TOS Round Up - Butterflies, Birds and Frogs!

See what crew members have to share in regards to Butterflies, Birds and Frog at the TOS Round Up – nature study for your homeschool!

Goes live on 4/22 at 8am!

Keepin' it Real Tour of Chestnut Grove Academy Home

Do you sometimes feel like a failure when it comes to homemaking?  Do you ever beat yourself up for not keeping your house spic and span?  Do you thumb through magazines and ever wonder why your house can't look like that, or when you visit your favorite bloggers you wonder how they can keep a tidy home but you can't?

Well, let's get REAL!!  You are NOT a failure; your house does NOT have to be spic and span 24/7; those magazine photos are NOT real life; and I can guarantee you that the neat and tidy pictures you see of bloggers' homes are hardly ever like that on a regular basis.

So I thought it would be encouraging and fun to do a little home tour of my own (along with several other bloggers - make sure you check out the other home tours at the end of this post).  You know, kind of like those lovely house tours that DIY/Home bloggers do that show pictures of their immaculate, magazine-worthy homes?  Like that, but a little different.  For this home tour we won't
pretty up our houses or make them picture perfect, but rather show them as they are in their usual state - lived in!

We hope that through these home tours that you are encouraged to know that nobody has it all together, and that's okay; that you have fun peeking into the life of another family and seeing how other moms do things; and also to dispel the myth that bloggers have a flawless life.

BUT WAIT!  We want to see your homes too!!!  Even if you aren't a blogger, you can join us and share pictures of your home on Instagram.  For the next six days we will have a little Instagram challenge; each day will have a different topic for you to post a picture on.  Check out the graphic below to see what is assigned on each day.  Be sure to use the hashtag #KeepinItRealHomeTour on all your Instagram post so we can find each other easily. 

So here it is folks.  Here is the real deal!  People ask me how I get it all done, well truth is I DON’T!  Some things have to give.  I use to be majorly up tight and OCD about it, but I’ve lax’d A LOT (maybe too much).

Thank goodness for my hubby, he does help out a lot.  The kids have chores as well, which is great. 
My biggest problem:  PILES 

I have way to many piles of stuff around!

R – Kitchen, L- Living Room

My bedroom – I NEED a bigger closet!

Boys room – 3 in one room, well it’s always a mess, and the one room that gives me anxiety when I go in.  The trundle was at least put away this morning!  Their bathroom isn’t bad, they cleaned it yesterday.

Baby girl’s room.

Basement

R – laundry room – those are all CLEAN clothes, I need to get off here and go fold!  L – School room….yeah this is what it looks like MOST of the time.  I can’t even show you what it’s like behind that ABC chart!  Ugh!

I took these pictures mid day, just after finishing our schooling, but before lunch.  I do try and pick up some in the evening….o well….it’s messy, but it’s not DIRTY, so I’m okay with it. 
So what’s your problem area?   Our house is definitely lived in!  If I could find a PILES solution and a dryer that folded, I’d be set! 

An InLinkz Link-up

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Review: Memoria Press: Poetry for the Grammar Stage

Poetry for the Grammar Stage by Memoria Press is designed for grades 3rd through 6th.  The one book is divided up by grades, the poems get progressively more difficult over the 4 year period.  The poems also coincide with the Classical Core Curriculum, however the book can also be used independently.  It is possible to cover more poems in a shorter time if starting with an older child (or more literature developed child).  I received the Student Guide and the Teacher Guide for this review.

My son, age 8, is in 3rd grade, so we focused on the first few poems that were labeled for 3rd graders (7 total). 

There are 8 total for 4th grade, 9 total for 5th grade and 10 total for 6th grade.

Each poem includes a box for illustrations, a page with lines to copy the poem, vocabulary words with definitions from the poem, an “Analyze” section for determining rhyming structure and comprehension questions.

There is also an Appendix at the back of the book that gives definitions of poem terms, for example “refrain”.  This is helpful in completing some of the assignments, if you are not familiar with poem terms. 

The Teacher Guide and Student Guide are the same, with the exception of the answers in the Teacher Guide.

My son enjoyed several aspects of this program.  His most favorite was the Analyze section, he found it ‘fun’ to write out the rhyme scheme for the poems.  He also enjoyed illustrating the poems.

Writing is an on going struggle for us, we found the lines for the copywork to be too small for him, therefore we did some copywork on a separate sheet of paper, with wider lines.  I didn’t require him to copy the entire poem, I would have him pick a favorite stanza and copy that.  We did the questions orally (sometimes I have to pick my battles).  As we move up in the grades and use the program more I plan to have him complete more of the work himself and in written form.  For now, I love that it is a bit flexible in application. 

This is a great curriculum to introduce poetry study into your homeschool.  Since there are only 7 poems total for the 3rd grade, you could do several in a month, space it out to one a month, or take several days to complete each lesson.  It’s very flexible as to how you would introduce and utilize the program. 

The Teacher’s Guide was very helpful to me, as I’m not as familiar with poetry as I would like, and I was able to reference it in cases where I wasn’t quite sure of an answer.  I’m sure it will come in handy even more so in the later grades.

For those who may be overwhelmed by teaching poetry, there is a 10 step “How to Teach a  Poem” at the beginning of the guide.

You can find sample pages and a table of contents at the website. 

The cost is $30 for the set or $14.95 for the Student Guide and $16.95 for the Teacher Guide, if purchased individually. 

Disclaimer:  I received a free copy of this product in exchange for my honest review.  I was not required to write a positive review, nor was I compensated in any other way.  All opinions I have expressed are my own or those of my family.  I am disclosing this in accordance with FTC Regulations.