Christian Keyboarding

Christian Keyboarding is an e book that can be downloaded instantly. When I downloaded this program, I had a little flashback to my own high school days sitting in front of the typewriter tiping i i i over and over, in unison with the rest of the class.

I haven’t seen a program like this since the advent of the personal computer. My own children have done many different cdrom programs and all of them can type quite well.

It never occurred to me to try something like this. At first, I did not see the benefit of it, but after having one of my children use this program, I can see a skill that is missing from the cdrom’s. Transferring from paper to computer, or copying. I think my kids picked this up eventually, but as my youngest struggled a bit, I realized this area needs some practice.

I think this program has some merit. There is more than one way to skin a cat, as they say.

This program has 32 lessons that take around 10 to 20 minutes to complete, depending on your speed.

Here is a copy of the table of contents…

Touch Typing Technique ................. 8
Lessons 1-20 Alphabetic Keys ........... 9-48
Lessons 21-25 Numbers and Symbol Keys... 49-58
Lessons 26-29 Number Pad................ 59-66
Lesson 30 Centering..................... 67-71
Lesson 31 Enumerated Lists.............. 72-74
Lesson 32 Timed Writings................ 75-83
Timing Scale............................ 84
Index................................... 85-87

I also appreciate how the times writings are Psalms. If they’ve got to type something they might as well type scripture.

You can check out Keyboarding for the Christian Schools Elementary Version and Keyboarding for Christian Schools Grade 6 and up here.

You can go here to see all the things Keyboarding offers and you can click on the icon below to see what other Crew Members had to say about Keyboarding.

Happy Homeschooling!




By the way Keyboarding is currently offering a sale. Here are details from their site.

Need a Coupon to start the year right? Type NewYear5 in the Discount Code section for $5 off of your purchase of $12.95 or more available until February 28, 2010!

2010 NEW YEAR SPECIAL: Purchase both the Keyboarding for the Christian School, Revised Edition and the Elementary Edition for only $22! Yes, this is a big savings! So, purchase your e-books now for only $22 for both typing books!

Bertie's War

Have you ever read a fiction story that takes place during the Cubin Missile Crisis? Yeah me either. I love to teach with literature. I think it’s such a wonderful way to flesh out the facts of an historical situation. It really makes history stick in the mind of the readers. But there are some periods in history where you’d be hard-pressed to find a fiction book set; the Cubin Missile Crisis is one of those time periods. If you’re studying The Colonial Days, or World War 2 or even Ancient Rome, you have much to choose from. Modern History? Not so much.

That is why I was excited to receive Bertie’s War to review.

Here is the description of the book from the website…

Everything has been going wrong for Bertie lately.No matter how hard she tries to do and say the right thing, Bertie keeps tumbling into embarrassing--and sometimes dangerous--situations. Her stern father has too many rules, her know-it-all sister won't stop teasing her, and her mischievous younger brother keeps getting into trouble. But what makes her really afraid are those Communist missiles pointed right at the U.S. As Bertie starts seventh grade in the fall of 1962, news of these missiles throws the nation into a panic and Bertie suddenly feels completely out of control. Can Bertie confront an ugly truth about herself and face her fears--once and for all?

As usual, as soon as the book appeared in my mail box, Eve, my reader disappeared with it. When she was finished I asked her what she thought.

She liked the book but thought Bertie the main character was ‘weird’ and she also thought the dad was ‘mean’.

Now, if I’d had my homeschool mom hat on properly, I’d have had her write a proper report on it and put that in my review, but we’re still recovering from the holidays around here and my homeschool mom hat is still slightly askew.

When Eve was done with the book, I skimmed it myself. It was an interesting story, following one girl through a pretty rough age, during a rough time in history to grow up. I felt that the girl was a little more fearful than necessary and the dad a bit too stern. Overall, I think it is worth reading as it is one of the very few books that take place during this time period. I think it might be a good book to learn not only about that time in history but about how God wants us to respond to fear and adversity.

You can go here to Kregel Publishing to check out Bertie’s War and check out some of their many other offerings, and as always you can click on the icon below to see what others on The Crew had to say about Bertie’s War.

Happy Homeschooling!

Worship Guitar Class

My boys have been taking guitar lessons from a friend for a year or so. The boy they’re taking lessons from is classically trained, but he is only a year or two older than my boys. So far this has worked out really, really well.

However, when money got tight, unfortunately, lessons were one of the first things on the chopping block. They have not had lessons for about 6 months.



Enter Worship Guitar. Worship Guitar Class is designed for people who have never played guitar. The version I received is for children 10 to adult, but there is a younger version available.

My boys zoomed right through the first lessons mostly because they have some experience. I like the way the DVD slows down to show you the fingering and placement of the fingers. It also zooms in on the fingers. This is quite helpful for beginners. I also appreciate that the music being learned is Worship music.

Overall, my sons found Worship Guitar Class to be fun and engaging; they were able to learn some songs they did not know how to play, and that was a treat for them.

I am not sure how this DVD, as good as it is, would do with a child with no musical experience. I plan to try it out with my daughters in the next few weeks and report back on how it worked out with a child who has never touched the guitar.

Stay tuned for…Part 2, The Girls…

You can click on the icon below to see what others had to say about Worship Guitar Class.

Happy Homeschooling!

Kinderbach

Kinderbach is a company that provides piano lessons online or in DVD format. Their approach is fun and engaging. You can go here to see more about how we used this program in our home school.

Here are the nuts and bolts… Kinderbach can be purchased in two ways, online at $7.99 a month or Billed in a 1-time annual payment of $95.88 (Great Value! Save 60%) or $19.99 monthly subscription, billed monthly for a year (12 separate payments). You can also purchase the DVD’s for $40.45 per level.

You can go here to learn more about Kinderbach and as always, you can click on the icon below to see what other Crew Mates had to say about Kinderbach.

Happy Homeschooling.