If you’re thinking of homeschooling but aren’t quite sure which curriculum you should use, Evolution Homeschool is definitely worth checking out.  There are so many homeschooling curriculums on the market, which can make committing to one program a tough choice to make.  However, Evolution Homeschool combines the Classical, Montessori, and Unschooling approaches to make for a highly enriching homeschool experience that prepares your child to be successful in a highly competitive job market.

Tailored for children in grades Kindergarten through Sixth, Evolution Homeschooling provides 30-60 lesson plans for each subject area in each grade level, as well as assignments, interactive activities, and readings.

Glancing over the curriculum for each grade level, Evolution Homeschool covers all of the basic subjects your child will need to be successful and presents each lesson in a fun and engaging way.  The Kindergarten curriculum includes Math, Language Arts, an Early Reading Program, Phonics, Science, and Social Studies.  Your child will love the fact that they get to select their own reading material and will be excited about the hands on activities in math.  The Second Grade curriculum covers Language Arts, Math, Science, and Social Studies.   Just from working with second graders, I know this is an age where they really become curious about the world around them, and the Science and Social Studies lessons will fascinate them and have them wanting to learn even more.

As an educator, I love the fact that Evolution Homeschool is based on national Common Core Standards, something that I think parents will appreciate because most schools are following the Common Core Standards, which are very rigorous and really challenge students to think on higher levels.  I also think that their price is very reasonable for a full year’s curriculum with everything you need.  When you start adding up the costs of curriculums, workbooks, and all of the other extras some programs require, it doesn’t take long for the cost to homeschool to become very expensive.  It can also be very time consuming to piece together all of the materials you need with other programs.  Quite simply, Evolution Homeschool will save you time and money.

This post brought to you by Evolution Homeschool. All opinions are my own.

I love digital cameras simply because they have made taking and immediately sharing pictures so easy as compared to the cameras I grew up with where you inserted film and had to wait a week to get your pictures back.

I recently had the chance to try out the Samsung ST76 Digital Camera thanks to Staples.  I was really excited because I have been frustrated with my own digital camera and wondered if another point-and-shoot camera was the way to go.

The Samsung ST76 Digital Camera is 16.1 megapixels, has a 5x digital/5x optical zoom, the ability to record video, Perfect Portrait System (Face Detection, Blink Detection, Smile Shot, Beauty Shot, Self Portrait, Red-eye Fix), and a host of other great features.  My current camera only has 10 megapixels, so I couldn’t wait to see the difference.

I needed to take some pictures of my library at work, so I decided to test out the Samsung ST76 for this very purpose.  Here are a couple of the shots that I took:

Compared to my usual camera, the Samsung ST76 just didn’t take very clear shots.  I found the settings were a little awkward to achieve and it seems like the colors look more brilliant on the camera than what actually appears on the computer screen.  There also seems to be a slight delay from when the camera actually flashes to take the picture from when you press the button.  If I wasn’t taking a picture of something still, then most of the shots came out blurred.  I discovered that this was due to a setting, so I adjusted it accordingly, but a slight delay was still there.  Of course, I know it takes a while to get the feel of a new camera, and perhaps that’s why these shots aren’t the greatest.  Maybe it was the lighting.  I’m still playing around with it.

On the positive side, this camera is very light-weight and small, which was a pleasant surprise from what I was used to.  I like the fact that it had some fun features (the beauty shot mode) I had never seen on a digital camera.  I love, love, love the fact that the camera came in purple!  It also comes in black and red.  Transferring the pictures to my computer was a snap.  I simply plugged it into a USB port and it practically did all the rest.  I like the fact that there was no CD to download and install on my computer.

One big thing definitely worth mentioning is that this camera takes a mini SD card, not the regular size you find in other cameras.

I’m not ready to give up on this camera because I know with a little more practice I can perfect the pictures I take with it.  I think it makes a good starter camera for someone looking to learn how to use a digital camera or even a first digital camera for kids.

Staples provided me with this Samsung ST76 digital camera . The words and opinions express in this review are strictly my own. To see the full line of digital cameras visit Staples.com