CTC Math Review

CTC MATH 

I would love to tell you about what we have been doing for math for the past 6 months.  I had not been able to settle on any particular curriculum, even the most highly recommended Charlotte Mason style math curriculum's, while I knew they were good, just didn't seem right for us.  So we started doing a lot more living math which I wrote about here and were really enjoying doing math this way.  However, I was becoming more and more drained, not because from doing living math, but my health was just not keeping up and then I started really dropping the ball. I didn't know for some time, but I was very anemic and very low on vit D and just felt like I was dying.  

I didn't have the energy to plan and prepare the fun, engaging living math fun that we were finding so rewarding. I wanted to keep doing living math activities, but I felt like I needed something more stable and structured than what I was doing, yet still gentle and not stress inducing. So I went back to searching my top choices.  One that I kept coming back to was CTC Math. My husband and I were hesitant about doing an online math program, especially after doing math in such a hands-on way AND being very Charlotte Mason, Waldorf, Nature Inspired in our homeschool, we just weren't sure about doing math on the computer or ipad.  

The kids and I were traveling to visit family for 2.5 weeks, so I decided to do the free trial as our math while we were away and now here I am writing a ha;f a year later.  My son (K) was so excited by the certificates, he really thrived on the structure of the program and was motivated to plow through it. He thought is was fun and just took off and is almost a full grade level ahead now. He would ask me if he could do more math. I'm so happy that he is just starting out on something that he has taken to so well, hopefully we'll just avoid any math drama all together with him at this rate.

With my daughter (3rd grade) we had started out with basic math workbooks from the store in Kindergarten and done fun math sheets and activities from 1+1+1=1 and other fun pinterest stuff.  It was going well. Then first grade we started doing MFW and we did the math that came with that and that's when things started to get wonky...it wasn't bad...it just wasn't good either.  We did everything by the book, but it wasn't working, nothing would stick...it was like starting over every day.  And part of that is how my daughter learns and the reason we went away from "curriculum" and more into relaxed eclectic, or what I coined Classical Masonori Waldunschoolers. (that's Classical Conversations, Charlotte Mason, Montessori, Waldorf and Unschooling all blended up into a super yummy and healthy smoothie!) 

Anyways, then by second grade we started Singapore as recommeded by MFW and she liked the pictures and how there weren't too many questions per page so she wasn't visually overwhelmed, but I was floundering in trying to teach it because I'm not mathy...I'm a math phobe!  I'm still haunted be a reoccurring nightmare that I skipped my last college math class the last semester and remembered right before finals and am freaking out knowing there is NO way I can pass the final or make up for the all I missed.  I hate that dream!

  

Meanwhile I had began looking at other options more obsessively (at least that's probably how my husband would describe it when he turns on the computer and there's 30 tabs open in just 1 of the browsers and I'm reading and researching too much).  We were getting through the Singapore book, but when skills came back up, it was clear she wasn't getting it, it wasn't sticking.  AND with any math I did with her, she was always immediately overwhelmed when we started a new topic or idea and would shut down before even giving it a chance and I'd be trying to convince her how simple it was if she would just listen for a second.  

I really wanted to like Math U See or RightStart, those are such good programs but every time I looked at them, I just knew  it wasn't for us, she would shut down as soon as she see's that page of problems just as much as I felt overwhelmed when looking at all the stuff that came with Rigthstar.  Anything that looked like a textbook just was a very hard part of our day.  So that is how we just decided to embrace hands-on learning and dove into Living Math.  

But once we gave CTC Math a try, I was amazed.  My daughter would watch the short video lesson that is like an animated and narrated power point presentation and would just be engaged, nodding her head like "Oh OK that makes sense" and then as soon as the lesson was finished and Pat Murray says "alright we've completed our lesson and good luck with your questions." She would just go right in and confidently be ready to do her math, even if it was something totally new...something that would have her sliding out of her chair and onto the floor in a ball of misery, excuses and overwhelm in the past.  

Some key things that really make CTC Work for us are:

• Only one question is displayed at a time
• There is a progress bar at the top that moves each time they submit their answer so they get that immediate reward of seeing how much closer they are to being finished with questions.
• Their score is kept showing their current percentage on that lesson as well as how many out of the total number of questions they have completed.
• Being able to type in or select the answer takes away the added stress for those with Dyslexia or other similar issues as they can just focus on the math and not worry if they wrote 25 when they mean 52 or hand fatigue for those who grip too hard, then write wrong and can't erase their answers since they press the pencil SO HARD.
• The lessons are concise and to the point but do a great job explaining and demonstrating the concept. (Charlotte Mason would approve)
• You can select how many practice questions you want your child to do and what you require for a passing grade when you set up your students account. You could set it for only having to do 10 practice questions but require 90-100% accuracy or you could set it up however you want.  
• There are diagnostic tests for each topic and you can select short (20 questions) Standard (30 questions) or comprehensive (40 questions)
• Parent can assign tasks with deadlines if desired
• Parent can edit the students account so if they want to delete a lesson and redo it to get a better score and award, you can.
• Kids love checking their awards section and keeping track of how many platinum, gold and silver awards they have earned.
• They enjoy the speed skills.
• My daughter likes that after she completes a lesson, it shows how long it took her to complete the lesson, but that it doesn't show a timer while she's doing the lesson because any sort of timer is stressful and distracting for her.
• mobility - we travel quite a bit and this is easy to access from anywhere without having to pack anything
• Built in manipulatives that kids can move around on screen with either a mouse if using computer or with their finger if using an ipad to work out their problems and find the answer.
• No teacher frustration...I sit with my kids as support but if they don't get it (which has only happened on rare occasion thus far) they can simply re-watch the video lesson and try again.  
• Affordable! Having a family subscription with multiple kids with access to all grade levels is an incredible deal.  The subscription for the whole family (with the home school discount) costs the same as other curriculum, but just purchasing one grade level.  And you can easily move your kids up or down based on where they need to be without having to buy more curriculum/materials.  
• This program is great for a variety of learning styles as it is Visual, Audio and Kinestetic.
• Kids like the new feature of being able to customize the color scheme of their account.  My son has Red and Orange and my daughter Teal and Blue. Sometimes it's the little things, like having their own user name and password, their own color scheme, records and awards...they like it.
• This program has been like a burden lifted for me as I feel very confident in how my kids are doing in math now and I can still add in living math activities to our day, but I don't HAVE to always be prepared.  
• I have a two year old...I don't have time and patience for whining and tantrums and dawdling over math!  I haven't had any of those issues since we started CTC Math AND my daughter is retaining what she has learned.  

I think if Charlotte Mason were around today she would approve.

A couple Cons:

• I wish it was easier to go back and change one question that as wrong so they don't have to have a lower award or redo the whole set of questions because of a simple mistake like bumping the submit button or a typo when they knew the right answer. Although it's taught them to really DOUBLE check before they click submit.  
• The Times Tables Game and Speed Skills didn't work on the ipad but they just fixed that so that's been great!
• They have great built in manipulatives but every once in a while you may want to actually take out a scrap paper and pencil for your child to work the question out on. It's not a big con but sometimes you are used to the manipulatives and then you'll get a question without any and my daughter will stare blankly. this isn;t really that much of a negative but more of an FYI.  Also one some of the money questions, I brought out some of our fake money for her to use because on some of those there were not built in manipulatives...however, I was happy to be able to bring in some other manipulatives that she could use so not a big deal.
• I would love if they made an app for the ipad instead of doing it within the Safari browser.  Sometimes it can be a little glitchy on the ipad sometimes. It definitely works smoother on the computer.

Those are the only Cons I could think of and I was really trying to be honest and thorough but there are really no HUGE complaints I have.  I think this program is totally awesome and I envision us sticking with this all the way through.  And...I'm honestly getting more confident at math from watching his lessons with my kids! I struggled to do mental math...but I am getting much better now and I don't think I've had my college math class nightmare in a while now! :0

And I will say, we are not total unschoolers, but I think many unschoolers would enjoy having this as a math program as I know many people resonate with the ideology but then wonder..."what about math?" I think CTC Math could blend well with any full on homeschool style out there...except maybe not full on Waldorf because you can't watercolor paint on your computer screen! :)

An AWESOME DIY Homemade Christmas

Well, Black Friday has come and gone and now onto the the non-stop deals on whatever crap people are compelled to buy in the hustle to get Christmas shopping done.

I have a different plan.  Nothing speaks to my heart more than a nice homemade gift. I love receiving them and getting them!  While there are lots of great diy gift ideas on Pinterest, I am going to share some of my plans for diy Christmas gifts this year.  Most of our Christmas shopping this year is going to be for supplies to make these.  I even did take advantage of Black Friday shopping by getting a great deal on blizzard fleece on Joann's website so I never even left the house!

These are not just cheesy homemade gifts that you make and then at the last minute feel like you should still buy something anyways to go with it...These are AWESOME stand alone great gifts that can replace whatever else you may have purchased otherwise!

MERMAID AND SHARK TAIL SNUGGLE BLANKETS

For all the girls and boys in my life I am making either fleece mermaid tail blankets or shark eating me blankets.  I got the fleece on Joanns Black Friday cyber deal for $2.50/yard so these are a super fun gift to make and keep your budget down!  

You can get a tutorial here and here


but it looks pretty easy to figure out and just wing both without a pattern.

Howeverfor those who like to SEE examples and various ways to do it, shark blanket tutorials can be found such as this 

Or HERE

or get a pattern to make both on etsy here 

ANTI-AGING AND HEALTHY HAIR SILK PILLOWCASES

For the women in my family, I will be making up some hair and beauty silk pillowcases.  There is a great tutorial on HowDoesShe that you can follow.  I may do mine a little different and try to embed some lavendar...we shall see.  I ordered the real silk on dharmatrading.com as recommended from the tutorial. I will make a cute litle printout of all the benefits of silk pillowcases to go with.With 1 yard per pillowcase this gift rings in at just under $10 each.

WOODEN MINECRAFT BLOCKS AND PLAY PARTS

For my son who likes Minecraft and loves building with blocks, I ordered a set of 50 1.5 inch unfinished wood blocks from craftparts.com.  He's 5 and I LOVE Grimm style wood toys, but instead of rainbow blocks, I am going  to dip dye the blocks in food coloring in the main minecraft colors and may get a little creative to make a few special blocks.  My son has a good imagination, and dying them with minecraft theme colors, he can enjoy building his own minecraft stuff but his imagination wont be limited to minecraft play.  If you want a more specific minecraft look check out this diy post on wooden Minecraft Blocks.  It's more involved with printing the skins, cuting, modgepodging etc but looks cool.
 

My daughter is making other minecraft things to go with the block set as her gift to her brother with perler beads.  She is just making them up based on how she knows minecraft looks but here is some inspiration...Check it out HERE

GYMNASTICS BALANCE BEAM

For any gymnastics loving girls, there a tons of tutorials online for constructing your own balance beam.  I plan on using a fun color combo with fun faux suede and paint on the wood frame.  There are LOTS of different tutorials to make them but it doesn't have to be complicated! Here's a simple tutorial here

For awesome balance beam color combo ideas, check out this pinterest board.

DIY DOLL GYMNASTICS SET

For our little gymnasts and doll loving girl, my husband is going to "help" our son make a gymnastics set for his sister for his Christmas gift to her.  He'll make a set of bars from pvc pipe and using a tutorial like this and we'll make some velcro grips so she can swing around.  

For a mat you could just layer some craft foam or get a small piece of thin foam padding and wrap it in cute duct tape.

Doll Beam (we'll make one that matches her beam)

CANDY POPCORN

For other great people in your life like friends, neighbors, teachers, etc...ne of my favorite things to make is my mom's carmel popcorn recipe and then drizzle melted chocolate over top, package in cellophane bags and pair with a Christmas card.

and for the men....that's where I am still deciding!  Maybe homemade BBQ rub and custom aprons? i don't know but here are some great lists of ideas for the men here and here and here.

Shopping for the perfect gifts can be super stressful and time consuming and making a bunch of gifts can seem completely overwhelming.  But if you can consolidate projects by making all kids the same thin, all women the same thing, all men the same thing and all neighbors etc the same thing...then you just take a couple session focused on that one project.  The key to enjoying the season and meking homemade gifts is to be intentional about how you spend your time.  Less running around and more resting and making.  Less Christmas activities for more relaxed Christmas season savoring at home!  Don't feel like your kids are going to miss out if they don't attend every Christmas party and activity there is to do.  The kids will remember making a homemade gift while smelling cookies in the oven more than they will the blur of events and errands that sometimes englufs the entire season.  Order as much as you can online, even fabric if possible and only do the running around that is absolutely necessary!  That way we can be productive, give great gifts while still feeling the joy of the season and create lasting memories with our children.  

As for us as homeschoolers, I also posted about this on instagram under the picture of my daughter making a minecraft diamond with her perler beads...that since we HAVE the flexibilty, we are going to take the month off of regular school and learn through living and all the productive hands-on Christmas time things we do. It is just too much to maintain a regular homeschool schedule and then pile on top of that all the other things we want to do.  So we are making the season fun and learning through all our fun seasonal activities and gift making!

Art.Beauty.Homemaking.Motherhood.

As a sahm and especially a homeschool mom, I know for me personally, there are times I don't feel beautiful anymore.  I think of women who have to get ready for their professional career and polish up everyday or women my age who are not yet mothers and take great care of themselves with great shoes, clothes, regularly maintained and colored hair and the best makeup and nail polish!  Or especially other mothers who seem to do it ALL while looking fantastic.  Then I look down and there is pretty much ALWAYS something on my shirt, chipped uneven nails, just a little but of nail polish left on my big toes that's been wearing off for over a month, a year of highlights grown out, tired dull skin and eyes, and pretty much just feeling plain jane.  When your day starts with caring for a baby, toddler, sick or scared child who kept you up all night, rather than jump out of bed and get beautified for work and friends, it's a zombie walk to the kitchen for coffee first!  Then more kids appear, need breakfast, help, attention, direction...pets also start meowing or whimpering for a need as well.  Your day gets going and before you know it, it's well into the day, you finally catch a glimpse of yourself in the mirror when you managed to get a bathroom break and it can be startling to see the tired, disheveled, unkempt, starting to age, worn out person in the mirror and feel like all traces of whatever former beauty have been lost.

I can also feel this way about creativity and art.  I wanted to be a couple things when I was in my youth...number one...I always wanted to be a mom but other dreams included being a fine artist, spending time in Italy as an apprentice to gain and polish professional skills, compose music for movie soundtracks and maybe a few other grand dreams.  When I glance in the mirror on those days and see an uglier version of myself, I sometimes feel that way about my creative and artistic abilities...lost in the wash...probably gone to the same place of no return that all those socks go to....which is why my kids wear mismatched socks a lot of the time!

BUT...as depressing and pitiful as that all sounds, thankfully those days are a small minority of the time because I am reminded that BEAUTY isn't merely a state of being and neither is art.  Both are an expression.  Both can be expressed and enjoyed in many non-tangible, non-capturable ways, all throughout our day...every day!

Motherhood and homemaking are sources of insurmountable joy and satisfaction yet at the same time very exhaustive, stressful and humbling.  Motherhood BREAKS you.  But, if approached with intention, unselfishness, humbleness, a willingness to learn from our children and pray over everything and seek out the Holy Spirit's inspiration as our main go to parenting resource that we can tap into anytime....from or brokenness, a new beautiful creature arises from within.  TRUE BEAUTY.  Expressed in our love for our children, how we teach them, treat them and give our unconditional enduring love, being teacher and students of our children.  Learning who they are, embracing who they are, cultivating their personality traits to work for their good so they can serve as strengths more than weakness...which is ultimately done through constant prayer and seeking of guidance.  This new beautiful strong creature is shed of some of her former self...and usually a lot for the better...shed of shallowness, selfishness, impatience and pride just to name a few.  

Art and creativity are also expressed in child raising and homemaking on a daily basis.  Living simply, unhurried and connected with our surroundings, creating quality time, being up to enjoy and go with the flow to enjoy the spontaneous and the planned moments together, exploring and discovering the world together, creating things together, creating an environment to cultivate their little hearts, minds and spirits....there is just so much that happens everyday that is an expression of art and creativity.  

My family and home are my canvas and God is the medium-blended into every color, coated on every brush and layered onto every part of the canvas that I work on everyday.  It all goes on smoother, blends better and has a better overall finish when He is a part of it.

Often when thoughts of not fulfilling or cultivating my gifts and passions, I'm reminded that right now, in this season, my family and my home are my canvas and my various paintbrushes are prayer, unscheduled time, nature, living books, beautiful homeschool resources, nature journaling, character development, devotional/hymn/poetry study, teachable moments, the right extra curricular activities for us, a handful of sweet friends, extended family, Holy Spirit inspiration and God is the paint medium, blended into every color, coated on every brush and layered onto every part of the canvas that I am working everyday.  It all goes on smoother, blends better and has a better finish when He is a part of it.  

Aside from drawing in our nature notebooks or doing art with my kids, using my rusty art skills, I am OK...no actually I am MORE than OK to wait until a season when more tangible art projects will be a part if my life...but for now...living art is what it is and finding the beauty and joy in the messy and mundane moments.  (Have you ever walked into an painting studio?  It's messy and simple and bare...but then, in the midst of the unglamorous setting, stands a beautiful work of art in progress with someone spending hours upon hours, diligently working on it....that is just like life!)

Taking in the simple yet complex beauty of the world as we discover it again in new and profound ways alongside our children, our beauty is expressed through our simple joy and contentment, love of nature, love for each other and ultimately love of our creator.  

My personal beauty is not exactly expressed as it was in more youthful years through youthful glowing skin, flat ironed-still naturally blond hair, push up bras and citizen jeans that fit just so...but it IS expressed through creating a peaceful, loving home and a sanctuary for my children and husband to come home to. I cannot do that so well on my own strength alone-but through Adonai-a loving, understanding and creative Father and Savior who knows me and loves me just the way I am.  

This is the season I'm in and it is full of art and beauty and when I look at it this way I am in no hurry for this season to end, sometimes I with it would never have to end. I am content.