John asked so I thought I would sit down and kind of explain our “methods”.  We are a very eclectic family when it comes from home schooling.  We believe in hands on, life learning lessons for the most part.  Being from a family that “does for themselves” and does not “hire out”, our boys know that they have years to look forward to very hard physical work.    They have both been involved in many of our remodeling projects and are about to take on a small addition to their room.  They both cook and bake so they get plenty of reading with that and they are both into an online game so they type to their friends on that.

Time4Learning has helped me be a little more organized and focused on keeping everything together.  We worked out of Modern Curriculum Press for the last several years and love them for traditional book work but because of issues with both boys, T4L is a much better program for us right now.

Our family uses a lot of School Zone products for different things and have been able to incorporate so much into learning maps, states and areas using the Highlights Which Way USA books that my parents got for them.  I struggle with spelling lists and would be Oh’-so-grateful to see spelling added to T4L.  For some of our writing projects we use McDonald Creative Thinking “Write-Abouts”.  McDonald also puts out “Silly Starters” and “Story Starters” which we have used.

For the most part we have our oldest draw his own comics and add story lines to that when he gets really frustrated.  They also have a program that their godfather has them on which requires writing every week.   Boy Scouts has helped them with some writing projects.

Like I said though, we are kind of all over the place and take one day at a time.  At least now there is one part that they don’t complain about so it makes all the rest so much easier.

Hey there! I got an email today from a good friend of ours and she has decided to enroll her son in the T4L. I am especially happy about this because he struggles so in Math and I think that T4L is really going to help him. She did note to me that she would continue it until she can’t afford it anymore but I really think that it is the type of thing, once you get started with it you find yourself looking forward to their excitement when they are learning something brand new. I think their family is going to really enjoy it as much as ours!

She deals with a lot of the same issues with her son that we do.. The writing, math, etc… She and I have compared notes for a few years since our children are about the same age. I was thrilled today to hear that she was going to use the program. I really believe that he is going to do well.

When I told my boys that their friend was going to start doing T4L they jumped around and yelled “Yippy”…. Almost like it personally effected them. They are so excited to see him next Friday to ask him about it. I really had to laugh at their reaction; T4L really has become so much part of our lives that they are thrilled to add someone to their “family”……

Thanks again!

It was not until I kissed my boys goodnight tonight that I realized the impact T4L has really had on our lives. As I was walking out of the boys bedroom I heard my oldest (he always has to say just one more thing) “Hey mom? Is it okay that I get right up and start T4L before breakfast tomorrow?”. You have to understand that September and October are very busy months for us. It is probably the only time of the year that I actually keep a calendar close by and make copies for all the family members. We are running in so many directions because of the addition of our “back to school” activities. For either child to “want to” get right up and do work is amazing to me!

Fall for us means the addition of soccer, Master’s, home school group and now Boy Scouts. They have Karate all year and even though it is only one night a week, it still is challenging to keep up with everything else. In the past it has been difficult for the boys to sit and do their work (book work..ugg..) and still do the extras that they want to do.

Our transition from summer into fall this year has gone so much smoother than in the past years. T4L has really helped us stay on track and is so much easier on me. Gathering lessons, grading work, fighting to just get them started in the mornings has always been an issue with me. For my oldest to want to wake up and sit at his computer and do his work first thing in the morning is such a milestone.

I am still met with a bit of resistance when they are done with their lessons on the computer and I ask them to pull out their writing note books, spelling note books, boy scout note books or their Sunday school assignments because they know that writing is around the corner but it is so much easier to get through now.

I can not, nor will I try, to make everyone understand how much T4L has helped in so many areas. I am thrilled at the science and social studies and enjoy hearing the boys discuss the lessons to each other. They have also gotten into “googling” things that they learn in science or social studies to further along the learning process!

As just a side note, my youngest child is 6 and if not for finding T4L, I know that he would have had a very hard year. He is really doing well with his language arts and having the stress of “writing” off him I see him flourishing and enjoying every bit of school work now. I know that I will have to go back and have him review and re-take some quizzes but he is soaking up so much information every day that he would have never gotten in traditional book work lesson plans! DS2 really has benefited so much with the addition of this program in our home.

I don’t say it enough… Thanks guys! Our busy fall this year is a bit easier to handle knowing that every day my kids are excited to get started on school work. It is now 11:30pm and instead of putting together mounds of work for tomorrow I can go to bed and know that the boys can sign on and start first thing in the morning! (even if I am not fully awake!)

So my 3rd grader did his first lessons in Science and Social Studies today. We were both shocked (in a good way) at how incredibly different the science and social studies programs are this year as opposed to the 2nd grade levels. We were so used to the small, animated lessons that when he first logged in and we saw the first lesson on Vikings…our jaws dropped, lol. I had seen the lesson plans, but honestly only briefly.

We were able to sit and read together and even involved daddy, who enjoyed being able to help. As my son read through all the information in the activities, my hubby and I just kept looking at one another going “wow! this is great!” Even though these lessons were not even remotely similar to the 2nd grade lessons he remembered, my son was totally enthralled in what he was doing. When he printed out the little Viking cards and got out his first “notebook,” I think it finally hit him that 3rd grade is not the “little kid’s school” (his words) anymore. :o)

By the time he moved on to Science, got his next notebook started and did all the measurements that the first lesson asked him to get, he truly felt like he accomplished something today. What a proud moment for us all. And we are totally looking forward to what the next lessons hold!! :o)

My life as a home school mom has always been met with complaining from my boys. They really enjoy learning as long as it is not sitting for hours doing mundane work. Neither child enjoys writing and since moving into the T4L program we have been enjoying a calm through the house like never before.

This morning I had a list that we needed to do after they finished T4L. Both boys knew that a couple of the projects included writing and in order to stall they used T4L to their benefit. I was getting some stuff together to work on after lunch and both boys kept putting off getting through their lessons for the day. Finally I had enough and said “Common guys, you need to finish up.” For the first time ever I heard the words, “Is it okay if we go back and do one more in each lesson?” Of course I said yes and let them and as I continued to set up for the project that the needed to do; smiled at myself because they were actually enjoying lessons!

Every day is met with such a nice pleasant mood and it is not until I bring up that we need to do our writing projects that I am met with a little resistance. The writing goes so much better now though, because they have not spent all day working on problems in a work book that gives no satisfaction or interaction!