Beehive Reader 1

Beehive Reader 1 is a very nice, hardback book that was sent to me to review from All About Spelling. This book goes along with their Spelling curriculum which I had the privilege to review last year.



I must say that I was impressed with the quality of this book. It is a sturdy, hardback book which I can see lasting through many children. I really liked the pictures inside, while they are black and white, they are very well done, with lots of detail and I think, engaging to children.



The book has several short stories which increase in difficulty as you go through the book. I like how this book is gender neutral and will be interesting to either a boy or girl. This is handy if you’re going to use it with multiple children. While this book does go along with AAS level 1, it can absolutely be used as a reader even if you’re not using the AAS curriculum.

This really is a beautiful book, which I wholeheartedly recommend, except for one thing. It’s a little pricy at $19.95. We live in a big city where we have access to a very good library system and I just can’t see myself paying that kind of money for a reader, no matter how much I love it.

I can see myself considering it if I knew I’d have several children using it and I was already using the AAS curriculum.

You can go here to see more about the All About Spelling Curriculum, and here for samples of the Beehive Reader 1 book and of course you can click on the icon below to see what others thought of All About Spellings Beehive Reader 1.

Happy Homeschooling!

Math Mammoth (Integers)

Last year I reviewed Math Mammoth. I am quite fond of the idea behind Math Mammouth. It’s simply laid out without too many bells and whistles. You can go here to read more about my review last year.

Basically, Math Mammoth is broken down into 4 different series.

Blue - is a topical approach. It is not a complete curriculum but a supplement.

Light Blue - Is a complete yearlong curriculum for grades 1-5.

Golden- this is a series of topical worksheets for grades 3-Algebra 1 with one topic per sheet, but the problems are varied throughout the topic.

Green - this is a series of worksheet collections (workbook) that is also topical with varied problems per page; however they are not broken down into grade level, only topically.

This year Maria at Math Mammoth sent me the Integers which is part of the Green program.

This is one of the things I really like about Math Mammoth. If you’re having a problem in a certain area you can click on over th Math Mammoth’s website and find a set of worksheets on that area for extra practice, downloaded and print it right out and you’re ready to go.

You can go to Math Mammoth’s website to see all of the many things they have to offer, and you can click on the icon below to see what others had to say about Math Mammoth.

Happy Homeschooling!

Presidential Penmanship CD Rom (Zeezok Publishing)

I was sent Italic Style Presidential Penmanship Complete Program from ZeeZok Publishing. This CD Rom contains enough handwriting practice for a student’s entire education, on one CD Rom. I can’t express how much I appreciate this!

I am pretty much beyond penmanship with my students being that the youngest is in 5th grade, but after receiving this program, I can see the benefits of daily (or at least weekly) practice for my older students as well. Handwriting gets sloppy after a while and a refresher is a good idea. This is such an easy program to use. No workbooks sitting around taking up precious space on bookshelves.

I used it like this. I grabbed the CD Rom, printed off the 5 pages that I would need for the week per student, put holes in the paper and stuck them in the student’s handwriting binder. They grabbed the binder daily and, doing their best work, write out the passage right there under the quote on the paper in the binder.

After a year of this, not only will your student have very good handwriting, but your student will have copied down some very wise words from some of the wisest men in America. It’s a win/win!

There are several different types of handwriting to choose from, you can go here to see the choices. You can go here to see samples of what you get on the CD Rom. (there is a sample of each style of handwriting)

I think this is a simple, wonderful idea. The idea of buying all those silly workbooks, for the children to copy down nonsense, and then throw it away at the end of the year has always bothered me. This is a wonderful solution to that problem.
I would love to see Zeezok come out with this program using scripture as well. Wouldn’t that be lovely?? Perhaps some of the more common AWANA verses??? (hint, hint, wink, wink)

You can go here to see the prices (VERY reasonable for an entire 12 years worth of handwriting practice!) and you can click on the icon below to see what others thought of Presidential Penmanship and the other things Zeezok has to offer.

Happy Homeschooling!

Apologia Press (The Ultimate Guide to Homeschooling by Debra Bell)

Almost everyone who has homeschooled for more than a minute knows of Apologia Science Curriculum. I was able to review one of their Elementary Science books last year. Apologia is now diving into some new ventures, including Apologia Press which offers various curriculum and Parent Resources.

I was sent the book The Ultimate Guide to Homeschooling by Debra Bell to review. This is a very good resource book for those already homeschooling, and for those considering homeschooling for the first time. For instance, I did lots of research and felt prepared for elementary, but then came along Junior High and High School. Having a book like this sitting on the shelves to refer too would have been helpful.

This book has over 500 pages and 34 chapters broken into 10 parts.

Here are some of my favorite quotes from the book.

“Homeschooling is better described as a lifestyle – A complete integration of family life and learning.”

And under the Heading Advantage #6 Flexibility and Choices…
"If you asked my sons, Mike and Gabe, what they enjoyed most about homeschooling, their answers would fall under this advantage. They loved the freedom to pursue their own interests, to control their time, to stay up late reading, to not be bogged down with homework after upper, to choose and change the direction of their education.”

I think my own sons, who are out cutting down trees at 1 on a weekday afternoon after the winter storm we had recently that downed many, many trees in this area, would concur with that statement.

But I think Mrs. Bell does not leave out some of the difficulties or sugar coat the sacrifices required.

“Depending upon our temperaments, never having a break from the kids or time to ourselves can be a difficult demand.”

“When we make the choice to homeschool, it’s with the expectation of results commensurate with the sacrifice we are about to make. Ar at the very least we want enough evidence to prove our skeptics wrong. And we want it soon.” She goes on to discuss the importance of appropriate expectations.

All in all, I think this a good homeschooling resource book. It can be a little overwhelming to the first time homeschool, but well, everything is overwhelming to the first time homeschooler! I remember!

You can go here to see more about The Ultimate Guide to Homeschooling and to purchase it and you can click on the icon below to see what others on The Crew had to say about this lovely resource.

Eclectic Education Series

I was sent the Eclectic Education Series from Dollar Homeschool to review for you. This is quite a whopper of a thing! I hardly even know how to describe what is included in this product.

Imagine if you will, that you could go back in time and have your children educated in the one room schoolhouses of 1880. With the EES series, you sort of can! EES has collected from the public domain over 50 of the books and texts used in the rural American schools from 1865 and 1915.

Now, just because a thing is old does not make it good. The same applies to a new thing. Age does not make a thing great. The content is what matters. Many, many of the things in this bundle, in my opinion, are priceless gems that have been long buried, like the McGuffey’s Readers for instance.

However, after looking over the science and grammar, I’m not sure I’d be comfortable using only what EES offers, especially as science has had many advances over the years and language is a living, evolving thing. Of course the study of grammar from the 1800’s is interesting, and certainly a worthwhile endeavor, thought probably not comprehensive for a child of this modern time.

The thing EES is offering is the service of finding and compiling all of these amazing resources; scanning them and putting them into a PDF document for you to purchase on CD for $159.00. The documents themselves appear as an old textbook would. The typeface is of an older style and some of the pictures are faded. Occasionally a page is not scanned in properly, though EES is working to fix this.

In theory, there is enough material to educate an entire family’s children for the entirety of their education, pre-college. In practice, I think some more up to date materials would need to be offered. I was very, very impressed however with the level of the high school material. This is not easy stuff!

The place to start with EES to figure out how to implement it in your homeschool would be to read Successful Teaching in Rural Schools, and then move on to the Manual of Methods. One of my favorite reads was the Nature Study book. I so love the idea of Nature Study but have never quite figured out how to incorporate it into my school. This book gave me some great tips.

You can go here to get a complete list if what EES has to offering in this bundle. You can go here to find out more about Eclectic Education in general, and you can click on the icon below to see what others on The Crew had to say.

Happy Homeschooling!

FactsFirst by Saxon

FactsFirst is an online program created by the people at Saxon to help children learn and really cement their basic math facts.




The student starts by creating an image of themselves to use while online. I must admit this kind of irritated me at first. I wanted to sign up and get right down to business, but the program made them crate a person first. My kids spent a LONG time creating just the right person. There were many, many choices. I didn’t put them on the computer to play, this was school time!

The thing is, when I asked them the next day to do their online math they asked me which one the ‘fun one or the boring one’? (we were working on two different online programs) This was telling to me. They started off with FactsFirst with in a positive, fun way and that first impression stayed with them even as the work began.

I was really impressed with this program and it’s thoroughness. Every now and then, I’d here my kids laughing and ask them what they were doing. They would respond that they were playing a game, but the program was MAKING them! (they thought this was great fun) Of course when I looked over their shoulder I realized that these ‘games’ were really more fact drilling.

I think FactsFirst is an excellent thing to add to your mathematics arsenal. It’s a great way to teach the facts, but it’s also a great way to keep the older kids sharp with their facts, in just a few minutes a day.

You can go here to find out what it is, and here to find out how it works,and you can click on the icon below to see what others on The Crew had to say about it.

Happy Homeschooling!

Math Tutor

Last year I was sent two video’s from Math Tutor. You can see that review here. This year, Math Tutor sent me a Young Minds DVD. This one is called Young Minds: Numbers and Counting.

This is a wonderful video! Think Baby Einstein only better. For those of us that had to live through Barney the Purple Dinosaur, you’ll find this video particularly unfair. This music is actually soothing. If it gets watched eight times in a row every day for a week, you won’t want to go hide in a padded cell. And the pictures are really fantastic.




The background music is Bach, Beethoven, Mozart, Chopin, Brahms, and Vivaldi. Ahhhh. No screeching!

They of course concentrate on teaching counting in this video, but also teach about colors, fruits, vegetables, animals. There are puzzles, guessing games and connect the dots included as well.

Personally, I liked this video better that the others I received, but then the others I received were higher math, and higher math makes me twitchy. Counting I’m good with.

This video is a real winner. Need to have a few minutes to concentrate on spelling with an older child? Want to take a shower uninterrupted? This is your DVD! I’m not a proponent of sticking your toddlers in front of the TV all day, but goodness knows sometimes a mama just needs little Jimmy to be still for a minute so she can take a breath. If you’re going to stick little Jimmy in front of the TV, this is just the thing to play for him!

List price is $29.99, but right now you can get it for 30% off at $19.99!

Happy Homeschooling!

You can go here to find out more about Math Tutor, and you can click on the icon below to find out what others on The Crew thought Math Tutor.

MathScore

Mathscore is an online math program developed by MIT graduates and created by Steven Yang. MathScore can be used as a complete math program or as a supplement for another curriculum. I can even see this as an excellent way to keep a student’s skills sharp throughout the summer months. This program is perfect for homeschoolers but also excellent for those in traditional school.

It is a little complicated to explain how it works because there are several ways to use it, so I will direct you here for a demo. With my students, I have them sign on, then go see where they left off. They need to get 100 points in a specific area before they move on. They click on the topic at hand, then go to the mini lesson and read how to do the work and look at some examples worked out for them. Then I have them go to the sample problems and work a few out and then check them to see if they get the hang of it. When they’ve done this to my satisfaction I have them do a few worksheets. The worksheets are timed so that is why it is a good idea to know what you are doing when you begin.

I appreciate how MathScore sends a detailed email to the parents weekly, telling me not only how they are doing but how they are spending their time while on the site.
As a parent, I appreciate this site’s thoroughness. I like the way it is set up and I like the information I receive on how my students are doing.

2 of my 3 students like this program and one does not. I am not surprised however at the one who does not. He has a very hard time with math and really needs a lot of hand holding. A computer curriculum, while helpful for keeping his skills sharp, would not be a good idea for his complete curriculum.

Overall, I like MathScore and think it will find it’s niche in the homeschooling and even traditional schooling market. It’s a very well done program.

You can go here to find out more about MathScore and you can click on the icon below to see what other Crew Members had to say about MathScore.

Happy Homeschooling!