtues

I recently reviewed a couple of items from We Choose Virtues. I received a set of Virtue cards, a sample parenting card, and some down loadable products.

The first thing we did was fill out the Family Character Assessment.

This form helps you and your children see what character qualities you need to work on the most.

After you each decide what to work on you can pick that card from the virtue cards. 

You can stick these on the fridge, or in a spot that will help your children remember what they are working on.

This is a very simple concept, but it works. I have been trying to work with my kids for a long time on their character, and after we received this, all I had to do was say, remember what we're working on?? AND IT WORKED!!!

There are many kits available for purchase, but there are two that I would recommend the most.

The Homeschool Kit $98.99

And The Family Kit $69.99

Of course you can also purchase their products individually.

In the packages you also receive coloring sheets that your child can color the coordinating character quality that they are working on. I think that is pretty cool.

I recommend that you check out the website and see what they have to offer.

If you decide to purchase the Homeschool Kit you can use the coupon code HOME 20 through the month of April and receive 20% off your purchase. If you would like to purchase any of their other products you may use the coupon code VIRTUE15 for 15% off your purchase.