January 22, 2019

All About Reading: Level 4 Color Edition Review

January 22, 2019/ Hayley Croft

I was so excited when Erin told me that All About Learning Press was releasing a NEW COLOR EDITION of their All About Reading program! I have used AAR with three of my children, and it has been such a blessing to our family. This program has helped me gain both confidence and skills in teaching my children to read. I’ve written before about how we use AAR in our home, but today I want to share more about the new color editions—and why I have changed my mind about Level 4.

October 10, 2018

All About Reading: How it Works for Our Family {a detailed review}

October 10, 2018/ Hayley Croft

When I first began homeschooling, the responsibility that intimidated me more than any other was teaching my own children to read. I’ve always been an avid reader, and I desperately wanted to instill that same love of books in my kids. What I quickly realized, however, was that my passion for reading did not automatically qualify me to teach someone else how to read. Loving books and teaching reading are two very different things.

With no background in early literacy instruction, I knew I needed a program that could walk both me and my children through the process step by step. We tried several programs in the beginning, but they either bored my daughter to tears with endless drill-and-kill worksheets or pushed forward so quickly that she felt overwhelmed, while I was left lost and scrambling without a clear plan.

That discouraging season eventually led me to All About Reading (AAR).

September 24, 2018

The Beauty of Tapestry of Grace in the Rhetoric Years (a very detailed review)

September 24, 2018/ Hayley Croft

Homeschooling high school was always something that I looked ahead to with both excitement and fear. When my children were in elementary grades, I felt confident teaching according to a classical model, but as they grew into the middle and high school years, I felt intimidated by the challenging literature and history—and by my own lack of knowledge in these areas.

February 08, 2018

Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About Math-U-See {Even through High School!}

February 08, 2018/ Hayley Croft

I’m so excited to share this review with you! This is the ONE curriculum that I have never once been tempted to stop using! I tend to get my head turned by shiny, new homeschool curriculum. It’s so much fun to try new things, and there are always new products coming out that I can’t wait to check out. But not when it comes to math.

When I first started homeschooling, one of my mentors gave me some great advice. I was sharing with her how I worried that I wouldn’t be able to give my kids a strong math education because I had struggled so much with math in school. Her advice was to find a program that had a good reputation, that suited my teaching style, and that my kids didn’t hate, and then stick with it all the way through. Her reasoning was that the best way to avoid gaps in math knowledge is to use one program from beginning to end...