Educents - Huge Back-to-School Savings

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Educents is having a huge Back-to-School Sale that I wanted to make you sure you don't miss. Have you shopped with Educents yet? Kate and Kaitlyn, the founders of Educents, are passionate about education. They are passionate about bringing YOU the educational products you love at an affordable price. Shouldn't everyone have access to education?

So, how does it work? Educents is an online marketplace for affordable educational products, providing daily deals to students, parents and educators by working with established educational suppliers. Whether it is a science kit, curriculum pack, books or art supplies, they make sure that Educents has the lowest price. Educators need a break, and they’re here to help.

Since the launch of Educents in April, 2013, Educents has saved educators over $15 million dollars and has helped more than 130,000 teachers, homeschoolers and parents gain access to affordable educational materials.

Check out just a few of the things on sale now (and even some FREEBIES)!

History/Geography Wall Play Sets

Life of Fred (all sets!)

Minion Math Centers

5 Kit Magic School Bus Variety Bundle

Magformers 30-Piece Magnetic Building Set

You can also enter some pretty great Giveaways during the month of August!

Happy planning, shopping and saving!

Blessings and love. xo

Build Your Bundle - Homeschool Edition SALE is live!

The "Build Your Bundle" - Homeschool Edition sale is here! For one week only (July 21-28) save up to 92% on bestselling homeschooling products, including MANY from Cathy Duffy's Top 100 list!
Take a look at the bundles:
Charlotte Mason Bundle This bundle features complete curriculum using the Charlotte Mason Methods for language arts, handwriting, and reading, a full geography curriculum, a plethora of resources for studying nature, artists, poetry, and a variety of "extras" just for mom! Included are popular products: Write From History, Sheldon's New Language Lessons, Handwriting Lessons Through Literature, Fine Art Pages, Grapevine Bible Study, and more! Learn all about Charlotte Mason and enjoy a special bonus (a $90 value all by itself) —the top 5 best selling G.A. Henty audio books from Jim Hodges Productions. This bundle is jam packed full of amazing resources your family will love!
Tots and PreK Bundle Teach your littlest ones about God's amazing creation and the value of virtue using our Tot and Preschool Bundle! Included are popular products from: We Choose Virtues, Character Concepts, Grapevine Bible Studies, and more! This bundle gives you a complete Christ-centered preschool program, including age-appropriate character-building tools, a stick-figure Bible study, a creation-based coloring book, a handwriting curriculum, an independent activity guide (for those times when you need a moment to focus), and much more!
K-3rd Grade Bundle Teach your K-3 children basic skills and core truths through easily understandable lessons and hands-on activities. Our K-3 Bundle includes reading, math, science, handwriting, character training and Bible resources. Your children will experience life in 17th century America as they learn about the settlers and our 13 original colonies. You will have everything you need to savor these first days of discovery!
Elementary: 4-6th Bundle This bundle features Wordsmith Apprentice from Common Sense Press, a Cathy Duffy Top 100 Pick! Included is a science curriculum teaching Geology, also from Cathy Duffy’s Top 100 Picks. You will also find "Mapping the Word With Art", a highly acclaimed curriculum that has a blend of history, geography, and art. There is more: Bible, handwriting and copywork resources, writing guides, timeline cards, ancient history notebooking pages, creative writing for both boys and girls, and an editable weekly homeschool planner for Mom - all for one LOW PRICE!
Middle School Bundle Your middle school students will tour the classical world and develop academic excellence using our Middle School Bundle. This bundle features Learning Language Arts Through Literature and two science curricula, one from Cathy Duffy’s Top 100 picks, as well as your choice of volumes from "A Child's Geography" - a complete geography and history curriculum! Also included is a popular history timeline/book of centuries, Renaissance and Reformation notebooking pages, a classical music curriculum and famous composers notebooking pages, and a creative writing collection that even "non-writers" will love!
High School Bundle Your high school students will develop academic mastery and intellectual maturity using our High School Bundle. This bundle features a New Testament Bible curriculum, an introduction to psychology, a full year of math curriculum, resources for world history and geography, philosophy, home economics, college prep, grammar, a creative writing collection that even "non-writers" will love, an anatomy science unit study from Cathy Duffy’s Top 100 picks, and more! You will receive enough materials for a full year of high school!
Bundle Just for Moms! Save money, strengthen your marriage, and streamline your schedule using our Mom Bundle. Find the encouragement you need and the insight to speak to your child’s heart (even that difficult child!). Whip your home into shape and train your children to do their chores effectively with a Easy Peasy Chores ($18.99 value!) This bundle brims with useful tools to help you bring calm to the chaos. Get them all for just $10!
Build Your OWN Bundles Would you rather hand-pick your selections? There are two "Build Your Own" Bundle Options! You can choose any 5 products priced $19.99 and under for just $25 ~ a savings of 75%! You can choose any 10 products priced $19.99 and under for just $39 ~ a savings of 80%! SO many amazing products to choose from!
BUY MORE & SAVE MORE!
*Lots of ways to save! When you purchase ANY 2 pre-assembled bundles you will get the 3rd pre-assembled bundle of equal or lesser value for 50% off! When you purchase ANY 2 "build your own" bundles you will get the 3rd "build your own" bundle of equal or lesser value for 50% off! Tell your friends about the "Build Your Bundle" - Homeschool Edition Sale using our referral system that is found on the top of the website! When 10 of your referrals visit our site using your unique link, we will give you a code to save 10% off your total purchase! *The B2G1 50% off offer applies to pre-assembled or "Build Your Own" Bundles only. Discount taken off the lowest priced bundle. See site for complete details and FAQ.

You might also be interested in:
Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links. When you use my links, I make a small commission, at no additional charge to you. Thank you for your kindness and support!

The Star-Spangled Banner Copywork - FREE

It's a Free Fourth of July Special at Homeschool Copywork! Don't miss it! It's a perfect way to teach our children the lyrics to our national anthem, which is such an important part of our American heritage. I am printing mine out now.

And check out all the other wonderful products on Homeschool Copywork - artists, authors, poetry, Scripture, the alphabet, and holidays, - plus more to come! A yearly membership is only $7.95, with full access to the member area for one full year. A lifelong membership is only $24.95, with full access to all products for life. 

Check out these great products here!

Blessings and love. xo

Disclaimer: This post contains my affiliate links. If you use these links, I make a commission. Thank you so much for your support and kindness.

IXL.com {Review}

My review year with the TOS Review Crew is coming to a close, and this has been one of the most productive and well-liked products in our household this year. I was given a one-year membership to IXL.com for three children, a retail value of $169, in exchange for honest review. This membership includes both math practice (all grade levels) and language arts practice (only grades 2-4 for now).

From the website:

Not only do students gain new skills on IXL—they gain a whole new appreciation for how fun learning can be! From the vibrant images that permeate IXL's skills, to the enticing awards and certificates that are hidden throughout the site, students cannot wait to hop on IXL—and you'll have trouble tearing them away. Math and language arts are about so much more than just numbers and letters—so, IXL is too! We approach each topic from all angles, offering visual representations, listening exercises, interactive activities, and more. With an abundance of questions for every learning style, students can't help but build lasting skills and confidence.

Our experience:

My three children who are using this program are in grade 12, grade 6 and grade 3 and are using the math program only. All three of them have access to grades Pre-K through Algebra 2 (with Calculus coming soon). There are endless, endless skills for them to practice. There are 42 skills in Pre-K and between 100-300 skills in all the other levels. I just want to make clear that this is not a teaching program, so if there is a new math concept that is presented, we go to another teaching video website that we use to learn the new skill. Then that child who has learned the new concept can come back to their IXL.com account to practice those new skills. It is a fantastic program for practicing skills. The website is easy to use, and my children have never had any trouble with logging in or using the program. The graphics are colourful and lively. There are awards to win along the way, although my older children don't seem too taken with them, as I think they are a little too young-looking for them. 

There are reports sent to the parent so that I can keep up with their progress. Here is an example of one email that I received:

Here is another example of the reports I can view in my parent account:

Pricing:

Monthly plan $9.95/month for math only or language arts only

Monthly plan $15.95/month for both math and language arts

Yearly plan $79/year for either math or language arts

Yearly plan $129/year for both subjects

Additional children $2/month or $20/year

Conclusion:

My children think this is a helpful program for practicing the skills they already know. They did wish there was more instruction for whenever they came to a concept they had not been taught or were fuzzy on, but they do appreciate that it is a practice website and see the value of it. We will continue utilizing this program for our school year, and I also plan to introduce Ava to the language arts section of IXL.com (as she is the only one who fits in the grade levels that are offered so far).

Many of my fellow Crew members have been reviewing IXL.com, as well. Click on the banner below to read about their experiences.

Moving Beyond The Page {Review}

In my participation with the TOS Review Crew I have had the opportunity to learn about curriculum companies that I was unfamiliar with. This was the case for my latest review of materials from Moving Beyond The Page. For this review, I was given the option of choosing one Language Arts package and either one Social Studies package or one Science package. I chose the age 9-11 age range and was sent the Language Arts Package - Lincoln Online Curriculum Guide ($30.83) and the Social Studies Package - Your State ($16.99). Moving Beyond The Page does offer full year curriculum packages for all ages, as well, although this review is for only two of their individual units.

I received these three physical books in the photo below and printed out the online guide and put it in a notebook for Benjamin to work through. 

We have been focusing on American history this year, since we are living back in the United States and since we live in an area that is rich in opportunities to visit historic sites, etc. I appreciated that I did not have to order the entire year-long curriculum package in order for these two units to make sense. They can be used alone or with the total package. So, because American history has been a focus for us, as well as living in a state we have never lived in before, these two separate units worked well to fit into where we are in life and in our schooling. 

The Language Arts Package - Lincoln is a unit study which uses the two books, Lincoln: A Photobiography and A Picture Book of Frederick Douglass to explore the life of Abraham Lincoln and his legacy, as well as to learn of the relationship between Lincoln and Douglass. Participles and appositives are introduced and studied in these lessons, as well.

The prerequisites for this unit include:

• Able to read and comprehend novels at a late 5th or 6th grade reading level
• Able to write multiple paragraphs on a topic
• Usually used by children in fourth or fifth grade

The Table of Contents:

• Lesson 1: Who Was He?
• Lesson 2: Childhood
• Lesson 3: A Lawyer and Politician
• Lesson 4: Slavery
• Lesson 5: Emancipation (2 Days)
• Lesson 6: Civil War (2 Days)
• Lesson 7: Assassination
• Lesson 8: Words and Memories
• Final Project: Lincoln Showcase

The Social Studies Package - Your State is a unit study on exactly what the title says, whichever state you call home. So we were glad to be able to study a bit more about our new state, Virginia.

The prerequisites for this unit include:

• Able to read and comprehend novels at a late 5th or 6th grade reading level
• Able to write multiple paragraphs on a topic
• Usually used by children in fourth or fifth grade

Table of Contents:

• Lesson 1: Geography of Your State
• Lesson 2: State Symbols (2 Days)
• Lesson 3: State History (2 Days)
• Lesson 4: Famous People
• Lesson 5: Places to See
• Lesson 6: State Field Trips
• Lesson 7: State Statistics
• Lesson 8: State Maps
• Final Project: State Book (2 Days)

Here are two pages from this unit . . .

These units are designed to be completed by the child in 19 days. Ben worked on these lessons several times per week, but we have not quite finished them, due to sickness in our family in the last two weeks. He did need help with understanding the participles and appositives exercises. 

It is so neat when school lessons and real life experiences compliment each other. We watched the newly released Lincoln film, starring Daniel Day Lewis, during this review period, which added to this study. We also recently went again to Harpers Ferry, West Virginia to explore the historic city a bit more. This time we toured through the lower town and because Frederick Douglass had come to Harpers Ferry to deliver a speech in 1881, he was part of the display. Here is a photo I took . . .

I ordered library books on the topic of the state of Virginia to assist in the Your State lessons. Ben also used the Internet to find some of the facts he needed for the questions he was asked. It was fun to learn more about Virginia, although we were already familiar with the state bird, tree, flower and capital city. Benjamin collects state coins, so we pulled out his Virginia coin to examine it more closely. We had not known the state song before this lesson. What an unexpected (and shocking) discovery that was. It has been fun to learn about the cities and sites we want to visit, the battlefields there are to explore and to continue to add to our already long list of "must sees".

Overall, I think these two units are fabulously written and well laid out for the student. The one drawback for me was the online version of the Lincoln unit. I would have liked to have the actually book or workbook in my hands. I am not a fan of either having my students on the computer for lengthy periods (we only have one computer right now) or having to print off multiple pages. I would have preferred the actual printed workbook, but again, this is just my person preference. I know many people would prefer the online version.

The TOS Review Crew was given a multitude of lessons and combinations of lessons to choose from, so please click the banner below to see what other units those families had the opportunity to review!

VocabularySpellingCity {Review}

I was given the opportunity to review VocabularySpellingCity with my younger two girls. I will just start off by saying, this is an incredible website. I have been thrilled with all the content and choices the girls have had. It teaches spelling and vocabulary, but with the premium membership there is a wealth of additional activities and subjects to explore. 

Here you can see the differences in the free vs. premium activity choices . . . 

Here is just one example of the geography offered on VocabularySpellingCity . . .

And another example of games offered . . .

Here is Maya enjoying her Word Search . . .

It is very easy to customize the program for each child according to their learning level. For this game alone (above), there is choice between easy/hard, short/long, and timer on/off. As well, you as the teacher/parent get to choose which words your child/student works on in his/her lessons.

This is a fantastic website that I highly recommend for any child, whether homeschooled or not. Teachers in a regular school setting should also know about this great resource for their students. We look forward to continue our learning with VocabularySpellingCity! 

VocabularySpellingCity offers a variety of Premium Membership options, depending on whether you are a parent, teacher, school, or district. 

Options include:

Family - A family membership includes five student licenses for $29.99

Classroom - A classroom membership includes 25 student licenses for $49.99.

Additional student licenses may be purchased for $1.95 each (with a minimum purchase of 5 student licenses). For orders of 300 students or more, contact us at 954-357-1150 for discounted rates.

They also offer Apps for iPhone/iPad/iPod and Android.

Find them on Facebook or Twitter.

Disclaimer: I was given a Premium Membership to VocabularySpellingCity.com for a candid, personal, online review. VocabularySpellingCity helps students study word lists using 25 different learning activities such as Unscramble, Hangman, WordFind, andCrossword Puzzle. Parents can create their own spelling lists, find published lists already available on the site, or use any of dozens of free teaching resources on topics such as Multiple Meaning Words and Possessive Nouns .

There might be more free memberships available for bloggers. If you're interested, find out how you can review VocabularySpellingCity.com.