The Homeschool Review

Let the Scheduling begin!

2011-08-24T09:02:00.006-05:00

This will be my 15th year of homeschooling. I think. I have lost count. You'd think after doing this for so long, I'd have all the kinks worked out, but I don't. Not by a long shot. I think the reason for that is that every year there are new kinks! The ones you worked out last year are not there, but there are new ones and you've got to figure out what to do with those.

This year, my 2 oldest students (Gunnar in 11th and Ev in 9th) will be gone 2 days a week taking classes elsewhere. (Ev at our co op, and Gunnar at our co op and at the local community college for duel credit). For Gunnar, it's not to big of a deal, he's not really doing anything for me at home this year so I just have to make sure he's staying on top of his CC and Co Op classes and probably help out here and there. For Ev it's a bit different. She's got two classes on Tuesday at the co op and our usual Thursday classes. The problem is, she and her sister do some classes together at home, so I've got to figure out how to get it all done without holding her sister back because Ev's gone two days a week. Not an insurmountable problem, but a kink none the less.

I've also realized that we are now quite tied to the school schedule. As a family, we can't just pickup and go on vacation or a day trip or anything because of our kids schedules. Bryce is taking EMT classes (he finished Fire Academy in June) on M and W. Gunnar's CC classes are T and Th and Ev's co op classes are T and TH. That leaves Friday. However both boys are working, Gunnar every afternoon but Thursday and Bryce all day on T, TH and F.

There is a great deal of freedom in having older kids and some real perks, but sadly, this is not one of them. Gone are the days when we could just pick up and head to the museum for the day or hop in the RV for a last minute getaway. We have so many schedules to work around that we have to plan things months in advance if we want everyone to come. It's kinda sad.

So, Today...

I have purchased all the curriculum, signed all the kids up for their various classes at their various locations and procured all the necessary supplies; now it's time to plan and schedule.

Really.

I'm doing it today.

Seriously.

This Year's Curriculum Line Up: Girl Edition

2011-08-11T10:38:00.007-05:00

The Girls Together -

History/Civics/Government – this year we’re going to go through several books. I am not so much concerned about grade level as I am the subject matter. Last year we did early American history, this year we’re doing Revolutionary War on. We’ll be using several different things.

Exploring American History

Land of Fair Play

Story of the Constitution

Story of US DVD Series

Map Work – You’d think with all the traveling we do that the girls would have a good grasp on how a map works, but I am realizing that they do not. I picked these simple workbooks up for us to go through.

We did a simple state study las year along with our History, so I thought this year a map study was in order. Again, this is below their grade level, but it had the material I wanted to cover. I imagine it won’t take us much time to finish this study. We’re also watching How The States Got Their Shapes on the History Channel together. I have learned a great deal watching that show!

Bible – Daily devotions. The girls both received some really nice daily devotional books from their grandmother recently, so we’ll use those. For a deeper more in-depth study of the Word they will be using Christian Liberty Press workbook E taking us from Genesis to Ruth.

That is the extent of what we will be doing together.

Evelyn will be taking at co op…

Biology using the Apologia book

Spanish 1

High School English ( She will be taking the Accuplacer to get into the community college after this school year and this course will be very good in helping her be ready for the essay portion of the test.)

Algebra 2 (She will do Geometry next year. I like to do Algebra 1 and 2, then geometry)

Annika will also be doing on her own, at home with me...

Several Amanda Bennett Unit Studies – This is one of the very few things that I like better in the digital version! Annika pops online, reads what she needs to read, clicks on the various links given to her, watches some videos, and then does the assigned work in her binder. It is really easy on the mom and Annika loves it.

Math - Saxon Math 7/6 with CD, also using MATH U SEE, Math Mammoth, and Keys To books as needed. (we’re struggle a bit with math here. I plan to use the scope and sequence of the Saxon, but we have several different curriculum with which we can learn the material if she begins to struggle.

Science - Apologia Elementary Anatomy with Journal

English – We will skip around some for English as well, using several different methods and curriculum. She will do copywork daily in her Unit Study. And she will write a 5 paragraph Essay after each study.

I have a couple Total Language Plus guides we may go through.

I also have the Learning Language Arts Through Literature Tan books. We will read the literature assigned, and do some of the unit.

Grammar - Grammalogues

Literature - She will be reading the books to go with LLATL and I will assign her several books that go along with our history studies.

For Co op Annika will take…

Helper in elementary PE Class
Strategy and Logic
Elementary Spanish 2
Speech Club
Art

Tomorrow...the boy!

A New Thing

2011-08-11T09:25:00.005-05:00

This year is going to be a little different for this homeschooling family. A Lot different, actually. I am not doing reviews with TOS Crew this year. I did if for three years and loved it. But I felt like I needed a break this year. I may go back next year (if they’ll have me of course!).

This year, my kids are all old. I don’t know how this happened, really. One minute they were all sitting around the table bickering about whose books were taking up the most space on the table, and the next moment it’s just me and Annika!

This year Bryce, who graduated from our homeschool in '10 and who has already finished Fire Academy, will be taking EMT classes the first semester and then hopefully he’ll find a job as a Fireman/EMT after Christmas. His goal is to continue on to get a 4 year degree as he works as a Firemam/EMT. Bryce will be gone all day, every day.

Gunnar, my Junior, is taking Duel Credit classes at the local community college and at our Homeschool Co op. He is also running his own landscape/tree trimming buisness and working at a local auto shop. Gunnar will be gone all day, every day.

Evelyn, my Freshman is taking most of her classes at the Homeschool Co op as well. She’ll do a grammar curriculum at home, and History and Bible. The rest is at Co op. Ev will be gone Tuesdays and Thrusdays.

Annika, my 7th grader, is the only one really left at home with me. I guess no one will complain anymore who takes up all the space at the table.

Over the next few days I’ll be going over everyone’s schedules and what I am using with whom. (well, the three still officially in school, that is.

This blog will be changing up a bit too. I’ll post my homeschooling stuff over here, not just reviews. I will review some products, mostly just things that I really liked or disliked. Just to pass on the information. And I’ll be talking about what’s working and what’s not in my ever dwindeling little homeschool.

Happy Homeschooling!

Mad Dog Math

2011-05-18T10:02:00.004-05:00

My experiences in school memorizing math facts is not good. I was diagnosed as dyslexic in elementary school though I’m not sure that is completely accurate. I cannot spell worth beans (or is it beens? ;) but I can write well and have always been able to read easily. The area that has been most affected by my dyslexia is math; specifically remembering facts and formulas. Needless to say memorizing math facts was pure torture for me.

I remember sitting in the class for weeks during recess, watching all the kids play in the playground while I sat and did my multiplication timed tests. The teacher was sure I was just not motivated to memorize them and this was his solution. The problem was not motivation. My mom found out that was happening after a few weeks and stepped it. The problem is, I still do not have many of my math facts memorized as I should. I can recall them, but it takes several seconds, it’s not instant as it should be.

Imagine my dismay to see 2 of my children follow in my footsteps in this area. Interestingly enough, it was my dyslexic children. We have done just about every program you can think of for memorizing multiplication tables. I don’t want to punish them, but it is important! I know how hard it is for them so we just keep plugging away at.

When I was sent Mad Dog Math to review, we had been doing just your basic flash cards for a while now with my youngest. I think variety is helpful here and it was time for a change again. The flash cards were getting boring!

She was actually happy to start Mad Dog Math after the flash cards. I let her start with addition and subtraction even though she is in 6th grade and knows those facts well. But it helped her learn the program and get a feel for how it worked. Then we got down to business. I had her start the multiplication facts. She’s been working on these for a while with some success.

I like how this program works. We’ve tried programs with jingles and songs and stories, we’ve tried programs with games and incentives, we’ve tried writing them down over and over, and we’ve tried flash cards. Honestly, as far as computer programs go, I really liked Mad Dog Math’s approach. It has some bells and whistles in the form of incentives, but not too much. The screen is not overwhelming with lots of distractions; it’s just a simple, fill in the blank kinda deal.

Frankly, I’ve not had much to do with Mad Dog Math. I downloaded it on the kids’ computer and let her loose. I did have to set some parameters (like she can’t do only simple addition!) and set the time etc, but overall it’s been her deal. She gets on when she’s done with her math curriculum for the day, she spends 10 or 20 minutes doing her drills and she gets off. No complaining, no fluff, just math.

Now that I like!

If you have a child that struggles with memorization of the math facts, variety is the key in my opinion. Work on one thing for a while, maybe a DVD program, then good old fashioned flash cards, then maybe writing them out and the like. Mad Dog Math is an excellent addition to the Multiplication Fact arsenal! I am very grateful to have it and will continue using it, because it will probably be a long, long time before the facts finally cement in that dyslexic brain of hers.

And now for the fine print...

Ages/Grades:
K-5 (older kids can also benefit!)

Downloadable Software

1 year license: $19.99
2 year license: $29.99
Perpetual license: $39.99

Print Materials in a Binder

$89.99 for Classroom
$69.99 for Homeschool
$89.99 for Middle/High School

You can go here to learn more about Mad Dog Math and you can go here to see what others on The Crew had to say about this product.

Happy Homeschooling!

Institute for Excellence in Writing

2011-05-13T12:14:00.000-05:00

Some things you’re good at and some things you’re not. That’s just how it is. I’ve learned in my homeschooling journey of 14 years what each of my children is a natural at, and what is a foreign concept to them. I have also learned what is easy for me to teach and what is hard, like math. But let’s not talk about that. Math makes me twitchy.

Language arts is our thing here in this house. Even with two of my four children being dyslexic; we are a word family. Both of my daughters (one of which is dyslexic) write stories, fables, poems, and have written for our homeschool co op newspaper.

Being that we are a language arts family, I was beyond thrilled that I had been selected to receive the Institute for Excellence in Writing’s, Teaching Writing/Student Writing Intensive Combo Pack Level B

This is what I saw when I opened my box.

I was a bit overwhelmed, but then I saw this…whew, okay. Step by step instructions on where to start. Sort of like the ‘You are here’ on a map.

And this for setting up the student binder.

Here is how it’s described on IEW’s website…

This combination package is the best way to begin with Excellence in Writing. It includes Teaching Writing: Structure and Style (TWSS), Tips and Tricks DVD and Student Writing Intensive (SWI). Comes with 2 sets of DVDs (one for the teacher, one for the student), TWSS Seminar Workbook, and Student Notebook with handouts and daily lesson suggestions.
SKU: TWSID-B
Level(s):
B (Grades 6-8)
Price: $239.00
Level B is appropriate for teachers and parents of students in grades 6-8. It may also be used for those teachers and parents who are teaching multiple levels.

If you go here you can watch several sample videos of Mr. Pudewa teaching, and see several sample documents of the program.

I watched the DVD for the teacher as instructed and learned a GREAT DEAL. I found him engaging and funny. At one point in the teacher DVD Andrew Pudewa says this…

“One of the completely great things about the syllabus is that it is not a subject unto itself. Writing should not be a subject over here on the side that we do when we can, while we’ve got to do our math, and science, and history, and literature, and bible, and oh, by the way we’d better do some writing here. No, writing must become a part of the study of history, and science, and literature, and bible; whatever it is you want to teach your children. They should read about it, they should talk about it, and they should write about it. That’s how we learn.”

I could not agree more. That is what I love about this system. It’s not a new thing to learn, a new thing to add to my already overburdened homeschooling schedule, but something to incorporate in, that will complement what I am already teaching! But don’t get me wrong, there is a learning curve. I think I have been doing with my children, something very similar to what is taught by IEW, at least in the beginning. It is the idea that you take literature and copy it. See what works and what does not and then model what works. The difference with IEW is that they tell you exactly why something works. You take it apart (via keyword outlines) and then put it back together. Frankly, this is taking what I have been teaching my children, to a whole new level that I would not have thought to teach.

I’ll not say it’s all been rainbows and lollypops. It’s hard to take something you already know, that you’re already good at, and slow it down, looking at the details and minutia of what makes it good or bad. My daughters balked somewhat against this. However, I can see how it has been good for them to see the WHY. I mentioned that because I think this system is wonderful for the reluctant writer. It takes the guesswork out of how to write. It is also good for the great writer, even though it’s a bit more difficult in my opinion, to slow down, go back, and start over.

IEW is a very thorough curriculum. It teaches the teacher how to teach writing and it teaches the student how to write. Teaching Writing/Student Writing Intensive Combo Packs are not inexpensive; however, I think they are very much worth the money especially for those just starting out in with homeschooling, as they can be used for student after student. There is also a very helpful and active Yahoo group dedicated to IEW.

You can go here to learn more about the Institute for Excellence in Writing, and here to see what others on The Crew had to say about IEW. Those of us on The Crew were sent different things from IEW, so if you are interested in another product they put out, or a different grade level, pop on over to The Crew’s site and look for those specific reviews.

Happy Homeschooling!

Hey, Andrew! Teach Me Some Greek!

2011-04-30T11:34:00.004-05:00

I was sent Hey, Andrew! Teach Me Some Greek! to review for you, by the company Greek n Stuff.

I was a little nervous about this review; you know that phrase ‘It’s all Greek to me’? Yeah, that’s how I feel about foreign language. And this was actually GREEK! When I first opened the package I was surprised. It did not appear overwhelming. It was just a nonthreatening workbook with a companion full-text answer book, and a CD. The workbook is 180 pages all tolled. I flipped it open and saw this…

Okay, that looks easy!

I then opened the answer key work text and saw this…

It tells you exactly what to do when. This made me really happy. I mean, I’ve been homeschooling a long time. I can usually figure out how to schedule out a curriculum, but it’s GREEK! So I was super glad to see that I really could just open it up and follow the directions.

Before we jumped in I did spend a little time, maybe half an hour, reading over all the instructions and the first few lessons. I wanted to be as familiar as I could with the (GREEK!) curriculum before we started.

I then let the girls loose. They did the lessons and the flash cards, (which I had them cut out and make). The girls did very well and didn’t complain too much. They were not happy to see a new curriculum show up so late in the year, but once they got started they enjoyed it and learned quite a bit.

I really like that this curriculum teaches the Biblical Greek. In Level 3 on, there is copybook of the book of John that can be added. I love this idea. Any way I can make God’s Word more accessible and understandable to my children is a win in my book.

After doing a few lessons with my children, we decided to put the curriculum away for the summer. I’ve decided to buy a few more resources (the John copybook among them) and start over in the Fall. I want to go all the way through the book, and really dig in.

Greek N Stuff offers more than just Greek. They also have Latin, another frightening language to me. Perhaps when we’re done with Greek we’ll move on to their Latin's Not So Tough!

You can go here to learn more about what Greek n Stuff has to offer and their pricing, and you can go here to see what others on The Crew had to say about their various products.

Happy Homeschooling!

VocabAhead

2011-02-07T17:55:00.002-06:00

I was sent VocabAhead’s DVD ROM to review for you.

This is a simple product with a simple idea that works very well. This is simple a list of words in audio and video format with usage sentences to help you remember the word.

The videos are not actually videos. They are still frame cartoons (not animated), or drawings. Something to look at while the narrator is reading the word and the usage sentences to you. It’s just one more way to help cement the word in the brain.
I was not terribly happy with some of the usage sentences as they seemed sort of negative, or even odd. It seemed to me that they could have come up with several different options and I was sometimes confused as to why they chose what they chose. However, this was only the case for a few of the words.

There are more than 1000 SAT Vocabulary Videos with MP3 audios files on this disc. VocabAhead also has a book if you’d prefer to learn that way. I did like the fact that you could easily transfer these little ‘videos’ or just the audio version, to a portable device like an itouch or ipod.

The VocabAhead DVD ROM can be purchased for $24.99.

The book can be purchased for $12.95.

You can go here to see more about VocabAhead and see many examples of the product, and you can go here to see what others on the crew had to say about VocabAhead!

Happy Homeschooling

City Creek Press Times Alive

2011-02-01T16:10:00.003-06:00

Times Alive is a downloadable computer ‘game’. The program helps students learn the times tables by creating stories you see played out on the screen, while listening to a song about the math facts. You can watch videos; you can color pages on the computer, and you can listen to songs and take tests.

I have a dyslexic student I’m trying to teach the times tables to right now so this was very timely. She enjoyed playing on the computer and learning her math facts at the same time. I even noticed her using the little ditty’s she learned from Times Alive when she was doing her math. I think, like any skill, the more they practice the better they do. We are continuing to use the tried and true flash cards, but I believe adding Times Alive to our arsenal will help out. It’s fun for the student, it works, and she can do it by herself on the days I’m busy. What more can a homeschooling mom ask?

Times Alive has several ‘Kits’ to choose from, as well as the Times Alive CD Rom, which retails for $48.95.

To demo the product you can go here.

To find out what others had to say about Times Alive go here.

Happy Homeschooling!

Ten Marks

2011-01-28T11:12:00.003-06:00

I was sent TenMarks to review for you.

Overall it’s a good program and would make a good addition to your math line up.

It works like this…

You tell them what grade your student is and what state they live in. It generates a personalized math program for your student. It sends you your ‘worksheet’ homework via email so your student knows exactly what they are expected to accomplish. Your student starts by watching the lesson. Then they do ten problems per ‘worksheet’. If they get stuck, they can also get 3 hints per problem. There is only one problem on a page at a time, which was good for my dyslexic. Less to confuse her.

There are ways for you as the parent to go in and reorganize the topics you want your student to do and even delete some altogether. You can add in from other grades, which is a nice feature. Say your student just does not get fractions, but is on grade level for everything else. You could add the fractions section from the previous grades into your line up.

You can also use TenMarks simply as a supplement and not worry about the ‘worksheets’ they send you but simply go into the Practice area and have your student do the lessons they are week in or need help on.

Or...you can watch this video that tells you (probably better than me!) how the program works.I will admit that it took me a while to figure some things out on the site. It was not as intuitive as I would have liked and I had trouble finding the directions to some things. Also, I recommend starting your student a year behind where you think they are, unless they are advanced at math. I found with both of my girls that the grade they were in was a bit too hard for them so we had to go back a grade.

I think TenMarks would make a good stand alone math program or simply a good supplement to your current curriculum.

Their pricing structure is as follows (from their site)…

TenMarks is affordable for everyone and offers a money back guarantee.

Options (per student)

$10 a month

$49 for 6 months

$89 for 12 months

You can go here to find out more about TenMarks and you can go here to find out what others on The Crew had to say.

Happy Homeschooling!

Holman Illustrated Bible Dictionary for Kids

2011-01-26T05:38:00.003-06:00

I was sent the Holman Illustrated Bible Dictionary for Kids to review for you. I absolutely love this book. It is a good size book, 11.00 X 8.50, and is made of sturdy hardback construction. The pages are very colorful and full of maps and charts and wonderful facts from the Bible.

I think this book could be used in many ways. It would be very helpful as a reference, to have nearby when doing family Bible study or when children are doing independent Bible study. This would also be a great book to simply have around for the children to flip through at their leisure or to assign pages for the children to read during their daily schooling.

When we received this book, my daughter grabbed it and sat on the couch for the better part of an hour just reading. She would pipe up now and then, telling me a fact she’d learned or call me over to show me a neet photo. This book is one that we will be happy, for years to come, to have added to our library.

You can find this book at most bookstores, including Lifeway Christian Bookstore for $14.99

You can go here to see what others on The Crew had to say about this book.

Happy Homeschooling!

Virtual Nerd

2011-01-12T00:51:00.001-06:00

Virtual Nerd is a website with a plethora of video segments. In these video segments, a person teaches a lesson on a very specific topic of your choosing.
The video’s are simple and non distracting with a person (sometimes it’s a girl and sometimes it’s a guy) and a blackboard.

These videos are organized very clearly into categories. The main categories are Pre Algebra, Algebra 1, Algebra 2 and Physics. You can then click on various sub topics within these larger topics. To be honest, we’ve spent all of our time in Pre Algebra and Algebra 1.

I also noticed that you can look up specific chapters in the 4 main texts most public schools use, to watch videos on these topics. This is very clever and I can imagine this would be extremely helpful if you are using one of those books.

Overall, I like Virtual Nerd. It is well laid out and the lessons are clear and concise. They cover only one topic at a time and it is not confusing to the listener.
I can see how this could be helpful to the homeschooler to have these video’s in their math arsenal. My only issue is that, unlike a real tutor, you can’t tell the lady in the video that you don’t understand what she is saying and have her try again. You can only replay the video. But then, we all know nothing replaces a real person.

In their ‘FAQ’ section Virtual Nerd themselves answers the question of Virtual Nerd taking the place of a private tutor.

No. If you can find a good tutor, if you can afford private tutoring, and if you can fit it into your schedule, it can be an extremely powerful way to learn. In that case, Virtual Nerd can be an excellent supplement. On the other hand, if private tutoring is not an option for you, or if you want to explore other alternatives first, you've come to the right place.

Overall I think Virtual Nerd is a good program. It is a little pricy, but if it helps your child understand Algebra, it’s worth it!

The Cost is as follows, and when they say 'educator' they do not mean homeschoolers.

Well, that depends. If you're an educator, it's free. If not, the standard subscription rate for the Premium Plan is $49 per month. We also offer 3-month, 6-month and 12-month packages, which result in substantial savings. Also, check with your teacher and principal, because we may have given your school a discount code.

You can go here to find out more about Virtual Nerd and you can go here to see what others on The Crew had to think about it!

Wits and Wagers Family Game

2010-12-17T12:23:00.003-06:00

I received the Wits and Wagers Family game to review for you, right before one of our family camping trips. Seems it was a very good thing because the first day we were camping the weather was very nice…the second day? Not so much. We had a cold front come through and it was COLD and rainy!

I am so very glad I had a new game to pull out! We sat around the table in the RV and played several rounds of this game. My hubby drove into town to pick something up, I can’t remember what at this point; I think it may have simply been a ploy to get away from all the giggling!

Honestly, I am not a huge fan of learning a new game. Sometimes the instructions are so convoluted that you can’t exactly understand what you are supposed to do, but I did not find this to be the case at all with Wits and Wagers. It was fairly straight forward. We read over the instructions once and were able to start playing right away.

From the Website…

Wits & Wagers Family simplifies the rules and scoring system of the popular Wits & Wagers. Now families and kids can get into the Wits & Wagers action! First, every player writes down a guess to a fun question. Then players try to score points by choosing which guess is closest to the right answer without going over. That is it!
The game features 300 new family-friendly questions. And even better than that, Wits & Wagers Family includes Meeples-- fun, cute, human shaped wooden pieces that the players use to select which answers they think are correct. Meeples have been a hallmark in European style strategy games for years, but this is the first time they have made an appearance in a party game.

So check out Wits & Wagers Family, the game that combines laughter and learning in a way that all ages can enjoy together!

I was playing with girls who range in ages from 11 to 13. We laughed and laughed and laughed. But here is the real test. Yes, we played this game the first time when they were really a captive audience. We were in an RV and it was dark, cold, and rainy outside. There were really no other options. But here’s the real kicker. The next day when the weather was nicer, and their cousins had arrived, they could have chosen to do any number of things, but they wanted to play this game with their cousins. They got the game out and played it several times over the course of our camping trip, completely unprompted by me.

Now that’s the sign of a good game!

You can go here to learn more about Wits and Wagers specifically, (how to order and the price etc.) and here for North Star Games in general. And you can go here to see what others had to say about it!

Happy Homeschooling!

KB Teacher

2010-11-19T11:48:00.003-06:00

KBTeacher is a website full of wonderful activities and worksheets that many homeschoolers and teachers in general would find very helpful.

The website is rather intuitive; you look under various categories to find what is available. The categories are: For The Season, English Language, Math Activities, Science Workbooks, Biology Worksheets, Social Studies, More Activities.

I was pleasantly surprised at all I was able to find on this site. I found the customizable writing worksheets to be most helpful and I also enjoyed looking through their clip art. They also have various experiments and craft ideas.

In our homeschool, we are not a huge fan of worksheets, and we don’t use them often. I think a family who uses more of a workbook approach would find this site very helpful. However, there was still quite a bit for me to use on this site as enrichment to our various literature based studies.

You can go here to find out more about KBTeacher Website, here to find out about their pricing structure, and you can go here to find out what others had to say about it.

Happy Homeschooling!

Essay Writing Instructions

2010-11-10T03:17:00.003-06:00

I was sent Essay Writing Instructions lessons 1-15 from The Write Foundation to review for you.

At first glance, this curriculum is a little daunting. It’s basic black and white with no bells and whistles. It comes with a teacher guide containing step by step lesson plans and a stack of loose papers that you put into a binder and organize per the instructions in the book.

I read over the introductory information in the teacher book and was a little confused as to how to implement this curriculum. It took a bit of intense study and focus for me to figure out what I was to do with this curriculum. I say that, because while my overall impression of this curriculum is positive, it is going to take some work on the teacher’s part. It is not an open-and-go kind of curriculum.

This curriculum was designed to be used in a co op classroom setting or at home. This is something to keep in mind when you are trying to figure out how to implements it. I currently teach a creative writing class in a co op setting and I can see how this curriculum would work very, very well within the co op setting.

It is set up like so…
There are 30 lessons in this book. You teach one lesson to your class (or student) then they have homework that will fill up at least 4 days. This homework consists of mostly worksheet s that come with the curriculum. Some lessons will take more than one week, but you should count on one week minimum for each lesson.

I like this idea because it means as a homeschool mom, I’ll be teaching this once a week then just be available to help the rest of the week. This obviously works very well for a co op setting.

Essay Writing Instructions is a very thorough course. In fact maybe it’s too through. I have helped several students, including my own; get prepped for the essay portion of the accuplacer, (the local community college entrance test) or the ACT or SAT. Essay writing is not rocket science; really it’s very simple. Sometimes I think we complicate it too much and make it scary and overwhelming for students. That is my only caution, and it is one that you as the teacher can be aware of and work to avoid.

Overall, I feel this is a good choice for teaching Essay writing to the 14 to 17 year old student.

You can learn more about The Write Foundation and the prices and various levels they offerhere, and you can see what others on the Crew had to think of it, here.

YUCK!

2010-10-29T02:30:00.001-05:00

I have a yucky review to write for you today. The stuff I am reviewing was yucky. I did not like it. But it was yucky, so my children did. Did I mention…YUCK!?

Yuck is…well, I am not even sure how to describe this stuff. It is a white powdery substance that comes in little baggies, but worry not, it is not an illicit substance. Well, as far as the law is concerned. Mothers everywhere might disagree.

You add water to this yucky stuff and you get varying degrees of other yucky stuff. Man, I should be a writer. I am so good with the words!

Perhaps pictures are the way to go here…

Sticky Yuck
Dry...

Water Added...

Snowy Yuck
Dry…

Water added…

Chunky Yuck
Dry…

Water added…

Saucy Yuck
Dry…

Water added…

Okay, in all seriousness, this stuff is kinda cool. It came with an entire paper labeled ‘Yuck Games’ and another little booklet called ‘Yuck Science’.

While I am not a messy kinda of gal, and I try to keep the mess far from my homeschool (my poor children), I think having some Yuck on hand would be just the perfect thing for that rainy day that really needs a little something special…or yucky!

You can go here to find out more about Yuck and even order your own sample pack, and you can go here to see what others on The Crew had to say about Yuck!

Happy Homeschooling!

LanSchool

2010-10-06T01:38:00.000-05:00

LanSchool is a way for me to keep up with what my kids are doing on the computer. In this day and age, computers are a blessing and a curse. We can do so much with them; we have so much available at our fingertips, as a homeschooler, computers have helped me immensely with educating my children. However, we also have access to all manner of garbage. Some of the things that can take up our computer time are simply vapid, and some are downright dangerous.

LanSchool allows me to check on what my children are doing (or have been doing) at the click of a button. I can see their screens on my computer, I can see their history, I can even see their keystrokes if I so choose.

I can also take over their screen and control it from my computer. This has come in very handy when I wanted to show them something. Or I needed to edit a paper. They could watch me do it from my computer on their screen. Way less printing and/or emailing papers back and forth.

I can also chat with my children on the computer. A little screen pops up if I need to tell them to remember to do the word problems on a page or something like that. They can also initiate a chat. This has worked SO well! For instance, my son will be in his room working on a paper. He might initiate a chat, show me his screen and ask me a better way to write a particular sentence. I can then take over his screen and fix it, or give him a few examples.

It is super cool!

At first my kids were none too happy to know that I would have access to everything in their computers (little did they know I already do!! I set up the computers and passwords, silly kids!) but now that we’ve been using it for a while they’ve seen the benefits. I like that they know at any minute I can view what they are viewing. So if they decide to pop on Facebook for a minute, I will know. It helps them be accountable.

I currently have three of our computers linked up. I am very, very happy with this product. It’s not just a ‘big brother’ type spying device; It has really been useful in our homeschool.

You can go here to see the pricing structure. (I am pleased with how they set this up. It seems very reasonable to me.) and you can go here to see what other people had to say about LanSchool.

Happy Homeschooling!

Foundlings, Book One in The Peleg Chronicles

2010-10-01T02:08:00.003-05:00

I have to be honest here. I am not a fan of fantasy. I am not a fan of the whole dragon/dinosaur type of book. Mostly, I have a hard time reading a book where I cannot envision myself because the setting does not actually exist. However, for me, that is a personal preference, not a moral conviction.

The Foundlings published by Zoe and Sozo, is a book that is sort of like that and sort of not. Mr. Harding refers to his book as a Historical Fiction "Fantasy" with Fantasy in quotes. He can explain his reasoning for that better than I can.

Why do you use the term Historical Fiction "Fantasy"?

Actually, I wish I hadn't. Fantasy has too many negative
connotations from a Biblical perspective. When we are at
conferences I'm able to explain that I put the word in quotes,
because some of what the world calls fantasy, God calls fact or
reality. The Peleg Chronicles has dragons/dinosaurs on the
earth with man, giants, some mega fauna, and a
technologically advanced civilization at a time when secular
evolutionists don't expect to see them. So what is normally
thought of as fantasy is actually part of the exciting truth that
is God's world. By using the word fantasy I have inadvertently
given the opposite message of what I intended. I reject
mysticism, magic, creatures that are half human and half
animal, occult beings, talking dragons, etc.

Honestly, I skimmed this book. I really have a hard time with fantasy, but as I said, that is personal taste, not conviction. Here is what I do like about this book. It is safe. It is clean. I can trust that I can hand it off to my children and not be worried that they are going to get a bunch of garbage that goes against what we believe. It’s a nice, clean, fun story that is exciting and enthralling and thrilling all without compromising values. That, I LOVE. In fact Mr. Harding states on his website that this book (and subsequent books in this series) are free of Magic, Humanism, and Evolution.

From the website…

Foundlings weaves together the Biblical
principles of chivalry, truth, courage, duty,
faith and love within the framework of Genesis,
and a bold adherence to its historicity. It's an
exciting page turner that leaves you wanting
more, but more importantly it leaves the
reader with Godly heroes to think on and
emulate, and a young earth creationist view of
history that conforms to the Word of God.
No Magic
No Evolution
No Humanism

How can you not like that?

You can go here to read more about this book, book series, (and there is even a unit study based on the book!!). You can go here to see what others had to say about Foundlings. And by the way, while I didn’t get in to the book, I handed it off to my daughters and have not seen it since. It is on one of their beds, being enjoyed, safely, before they drift off to sleep every night. I’d say that’s a win.

Happy Homeschooling!

Vocabulary Cartoons

2010-09-17T00:56:00.002-05:00

I love this simple little book! It is such a wonderful idea to use a mnemonics device to learn vocabulary! In our homeschool we've used mnemonics device for learning mulitplication tables, AWANA verses and much more. The people at Vocabulary Cartoons have created a way for students to learn vocabulary through mnemonics device!

Here's the gest of the way it works from the website...

Vocabulary Cartoons works on the principle of mnemonics. A mnemonic is a device that helps you remember something by associating what you are trying to remember with something you already know. A mnemonic device could be in many different forms like; rhymes, songs, pictures to name a few. For example, "Columbus sailed the ocean blue in fourteen hundred ninety-two" is a classic mnemonic rhyme which helps you remember when Columbus discovered America.

Following the mnemonic principle of association, Vocabulary Cartoons link together an auditory (rhyming) word association and a visual association in the form of a humorous cartoon. These powerful mnemonics help students retain the meanings of words longer and with less effort than trying to memorize definitions straight out of a dictionary.

In the example below, the new word FATHOM is associated (linked with) the rhyming word FAT THUMB, which in turn is then presented visually as a humorous cartoon. The more outrageous and bizarre the cartoon, the easier it is to remember.

There are many ways to use this book, but my family simply flipped open the book and picked a word. We read it several times, looked at and then when Dad came home we told him about it, then showed him the cartoon. It was quite effective. Whether or not you're preparing for the SAT's, this book is a great addition to any homeschool library!

You can go here to learn more about Vocabulary CArtoons and see their prices, and you can go here to see what others on The Crew had to say about Vocabulary Cartoons!

Happy Homeschooling!

Math Tutor DVD's (Pre-Algebra and Ti Calculator)

2010-09-08T06:50:00.002-05:00

Several times now I’ve been the lucky recipient of the Math Tutor DVD’s. I am really pleased with this program. I love anything that will help me teach higher math. Higher math is scary. I like how these DVD’s have short simple lessons and not a lot of fluff or extra nonsense.

For this review I was sent Pre-Algebra and Unlock the Power of your TI-84 / TI-83 Graphing Calculator!

On the cover of the disks you get a break down of what’s on them. You can have your child watch the entire thing, or you can have your child go through their regular math curriculum, then when they get to the spot in your curriculum where you are learning about, say, subtracting Integers, you pull out the pre algebra DVD and have them watch that segment for reinforcement. Or you can just pull out the DVD when the child is having trouble in an area for a new and fresh explanation.

We have already done pre algebra so I only had my children watch a few lessons for reinforcement. I think this was actually really helpful since we did it right before we started Algebra. That is also a good way to use these DVD’s as just a quick review at the beginning of the year before you start the next level.

You can click on the link below to find out more about the Pre Algebra DVD. Also, here is a segment of the DVD so you can see for yourself what it’s like.

Pre-Algebra

Disk 1
Sect 1 - Real Numbers
Sect 2 - The Number Line
Sect 3 - Greater Than, Less Than, Equal To
Sect 4 - Absolute Value and Adding Integers
Sect 5 - Subtracting Integers

Disk 2
Sect 6 - Multiplying Integers
Sect 7 - Dividing Integers
Sect 8 - Powers and Exponents
Sect 9 - Order of Operation

Ti Calculator

This DVD could not have come into our house at a better time. My son was just about to start Algebra at the local community college. So far we’d done Algebra at home and we’d not used a Ti calculator so neither of us knew how to use it. Within just a few lessons he had enough information to go to his first day of class, confident that he could use the basic functions on the calculator. He continued to watch the rest of the lessons on this DVD and I really believe he is going to get much more out of the calculator than his brother did who just played with it till he figured it out. For our family, this is my favorite of the Math Tutor DVD’s. You can go here to see more about this DVD and see a video.

Disk 1
Section 1: Overview of the Calculator
Section 2: The Mode Menu
Section 3: Basic Arithmetic and Exponents
Section 4: Logarithms and Square Roots
Section 5: Sin, Cos, Tan
Section 6: Scientific Notation and Storing Variables
Section 7: The Math Menu and Catalog Menu
Section 8: Convert between Fractions and Decimals
Section 9: Finding the Min and Max of a Function
Section 10: Calculating Derivatives and Integrals
Section 11: Absolute Value, Rounding, and Integers
Section 12: Converting between Degrees and Radians
Section 13: Working with Complex Numbers

Disk 2
Section 14: Using the Equation Solver
Section 15: Graphing and Tracing Functions
Section 16: Using Tables and Split Screen Modes
Section 17: Find the Exact Value of a Function Using Graphing
Section 18: Finding the Zeros of a Function using Graphing
Section 19: Finding the Max and Min of a Function using Graphing
Section 20: Finding Intersections of Functions using Graphing
Section 21: Finding the Derivative of a Function by Graphing
Section 22: Calculating the Definite Integral by Graphing
Section 23: Drawing on a Graph
Section 24: Graphing and Tracing Sequences

Disk 3
Section 25: Graphing and Tracing Parametric Equations
Section 26: Converting between Rectangular and Polar Coordinates
Section 27: Graphing and Tracing Polar Equations
Section 28: Permutations, Combinations, and Factorial
Section 29: Working with Histograms and Box Plots
Section 30: Graphing Statistical Scatter Plots
Section 31: Calculating Mean, Median, Standard Deviation, and more
Section 32: Performing Statistical Regression
Section 33: Calculating with Matrices
Section 34: Solving Systems of Equations with Matrices
Section 35: Calculating Interest Rates
Section 36: Calculating Mortgages and Loans
Section 37: Calculating Savings and Investments

So, you can go here to find out more about the Ti Calculator DVD, here to find out more about the Pre Algebra DVD and here to find out about all the DVD’s Math Tutor offers and their pricing structure (Very reasonable, in my opinion) and you can go here to see what other’s on The Crew had to say about Math Tutor DVD’s

Happy Homeschooling!

Travel Kits, A simple Way to Bless Others

2010-07-22T03:30:00.000-05:00

I was sent the EBook Travel Kits, A simple Way to Bless Others by Donna Rees, published by The Old Schoolhouse.

When I got this ebook, I must admit, I was not too excited to dig into it. We, here in this house, are seasoned travelers. We pack up our car and our pull behind RV and travel all the time. In fact, we’re preparing for our annual summer trip to Colorado with the rest of the extended family soon. I must admit, I didn’t think I would learn anything I didn’t already know.

Well, I was wrong. Not only did I get some great new ideas, but I also realized what a wonderful idea it is to bless others with these Travel Kits.

I don’t know about you, but as the kids have gotten older, I have worried less about keeping them occupied in the car. I have so much else to do to get ready! But I have a feeling my kids are going to feel so loved and cherished when, out of the blue, in the middle of desolate, nothing-to-look-at-for-hours west Texas, I pull out a Travel Kit!

The other thing that Donna Rees stresses in this ebook is what a wonderful gift this would be to a frazzled mom trying to get out for a trip. Imagine if your friend showed up the day before you were about to leave with a little kit for your kids! What a HUGE blessing. And not just for traveling but what about a sick child, or a bedridden child or a hospitalized child? These would be a huge blessing!
I don’t want to say too much more and give away all the authors secrets, but let me just say I was very pleased to have taken the time to read this book.

Here are a few of the ideas I took from the book. These are just a few of the MANY wonderful things you can find in Travel Kits, A simple Way to Bless Others.

This is going to be a favorite, I suspect. We have a caravan of two cars going and three cars coming back. I plan to split up the code books between cars. I bet there will be much note passing when we stop for a potty break!

Note all the rounded edge scissors? These are all big kids, but I decided sharp scissors in a moving car was probably not a good idea, no matter what the age!

I am expecting to have beautiful coiffed hair this entire trip! (the pink polka-doted thing is a mirror compact)

This one is MY favorite! It might be a little big to use in the car. We'll see. But I bet this one will be a hit with all the girls all throughout the camping trip!

Here are all the items all packed up and ready to go. I'm going to staple the bags shut and stick them in a cabinet in the RV. That way when we stop, I can grab one for later.

I think this is such a wonderful idea, I have a feeling I'll be visiting this Ebook often!

You can go hereto find out how you can download this lovely book, and you can go here to see what others on The Crew had to say about it!

Happy Homeschooling (and traveling!)

God Bless America

2010-07-03T16:12:00.000-05:00

We on this continent should never forget that men first crossed the Atlantic not to find soil for their ploughs but to secure liberty for their souls. ~Robert J. McCracken

Happy 4th, my American friends.

The Old Schoolhouse Subscription DEAL!

2010-07-01T06:33:00.000-05:00

1776 was a spectacular year, and it's a smashing, save-more-money price! Grab your subscription to The Old Schoolhouse® Magazine during their four-day Fourth of July sale, and check out the craziest price on July 1 only! Receive a 2-year subscription, free Homeschooling with Heart tote bag, and five FREE E-Books for just $17.76! While supplies last. U.S. and Canadian residents. July 2 through July 4 the unprecedented savings continue. The sparks are flying at TOS Magazine . . . join in the celebration and savings! Get the details here.

Great Latin Adventures

2010-05-29T10:22:00.000-05:00

I was sent Great Latin Adventures by Classical Legacy Press to review for you.

This was a tough review for me because we’ve tried Latin programs before and it has not gone well. When I said the word Latin, I got groans and gnashing of teeth from my children.

It is also hard for me to review a Latin program because, honestly, I am not in agreement with the whole Classic Education theory. I know, shocking. I may get kicked out of homeschooling for revealing that one. I am more of a Charlotte Mason, living books, unit study, delight directed, homeschooler. I think you should know that so you know where I’m coming from.

I appreciate how this program is laid out. I appreciate the lengthy introduction, and the Master Chapter Plan. If I thought I needed to teach my children Latin, and I had no background in Latin, these chapters would be a wonderful help. In these chapters Katharine Birkett, the creator of GLA, lays out for me the why’s and wherefores and most importantly the HOW’s of this program.

There are programs out there with many bells and whistles and DVD’s and Histories attached etc, but not GLA. GLA is a simple Latin program. And when I say simple, I don’t mean easy or lacking, I just mean it is Latin. It is not Religion, or History and it does not teach Mythology. It is just Latin. I appreciate that. (I’m not against Mythology by the way, we recently did a giant unit study on Greek Mythology, but I appreciate that there is a Latin program, especially one that is aimed at the younger 4-6 grades, where I can teach Latin without automatically having to teach about false gods as well.)

Katharine uses the classical pronunciation system rather than the ecclesiastical. I have no idea what that means. I read about it in the introduction, but, well, I didn’t quite understand it. The good news is that Katharine tells us that it really does not matter and that you can easily adjust the program to use the ecclesiastical pronunciation if that is what you prefer.

Katharine also gives examples in the Master Chapter Plan of how to use this program in a Homeschooling Family, A Christian School, and a Homeschooling co op.

In the Homeschooling Family (which I am assuming most of you are) she suggests working one on one (thought you can easily add siblings) three to four times a week for thirty of forty-five minutes at a time for thirty-six weeks of instruction per year.

This program is not the type of program you can simply hand to your child and walk away. It is going to take work on the teacher’s part in order for this to be a successful venture. However, I think if you as a teacher are after a Latin program that is simply Latin, and not full of unnecessary fluff, that will help your child in his future Foreign Language endeavors and also in the study of the English Language, I think Great Latin Adventures is an excellent choice.

Price…
Student Book $15.00 apiece (with a binder, $22.00)
Teacher’s Manual with CD included $30.00 per level (with a binder, $40.00)

You can go here to the GLA Faq’s page to see more about GLA and to see samples, and you can go here to see what others had to say about GLA.

Happy Homeschooling!

Lobster Network

2010-05-28T12:06:00.000-05:00

Lobster Network is one of those simple, yet brilliant ideas. It is an online catalog, and inventory system.

It works like this. You invest a little time to put your ‘stuff’ online. For me I simply did the homeschooling things I want to get rid of that we no longer need. I listed it on the site, visible to anyone. I had the option of making it just visible to specific networks or ‘friends’ but I decided to let anyone browse through it.

I could have listed it for sale, trade, borrow, free, or various other options.
There are other ways this would be helpful though, especially if you had a local network. I was thinking of various groups like Churches, Bible Studies, Homeschool groups, Book Clubs, or just a local group of friends.

You can list anything on this network, car parts, books, kids clothes, the 5oo lawn mower parts my teenager has collected…hummm.

Anyway, I think this is just such a great idea. We live in a society of so much STUFF! I love the idea of being able to bless someone else with stuff I don’t need any more.

And best of all, the site is FREE to use!

You can go here to check out Lobster Network and sign up. Go ahead, give it a try!

You can go here to see what others had to say about Lobster Network.

Happy Homeschooling!

Andrea Carter and the Trouble with Treasure

2010-05-28T11:33:00.000-05:00

I received Andrea Carter and the Trouble with Treasure for this review. It is the fifth in the Circle C Adventures series, about a girl named Andrea Carter, who lives on a cattle ranch near Fresno, California in the 1880s.

This book is published by Kregel. This is the second book I’ve received from Kregel to review. You can read about the other book here. I’d like to say how much I appreciate publishing houses like Kregel. I know that if I get a book published by them, it’s going to be clean. That is something to be appreciated!

The book I got this time, Andrea Carter and the Trouble with Treasure was a cute little book. It is #5 in a series of 6 so for about Andrea, who goes by Andi. I usually don’t like to read a book in the middle of a series, but these books make great stand alone stories and there is a little note from Andi in the front telling us a bit about her previous adventures.

Honestly, I skimmed this book and then it disappeared. This is common in this house. My 11 year old ran off with the book. She read it quickly and said she really liked it. This is saying something, because she is my dyslexic child and will not spend the effort to read something that does not hold her interest. She gave it a thumbs up!

You can go here to find out more about Kregel Publishing. You can go here to find out more about the the series of books about Andi and the Circle Adventures Series, and as always, you can click here to see what other Crew members had to say about this book.

Happy Homeschooling!

History of the U.S. AP Exam Prep

2010-05-23T19:04:00.000-05:00

Exam prep for the digital age.

Let’s face it, our kids are learning in a different environment then we did. I mean, I learned to type on an actual typewriter! I felt blessed to have the electronic version to learn as opposed to the old version. My typing class was high tech! Now they don’t even teach typing anymore. Kids are seemingly born knowing how to type thanks to the age in which they are born.

Remember the way we used to have to study for tests? The flashcards, the notes, the books, the reading and re reading and then re re reading! Well, our students have more in their study arsenal than I would have thought possible!

I was sent to review for you, a nice little video from Cerebellum/Standard Deviants. It is the History of the U.S. AP Exam Prep. I watched it with my daughters who are way too young for this type of thing, but they found in engaging and interesting none the less.

Now, the thing with these DVD’s (and this company has many of these available on many topics) is that they’re not supposed to teach you the material, just help you study for the test. They are assuming you have already learned the material. This is a good thing because they don’t use the term ‘light speed’ lightly. These are fast paced videos with lots of interesting graphics and bells and whistles.

The price is very good for these DVD’s. If I were going to be taking an AP exam, I would definitely we willing to spend the $14.98 (On sale now for $11.24, by the way!) to get one of these video’s. It’s just one more way to study for that test.

You can find out more about the Standard Deviant Video series here and as always, you can click on the icon below to see what others had to say about this product.

Happy Homeschooling!

BeeYoutiful

2010-05-12T17:32:00.000-05:00

After all the curriculum we reviewed this year, it seemed quite a treat to be getting something special to review for you. Something pampering! The lovely folks at BeeYoutiful sent me LaveshMint Daily Moisturizer and Toner,

Honestly, I don’t spend a lot of money or time on my face. I’m a busy mom; I don’t have time for that kinda stuff. I’m not saying I don’t need too, just that I rarely get around to it.

I really enjoyed these products. I spray on the toner as soon as I get out of the shower every morning. It just makes everything feel fresh and clean.

I put on the lotion about 2 or 3 times a week. It really feels nice, tingly, and fresh. And it smells great! I also like the idea that I’m purchasing this from a company that is more natural in their approach to health and beauty.

I have a feeling I’m going to have to make a purchase from BeeYoutiful when these two products are gone!

You can go here to find out more about BeeYoutiful and you can click on the icon below to see what others had to say about it.

Happy Homeschooling!

Ideal Preschool Curriculum

2010-05-12T17:11:00.000-05:00

Ideal Curriculum is a preschool curriculum that covers the topics, Literacy, Math/Calendar, and Science/Social Studies. It is unique in its approach because it sells topical, one month kits. I was sent the first month, Transportation, to review for you.

I think Ideal is a thorough curriculum. It has everything laid out in a very easy to follow format once you get it figured out. (It is a bit confusing to figure out what to do with all the files at first.) This is especially good for the first time homeschooler. One of my favorite aspects to this curriculum is that along with your various printable downloads; you also download mp3’s that go along. Music is a great way for kids to learn and remember things, so I Love the fact that this is included.

You can purchase one month or all 9. I think this is a good thing as well because you can try it out and see how it works for your child and you don’t have to buy an entire years worth.

My one concern about this curriculum is that it may be a bit much for the preschooler. I believe in a more natural learning approach in the early years. More play and less structure. There’s plenty of time for structured learning, with my preschoolers we played games and read, read, read.

But, for those that are looking for a little more structure, but don’t quite now where to start, Ideal Curriculum might be just the thing for you.

They are offering a discount in the month of May. 10% if you type in the code ‘welovekids’ The regular price for a one month kit is $30 and $55 for a print version.

You can go here to find out more about Ideal Curriculum and you can click on the icon below to see what others had to say about it.

Happy Homeschooling!

Lesson Planet

2010-04-30T16:27:00.000-05:00

Lesson Planet is a subscription website what has over 150,000 lesson plans and 75,000 worksheets for you to choose from, broken down in to the following sub headings.

• Art and Music
• Health and Nutrition
• Geography
• Research Resources
• Social Studies
• Education
• Language Arts
• Math
• Science and Technology

I poked around some, on this site, looking for various lesson plans on various subjects. To be honest, I was a bit disappointed because what I found was very classroom oriented and not quite what I was looking for, for my homeschool.

I could see the benefit of this site if you were teaching a co op or ran your homeschool a little more like a traditional school.

There is much to choose from on this site. If you are interested in learning more about Lesson Planet and think this would be a help to you in teaching your children, you can take advantage of their 2 week free trial.

You can go here to learn more about Lesson Planet and you can click on the icon below to see what others had to say about Lesson Planet.

Happy Homeschooling!

Super Star Speech.

2010-04-28T20:40:00.000-05:00

I have three games from Super Star Speech to review for you today. I have Covering the Continents, Planets and Silly Snail Game.

Covering the Continents is a game about; you guessed it, World Geography!
This game helps the students learn basic geography and facts by ‘settling’ the countries

Planets is a multiple choice card game about the planets. This is a fun way to help cement what a child has been learning.

Silly Snail Game is a board type game where the player advances through the game by identifying the part of speech in a sentence correctly.

Honestly, I was not sure how I was going to like these E-games. How does that work? Seems strange to have a game that comes out of my printer; but I have decided I like it and here’s why.

Let’s be honest. Kids are not going to flock to the game cabinet and choose these types of learning games. They are going to play them because Mom said they can play a game instead of writing something for school one day!

I can buy this game, (FOR $3.50!!) for a very reasonable price and print it off in whatever quality you want. If you think you’re going to use it a lot, print it off in card stock and laminate it. If you just want to play it a few times and then move on, just print it off on regular paper and then throw it out when you’re done. The upside of this is that it’s on your computer and you can print it off again if you want!

Super Star Speech also has a speech program to offer, in fact this is it’s bread and butter. It is designed specifically for homeschool families to use to work with their own children, which is brilliant!

You can go here to find out more about Super Star Speech, and you can click on the icon below to find out what others have to say about Super Star Speech (including reviews for the speech program!)

Happy Homeschooling!

Who Am I?

2010-04-11T17:18:00.000-05:00

I received the book Who Am I? from All About Spelling to review for you. I reviewed another reader from All About Spelling earlier in the year for you as well. This book was just as good as the first.

I personally love what All About Spelling is doing. These books go along with their spelling program which is really an in depth phonics program in the earlier levels, and they are planning on adding a reading program entitled All About Reading later this year.

I think spelling, phonics, learning to read, all these things are interconnected and I love the way All About Spelling is creating a comprehensive program to get earlier learners off on the right reading/spelling foot. I think this program would have been a HUGE benefit to my two dyslexic children.

But, alas, all of my children are quite past this stage now.

I love the illustrations in the books All About Spelling is publishing. They are so sweet. The stories are very cute too and very appealing to the little ones (and Mom too!).

You can go to All About Spelling to find out more about their program and their plans for future curriculum. And you can click on the icon below to see what others on the Crew had to say about All About Spelling’s reader Who Am I?

Happy Homeschooling!

Tales From Terrestria

2010-04-11T16:57:00.000-05:00

I received two books from author and evangelist, Ed Dunlop to review for you. They are books 1 & 4 in the Tales from Terrestria Series.

These books are set in the same mythical world as his first series, The Terrestria Chronicles. The Terrestria Chronicles are…
Book One: The Sword, The Ring, The Parchment
Book Two: The Quest for Seven Castles
Book Three: The Search for Everyman
Book Four: The Crown of Kuros
Book Five: The Dragon's Egg
Book Six: The Golden Lamps

These books should be read in order. At the end of the series, the story stops. It is finished; however, as Mr. Dunlop says on his website, there are more Terrestrian stories to be told. Enter Tales From Terrestria.

There are 3 books so far in this series though Mr. Dunlop plans seven stories total. They are stand alone books that can be read in any order.

The Quest for Thunder Mountain, The Golden Dagger, & The Isle of Dragons are the titles available now in this series.

I was sent The Quest for Thunder Mountain and The Isle of the Dragon. As I do with most books, I skimmed them, and then handed them off to my reader, Eve. She is the right age for these books and she has read many, many, many books written with this age group as the aim, so she is usually able to give me a good gauge as to the books appeal.

Eve liked them okay; they were not her favorite however. I think, though she was not able to articulate this, she is turned off by books with an overt ‘message’. A story should have a purpose or a point, to be sure, but if the point is so strong that the story gets lost, then something is wrong.

However, I as a parent understand how scary it can be to just let your child lose in a library. There is a great deal of garbage out there. I do appreciate that there are authors that are creating works of fiction that tell a story, are interesting and fun, but don’t offend me with their overt agendas or put things in a story that have no business being in a book marketed to pre teens.

I think this series would especially appeal to boys. It is the type of book you would expect to find much magic and sorcery in because of its fantastic nature, but it contains none. This will be a HUGE selling point to many.

Overall, I think these books are worth adding to a home library. My book snob was not 100 percent impressed, but she did read them both and then ask if we had the original series. I think she may have been more intrigued that she let on.

You can go here to find out more about Mr. Dunlop's books and you can click on the icon below to see what other Crew Members had to say about these books.

Happy Homeschooling!

Critical Thinking Co.

2010-04-06T10:37:00.000-05:00

I have, over the years, used many of the products put out by Critical Thinking Co. I have never met a CTC product I didn’t like, so when I heard I was going to get to review something from them I was thrilled.

When I received Balance Benders in the mail, I immediately opened it up and tried to do the first page. Um, huh? I didn’t get it. I sat down and tried again. Nope. Don’t get it.

I flipped to the front of the book. 2nd – 6th grade. Well. That’s comforting.
My girls (5th and 7th grades) came into the room. We all stared together. Huh?

Then in came my 9th grade boy. He is dyslexic and also struggles mightily in math, but is Mr. Fix it. He builds decks and carports etc, has his own lawn and tree trimming business. He’s a hands-on guy. He picked it up and in less than 30 seconds, without even reading the directions, did them all. Then flipped to the next page and did all of them, and then he laughed that we could not figure it out.

Once he explained it to us, we got it, but I must admit here. My brain does not work this way. I’m a language girl. These balance shape things put my brain in a tangle. But after working through it myself I can see its benefit. IT’s like exercising. I could see that each page got easier because my brain was stretched out for it!

I honestly think this is a great addition to a math program. It’s not ‘mathy’ so your child will probably like doing this math supplement! And for us non-mathy people, it’s probably a really good exercise!

And just in case you were wondering. As soon as my son explained the concept to my daughters they zipped through it too. I guess the saying about old dogs and new tricks is truer than I’d like to believe!

You can go here to find out more about Balance Benders (GREAT price). You can go here to find out more about Critical Thinking Co and you can click on the icon below to see what others had to say about the CTC products.

Happy Homeschooling!

Family Mint

2010-03-30T11:11:00.000-06:00

Let me just start by saying…FREE! Who doesn’t love free? Family Mint is a FREE website where you can teach your kids about money. Think Quicken for Kids. It is a way you can give your kids allowance, and teach them how to deal properly with it. They can deposit money, save money, give to charity and many other things all virtually through this website and you as the parent can monitor it all.

You can set it up totally virtually, so no money actually changes hands. This would make a great personal finance unit study! Or you can have the money on the website represent real money, an allowance perhaps, that your child will actually get. Either way it’s a good learning experience.

When my sons each got their own checking account there was a bit of a learning curve but I can see that If we make Family Mint a part of our school, my girls will be ahead of the game when it comes to their turn to get a bank account.

The Family Mint website is a top notch site. It has a very nice user interface, but it is simple and straightforward enough for children to understand and use.

You can go here to see what others on The Crew had to say about Family Mint and you can go here to sign up and start your Family Bank!

Happy Homeschooling!

Math Galaxy

2010-03-30T10:17:00.000-06:00

It seems this year has been The Year of The Math on the TOS Crew. We’ve been sent quite a bit of math related materials to review. Some I have liked more than others.

Math Galaxy was one that when I first checked it out, I was somewhat underwhelmed. It’s not really all that flashy and the graphics seem a bit dated. Imagine my surprise when we tried it out and it became one of my children’s favorites! Honestly I’m not even sure why. They just said it was cool. Also, and this is big, they didn’t grumble and complain when I asked them to do it!

Math Galaxy offers several topical studies to choose from. Listed below are the topics they offer.

• Whole Numbers
• Fractions
• Decimals
• Ratio’s, Proportions and percents
• Shapes and Measurement
• Data Analysis
• Algebra
• Word Problem Fun
• Math Riddles
• Labyrinth
• Printable Worksheets
• Printable Riddles

This is not a stand alone, complete curriculum but a reinforcement tool. You can go here to see what others on The Crew had to say about Math Galaxy and you can go here (click on 'order' tab) to find out more about the programs offered and prices.

Happy Homeschooling!

Children's Bible Hour Ministries

2010-03-27T15:09:00.000-06:00

I received four soft cover books from Children’s Bible Hour Ministries. The Season’s of Faith series. These books contain stories about the seasons of our lives; new life in Christ, growing in our faith, God being with us during struggles and temptations and death.

I was impressed with these books. They were good quality and had a good message. Sometimes those two seem mutually exclusive, but not in these books. These books are a little young for my children and I wish I’d known about them when my kids were little.

They come with a CD where the book is read aloud. Having two dyslexic children, I would have absolutely loved this when my kids were younger! Finding quality books and audio versions is hard to do.

The Children’s Bible Hour Website says this about the book series "The Seasons of Faith illustrated books encourage children to learn about their faith in God. Based on CBH Ministries’ treasure trove of radio scripts, these stories teach core truths of the Bible so that kids can easily apply them to their lives. Each book focuses on a season of faith-developing topics. Teachers and Parents: see the website for Discussion Questions which reflect on the seasons of faith in your lives."

The books each retails for $10. If you use the code FREESHIPAPR15 between March 17 and April 15, 2010, you’ll get free standard shipping with the purchase of the 4 book set.

You can go here to see what else Children’s Bible Hour has to offer and you can click on the icon below to see what others had to say.

Happy Homeschooling!

The Old World Style United States and World Maps Set

2010-03-27T14:45:00.000-06:00

I was sent to review for you…MAPS from Homeschool in the Woods. Homeschool in the Woods sent some wonderful lap books last year to review so I had high expectations where these maps were concerned and they were definitely met!

The Old World Style United States Maps includes maps of each state and are presented in three way; labeled, unlabeled and in outline form. Also included are various historical maps pertaining to the growth and changes of the Nation.

The World maps are offered in ancient and modern styles. They are offered in a variety of ways such as labeled, unlabeled, including no borders and political borders. There are various tiles for your student to write information, which is very helpful for notebooking.

I am very happy to be in possession of this set of maps. I can see this coming in very handy next year as we study American History and in during this year as we finish up our Ancient History study. This would even make a great stand alone Geography study!

The download for each set is priced at $18.95. The CD versions are priced at $19.95. A Combo-Pak is also available at $28.95 for the download and $29.95 for the CD. You can click on the icon below to see what others had to say about this product and you can click here to order and check out their sample pages.

Happy Homeschooling!

Homeschool Expo!

2010-03-09T18:15:00.000-06:00

If you're looking for homeschool encouragement, resources, and fun, check out all that is going on at The Old Schoolhouse!

Right now March Madness and Win Big are going on in the Schoolhouse Store. During March Madness, over 240 items are 10 to 40 percent off!
Click here to read the details.

Then, if you're customer 139,000, 139,500, or 140,000, you will win over $348 in prizes. Prizes include a 5 year subscription to TOS (U.S.
only), Scripture Sleuth literature series, guitar lessons on CD, and more! Hurry, they are just past customer #137,818.

The BIGGEST news of all--The Schoolhouse Expo is coming in May!
Pre-register now and save $5!

As homeschool teachers, what do you need to learn? More about teaching multiple grades? All about different homeschool methods? Transcripts?
Could you use some help with reading, language arts, math, and more?
Are you intimidated by the idea of teaching middle school and high school?those dreaded, advanced courses? Would some encouraging words and motivational Scripture help you on your way? Get answers when you attend The Schoolhouse Expo, an 3-day, online conference, presented by The Old Schoolhouse® Magazine and The Old Schoolhouse® Speaker's Bureau.

Pre-register today for only $19.99 through March 31.You do not want to miss this unbelievable, virtual homeschool convention! PLUS, you'll receive over $300 in free gifts when you register.

Get the details and preregister here.

Homeschool Library Book Builders (2)

2010-03-07T18:39:00.000-06:00

Homeschool Library Book Builder is a company we on The Crew were able to review last year. This is a company run by homeschoolers for homeschoolers and they sell…books! What’s not to love!

Here’s some info from Homeschool Library Book Builder’s website…

Our Purpose: Although we happen to be homeschoolers, please do not be misled! Our books are excellent choices for anyone, regardless of age or chosen educational path. Our desire and delight is to assist you by offering selections to enrich your child’s education, from preschool through high school, and beyond. In addition to books recommended by highly-respected and widely used homeschool curriculums, we offer titles specifically chosen to supplement unit studies, promote sound moral character, and provide knowledge of truths for curious youngsters. We want to help you build your own excellent library and create memorable reading experiences for your family!

What we sell: We stock new and used, hardcover and softcover titles. Most of our new titles are publisher’s remainders and overstocks. Our used books are rated by condition and priced accordingly. Most of our used titles are in very good or better condition. Additionally, we are always on the lookout for hard-to-find or out-of-print titles.

These two ladies know their stuff and they’re willing to help you find what you need to educate your children at home, or just to have a great read alound for summer break. And by buying from Library Book Builders you get the added satisfaction of knowing you’re buying from a homegrown mom and pop, or in this case mom and mom (and NOT in that way!) shop.

You can go here to learn more about what services Library Book Builder provides and you can click on the icon below to see what others had to say about Library Book Builders.

Happy Homeschooling

Graphics Toolbox

2010-03-07T18:00:00.000-06:00

Graphics Toolbox is a graphics program that was created by a team of software designers with over 20 years experience in graphics programming. I was sent this program to review for you all. I’m not going to lie to you. I got the cold shivers when I downloaded this program. Let me start by saying I’ve been using some Print Shop type program I bought at Walmart about 10 years ago for $5. That is what I use when I want to make a greeting card or do something silly to a photo or create address stickers. It is simple and basic and easy. Granted, it can't do this...

I do not like complicated when it comes to computers. I am a BIG fan of the easy, intuitive, drop down, drag and drop type programs. Graphics Toolbox is most definitely NOT easy and intuitive. The thing is, it’s really cool. You can change colors on pictures with this thing, you can create amazing photos and documents and posters and projects. I think it will even link up and control the international space station if you work it right! That was kind of the whole problem for me though. It was too much. I watched the first two training session videos and got it a little bit more, but honestly it’s a really complicated program. I think if I could figure it out, I would love it, but it’s a lot to figure out.

Here are the pro’s

There is nothing quite like it on the market, so specific to graphics (not just photos).

It can do just about anything you can think of as far as graphics goes.

The creators have spent much time and effort creating detailed tutorials to help their customers use their product.

The Con’s

Honestly, it was just really complicated. I’m not sure how many regular Jane Homeschool Mom’s are going to want to spend so much time learning something so detailed and complicated, and then teach something so detailed and complicated to their kids. But maybe that’s just me. And really, what do I know? My graphics program is from 1999 (did we even have internet back then?)

If you have someone who is ‘into’ computers and programs and graphics and speaks that language Graphics Toolbox is your thing. If you’re looking to make a greeting card or two, try going back to 1999 and head to Walmart.

You can go here to read more about Graphics Toolbox and check basic FAQ’s like price and minimum system requirements, and you can click on the icon below to find out what others had to say about this program.

Happy Homeschooling!

Beehive Reader 1

2010-02-25T11:50:00.000-06:00

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)

2010-02-23T20:32:00.000-06:00

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)

2010-02-20T10:01:00.000-06:00

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)

2010-02-20T09:23:00.000-06:00

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

2010-02-15T14:14:00.000-06:00

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

2010-02-06T11:45:00.000-06:00

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

2010-02-06T11:19:00.000-06:00

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

2010-02-02T10:27:00.000-06:00

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!

Christian Keyboarding

2010-01-29T07:26:00.000-06:00

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

2010-01-22T11:00:00.000-06:00

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

2010-01-14T13:51:00.000-06:00

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

2010-01-08T19:27:00.000-06:00

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.

ACT Plan & Explore

2009-12-29T09:42:00.000-06:00

I recently did a review on the ACT’s internet based career guidance system, Discover. You can check that out here. ACT also sent me two other items to review. Explore and Plan.

Explore is an assessment test meant for 8th or 9th graders. This is a test designed for homeschoolers to administer to their students to make sure they are on the mark for their grade. I like the idea of occasional testing for my students, not necessarily to compare them to the national norms, which the ACT tests do, but to simply check for personal improvement or progress. That is why I like the idea of the second test.

The Plan test is administered in 10 grade to make sure the student is on par for graduation, but early enough in the High School career that there is time to alter their academic focus if that is necessary. If the Explore test is taken in 8th and then the Plan is taken in 10th, I think the outcome of these two tests will give the homeschooled student and parent a very good idea where the student is academically and give them pointers as to where they may need to focus some more energy before college.

Both of the tests cover these four core subject areas: English, Mathematics, Reading, and Science.

The EXPLORE for Homeschool packet comes with the following items:
• Testing booklet titled Sample Test Booklet and Answer Sheet
• Using Your EXPLORE Results brochure—a brief overview of score results and the process
• College Readiness Standards handbook—a handbook that provides ideas for progress in each subject to prepare students for college or the workforce

The price is $22.95 each.

The PLAN for Homeschool packet comes with the following items:
• Testing booklet titled Sample Test Booklet and Answer Sheet
• Using Your PLAN Results brochure—a brief overview of score results and the process
• College Readiness Standards handbook—a handbook that provides ideas for progress in each subject to prepare students for college or the workforce

The Price is $22.95 each.

Both of these tests came in very handy for my highschoolers and gave me some idea of what areas we needed to focus on, especially for Bob, my 9th grader. Honestly, the test didn’t really tell me anything I didn’t already know. As the mom and teacher, I know where my children’s strengths and weaknesses are academically, but it was helpful for me to have that confirmed.

You can go here to read more about all the programs ACT offers and as always you can click on the icon below to see what other Crew Members had to say about ACT.

Happy Homeschooling!

Mastro Classics

2009-12-19T12:39:00.000-06:00

I was sent The Tortoise and the Hair by Mastro Classics to review for you. Mastro Classics is a company that has combined classical stories with great symphony orchestra music. This is the kind of thing that is right up our alley here in this house. Two of my four children are dyslexic so any time we can get something on audio we do. Also, I have found that classical music is a great way to get my kids to calm down and concentrate on their studies. Well, Mastro Classics combined two of my favorite things, classical music and audio books.

As soon as we got it, Ann, my youngest ran off with it. I had to go track it down to do the review. She’d already listened to it several times.

She spent quite a bit of time sewing or drawing and listening to this CD. She told me that I had to put her opinion in my review so here it is, straight from Ann.

I really liked The Tortoise and the Hair. I’ve heard the story before and it’s okay, but listening to it with the music made me able to imagine what is going on better. I give it an A+.

So there you go. You can’t get a better endorsement than that!

I believe some more of these CD’s will be showing up at our home…

You can go here to learn more about Mastro Classics and see what other stories they have on CD and find out their pricing structure (very reasonable!).

As always you can click on the icon below to see what other Crew Members had to say about Mastro Classics.

Happy Homeschooling!

Mathletics

2009-12-17T20:41:00.000-06:00

I received a 45 day subscription to Mathletics to try out. I am always thrilled to try out anything math related especially things like Mathletics that are supplemental to our current curriculum that does not require ME!

I tried it out my youngest Ann who is in 5th grade. She was sold right from the start. When you sign up you get a parent account along with a student account which is handy. It helps you to know how your student is doing. When the student signs up they start by creating an avatar that hey can costomize any way they like.

As the student works his way through various math topics they get points for mastery. They can spend these points on things like extras to use to update the avatar.

Mathletics is an online subscription math program. The cost is $59 a year for one child. One of the things that makes Mathletics different from other online math programs is the competition factor. The students are not only learning online and playing fun math games, but they are also able to rank themselves with others on the Mathletics site. Homeschooling sometimes makes it hard for the student who thrives on competition, so something like Mathletics fills that need.

Mathletics was a real win here in this house.

You can go here to find out more about Mathletics and as always, you can click on the icon below to see what others had to say about Mathletics.

Happy Homeschooling!

Tektoma

2009-12-04T13:55:00.000-06:00

Tektoma is a computer game making website. Getting a subscription to Tektomaallows you to set your student, 7-17 free on the site to make his own game. There are hours of tutorials to help him figure this brave new world out.

For this review, I recruited a 7th grade boy. I recruited this boy, Micah, because he knows a thing or two about computers, programming, and gaming. I however know a big fat 0 about such things. Micah is a homeschooled student of my sister in law and this was their report.

My Sister in Law reported that Micah was a little slow getting into the gist of how this all worked and commented that to really get off the ground with it, you have to devote about 3 or 4 hours in one sitting to get going. After that you can just jump on and work with your game as much or as little as you have time for.

My SIL said that this is a nice activity for between subjects or for during a school break when you don’t want your student’s brain to turn to mush but you’re not actively doing school. One thing my SIL did not appreciate is that during the process of making the game, between steps, there were always offers and encouragement for you to sign up for extras for extra cost. She felt that if you were paying for a subscription to a site, she would not appreciate her students always being encouraged to upgrade.

Here is Micah’s review, in his own words.

Tektoma is fun after you find out the correct way to install it. First you have to unzip the resource pack which takes a while. Then the person speaking takes hours to make a game and not many people have that time. You then also have to switch from screen to screen to make your game while the instructor talks. The yoyo games thing gamemaker uses keeps nagging you to upgrade to the pro version which costs about $20. But getting to make the game is worth these challenges and the instructor is an excellent guide.

This gamemaker is very addictive. Until you complete your game you will keep logging on and trying to finish. The graphics are usually pretty good except for the select few. The instructor almost always tries to explain what each button does so that it's easier to make your own game. I would give this system an eight out of ten. This was a fantastic system and I would say all kids in 7th and up would enjoy this program. This program would be overwhelming for most kids under 7th grade.

Pricing is as follows:
$14.95 per month or
$140 per year

You can go here to find out more about Tektoma, or sigh up for their 14 day free trial, and you can click on the icon below to see what others had to say about it.

Happy Homeschooling!

Exploracise’s GyMathtics

2009-11-30T19:35:00.000-06:00

GyMathtics is a 30 minute exerscize video that combines exercise and math. Yippee! The format of the video is like this…

Part 1 – Shape stretches warm up. This is exactly as it sounds. While you’re warming up for the exercises to follow, you’re doing movements that make you think of various shapes.

Part 2 – Counting Calisthenics. This was the favorite here. It’s basically counting, including skip counting, put to movements. This is great way to exercise and learn skip counting!

Part 3 – Pattern Power – basically this showed various patterns on the side of the screen combined with various exercises

Part 4 – Well-Being Wind Down. This is exactly as it sounds. This is the wind down portion of the video which incorporates stretches with healthy lifestyle instructions.

Personally, I could have down without the lifestyle instructions, but all in all I think it’s a worthwhile children’s exercise video. I can imagine it would be a wonderful thing to pull out in the dead middle of winter when everyone needs to burn off some energy. It’s a bit cheesy, but I do like that it combines movement and math. Whenever I can sneak in math I think it’s a good idea to do so!

You can go here to find out more about GyMathtics and you can click on the icon below to see what others had to say about it.

Happy Homeschooling!

Professor in a Box: Financial Accounting

2009-11-30T17:45:00.000-06:00

I was sent Financial Accounting by Professor in a Box to review for you. Let me just start by saying…whoa!

This is not your average high school accounting course. This is much more like a college level course. In fact the guy teaching it sounds just like a prof! I can see him standing in front of a class in some college somewhere.

I very much like the way this course is set up. It is all there in the box (thus the name!). It is simple in its set up and format, but that’s where the simplicity ends. This is a thorough course. The creator of Financial Accounting claims that you can take the Accounting CLEP test after completing this course and pass for college credit. That’s quite a claim. He even gives you 2 different lesson plans depending on if your plan is to use this for college credit or to take the CLEP test.

This course is not full of fluff and nonsense. There are few bells and whistles; it gets right down to business. It expects the high schooler to be mature enough to follow the simple instructions and the format of this program and do the work.
Personally that pleases me. I get worn out by curriculum that wants to hold the hand of the teenager or expect me to do it. We’re raising young men and women, let’s expect more.

The following is a little information from the Professor in a Box website to show you how, exactly to use this course. I like how you can adjust this class to fit into your needs. This is usually tricky to accomplish in a CDRom style curriculum.

The course is comprised 12 chapters which are covered in 28 lessons (including exams). Students can work through the course in the following formats:

• A traditional college semester format (September through December or January
through May) working two lessons per week for 14 weeks.
• An entire academic year format (September through May) working one lesson
per week for 28 weeks.
• A summer school format (June through July) working three lesson per
week for 9 weeks.

Prerequisites

None. Any high school level student with basic math skills (algebra) can handle this course.

Course Materials

The course has 12 Chapters each divided into 2 or 3 parts.

Basic materials for each chapter:
• Flash lectures – 2 or 3 parts, each part 15 to 40 slides
• Lecture slides to print
• Key Terms and Concepts (1 – 3 pages)
• Chapter Problems (4 – 15 problems per chapter).
• Note: some of the Chapter Problems are worked in the Flash lectures as demonstration problems while some are assigned as homework problems to be completed by the student.
• Solutions to Chapter Problems

You can go here to see a sample chapter and check out the price. And as always you can click on the icon below to see what others had to say about Professor in a Box: Financial Accounting.

Happy Homeschooling!

TOS Schoolhouse Store SALE!

2009-11-28T08:52:00.000-06:00

There is a lot of money-saving activity in the Schoolhouse Store this weekend! You can receive up to $1300 if FREE gifts during the TOS Black Friday Sale.

Plus, the one-year, print () subscriptions will be available for $7.95 during the sale which runs through Sunday. All those subscribing before December 7 will receive the Winter Issue. (Subscriptions received after that will begin with the Spring Issue.) As a bonus, you can select 10 gifts of your choice—there are 19 gifts from which to choose. There are only 1500 of these gift packs available.

This is a 68% savings! The $7.95 price is gone on December 31 at midnight. On January 1, 2010, the price goes back up to $25!

The 19 gifts can be viewed here: (Each subscriber picks 10 of the 19.)
http://www.thehomeschoolmagazine.com/TOSSummer19Gifts/libanded/index.html

Remember, the more you spend in the Schoolhouse Store through Sunday, the more free gifts you receive. One of the gifts is a FREE one-year membership to and a free will from Homeschool Legal Advantage. Plus, there are so many other FREE homeschooling resources. Check it out at the following link:
http://www.thehomeschoolmagazine.com/2009BlackFridaySale/BF_Level1.htm

It’s so easy to earn the FREE gifts! Select a few items from the literature sale in the Schoolhouse Store or purchase the new Download N Go lapbooking and unit studies series from Amanda Bennett and TOS.

Life on the Farm

2009-11-24T21:23:00.000-06:00

Last weekend we went hunting/camping. I brought along a board game for us girls to play while the men were out being Hunter/Gatherers.

I had plans to take some wonderful snapshots of all of us sitting around the picnic table in the wonderful out of doors with the beautiful Fall colors as a backdrop to all of our fun. Um, well, you’ll have to use your imagination and my wonderful descriptive sentences because we were having so much fun playing I never did take those photos!

Instead of reinventing the wheel, I’m just going to direct you here, to the We R Fun site. They explain the way the game is played very well and the idea behind it.

I must say that I think it’s a great game. The 10 year old did just as well as the adult (um, that would be me), I like a game that can even the playing field like that. It makes it more fun for everyone. It’s a game with a purpose, you’re learning while you’re having fun, but don’t tell the kids that!

A few of the things I noticed about this game were…

1. The box itself is sturdy, hard cardboard.
2. The board is also attractive (not too terribly busy) and sturdy.
3. The instructions are easy to follow and not confusing. The kids had it pretty much figured out before I got there to join them.
4. I like how the game is about running your own business (farm) and not necessarily about getting the other guy out of the game.

Overall, I am quite pleased with this game. There are some serious perks to being on the TOS Crew, and receiving things like this to review is one of them!

You can go here to see Life on the Farm and look at We R Fun’s other games (there’s a preschool version) or you can go here, to K-Mart’s website where you can get the game for $19.99!

This would make an EXCELANT Christmas gift!

You can click on the icon below to see what others had to say about We R Fun’s Life on the Farm game.

Happy Homeschooling!

AVKO

2009-11-20T17:09:00.000-06:00

As Part of the TOS Crew I received a 1 year membership to the AVKO Website. AVKO (which stands for audio, visual, kinesthetic, oral) might be familiar to some of you as the creator of the Sequential Spelling curriculum. If you already use Sequential Spelling, you will find this site quite helpful as there are many supplemental items that go along with SS. However, even if you don’t use SS, if you have a child who struggles with reading or spelling or who you suspect might have a learning disability, this site will be helpful to you as well. You can to here to read more about the AVKO philosophy.

The benefits to becoming a member of this site, which is only $25 for a year, are as follows…

• 25% discount on all printed materials, such as, Sequential Spelling Books
• Hundreds of dollars worth of free e-books
• Access to their member only section
• An AVKO newsletter with freebies, discounts, resources, and promotions
• Access to founder Don McCabe's most popular workshop recordings in MP3 format.
• Supplemental Materials including word games, worksheets, activities, and more
• Access to placement tests

A few of the E books you have access too after becoming a member of the AVKO site are…

*The Reading Teacher's List of Over 5,500 Basic Spelling Words
*The Patterns of English Spelling Volumes 1-10
*To Teach a Dyslexic
*The Teaching of Reading & Spelling: A Continuum from Kindergarten through College
*The Teaching of Reading & Spelling: Starting from Square One

There is so much on the member’s area of this site I feel like I only scratched the surface of what’s there. One of the scariest things about having a child receive a diagnosis of learning disabled is not knowing what that really means or what you should do about it. I believe the AVKO site will help those people to make a plan and gain some wisdom to be able to move on from fear to success.

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

Happy Homeschooling!

American Heritage Education Foundation

2009-11-12T12:51:00.000-06:00

Yesterday in honor of Veterans Day, I had this quote up on my personal blog…

We sleep safely in our beds because rough men stand ready in the night to visit violence on those who would harm us. - George Orwell

Over the past 200years, men and women have given their lives for my freedom. It is a trite comment these days to say that, but think about it. Men fought in the Revolutionary War generations ago so that I have the right to go to the polls and decide who I want to represent me in my government. Men DIED so I could be free.

I don’t take that lightly. I and my family sleep safely in my bed, every night because there are men and women who’ve fought and died so I have that privilege.

I don’t mind telling you that it absolutely breaks my heart to see what is happening to this country that I love. We’ve somehow created a generation or two that are all about what can you do for me. What I deserve. They just want to do their own thing and let the government handle the rest. It makes me so sad. The forefathers would be heartbroken. Would those who fought and died for the freedoms I enjoy, regret it if they could see where we are today?

You may be wondering what this has to do with curriculum and homeschooling. Well, there is a foundation that feels the same way I do; The American Heritage Education Foundation. It is their theory that one of the reasons for the decline in our country is the fact that children are not being taught their history. They don’t know all that was sacrificed for their freedoms. This cannot stand!

They’ve created a curriculum that you can get for FREE from their site. It is a download that has units available from K – 12 and did I mention it’s FREE?

The following is a quote from the American Heritage Education Foundation’s website under their philosophy.

AHEF believes that the concepts and themes of our American heritage must be objectively studied and continually improved for today's students and citizens to understand, appreciate, and perpetuate the ongoing miracle of our unique republic of the people, by the people, and for the people.

I couldn’t agree more. I think this curriculum would make a wonderful stand alone curriculum, but would also dovetail nicely into almost any existing American History study.

You can read more about AHEF here, and as always, you can click on the icon below to see what others had to say about it.

Happy Homeschooling!

Bright Idea's Press

2009-11-06T11:06:00.000-06:00

Bright Idea's Press sent those of us on the TOS Crew two items to review; A Young Scholar's Guide to Composers and All American History Volume 1.

A Young Scholar's Guide to Composers

This is a fantastic curriculum. It is genius in it's simplicity, and yet it's so FULL. There is just so much in this little book and yet it's not expensive nor does it have to much for the student to do. You can get a great understanding of Composers by just reading the small bio on the composer, listening to some of his work and then answering the provided questions. Or you can take it much deeper. There are composer info cards the students can fill out and keep for reference. There are coloring pages provided for the student to color as he listens, there are timelines and mapping exercises and games and on and on. I was surprised to peruse this seemingly ordinary workbook and see so very much provided!

The music itself is not included but in the back of the book there is a website for every composer listed where you can find examples of their music and on occasion a video of an orchestra playing the pieces.

One of the things I appreciate most about this curriculum is the Christian perspective. The character of the composer is touched on and some things about a composer that might be inappropriate are left out or discussed from a Christian perspective.

This is a gem, and is highly recommended!

All American History

All American History is a 2 volume, three part American History Curriculum spanning two years.

I was sent Volume 1 which takes us from the Explorers to the Jacksonian. This covers one year and is in three parts. The Text, the Student Activity Book and the Teacher's Guide.

I'm all for saving money, but you really can't properly do this curriculum without all three. The text is great, but without the two other parts, it's just a text book. The student activity guide is what brings it to life for the student. It is what cements what he has learned. It contains questions about what they read in the text and For Further Study projects for each of the thirty-two lessons.

The Teacher Guide contains MUCH information to help you student complete the For Further Study projects. It was fascinating to read some of the information that was contained in there! It also contains Activity Ideas, Dates needed for the timeline, information for the map work, review games, (and my favorite resource!) a book list for primary, middle and secondary grade levels, Answers for the For Further Study Projects, additional suggestions for Younger Student Adaptations, and suggestions for family activities.

This is a FULL history curriculum.

My ideas on what make up a good history curriculum have changed as my kids have gotten older. We used to use a literature based curriculum that was very book heavy. I felt like I was rushing my kids through wonderful books to keep up and I felt like the spine was missing.

I like All American History because it is all spine, but it is done in a way that still feels like the kids are being told a story instead of reading a dry text book. I like that I can add activity and books that fit my students and their age and reading level and let them read them at there pace, not the pace the curriculum suggests.

We were not able to use these wonderful resources for more than a few weeks because we are full up this school year. However, these two resources will be put back on the shelf for next year. They will be used in full as our main curriculum starting in the Fall, we liked them that much.

You can go to Bright Idea's Press to see the process for these items and see what other products they offer and as always, you can click on the icon below to see what others had to say about various Bright Ideas Press offerings.

Happy Homeschooling!

ACT Discover

2009-11-06T10:37:00.000-06:00

Most of you have heard of the ACT. It's that scary test you have to take toward the end of high school that seems to hold the key to your future success in college.

I've always feared the ACT for my children. We have spent the first 12 years learning things as works best for each individual child. Doing things differently, as best suits each child. But before they can go on to college they must pass through this scary test. Well it turns out the ACT people have some really amazing tools to make this transition much less daunting.

I was sent several items by the ACT people that I'll be reviewing over the coming months, but the first is the ACT Discover.

DISCOVER is a premier Internet-based career guidance system that helps parents help their children learn more about themselves, explore career options, and plan for the future.

It starts by taking your high school student through a rigorous online questionnaire that, when finished will show the student his academic bents, and based on that, career fields that would best suite those bents. But it does not stop there. My older son has taken these types of assessments, and really once he had the 'you're best for ________ type of work.' he was left there. The ACT Discover takes it further. From there the ACT Discover lets you check over the various career fields it suggests in some depth. With this information in mind, the student can then see what a good course of study would be for him to make in into the suggested careers.

Personally, I think the extra steps are what make the ACT Discover useful. As the parents of two teenage boys, I've noticed that it is sometimes hard for them to see how to get from where they are now, to what they want in the future. The path from here to there is fuzzy. And we all know that a directionless teenager is a recipe for disaster.

Both of my boys know where they are going and what is necessary to get there. They both have very specific career plans and the ACT Discover just reiterated to them they were on the right path and then gave them some further ideas on how they might accomplish their goals.

I think this is a great program and I recommend it.

Price: $19.95 for a three-month license, $24.95 for a six-month license.

You can go here to find out more about the ACT Discover program and as always, you can click on the icon below to see what other members of the TOS Crew had to say.

Happy Homeschooling!

ABC Teach

2009-11-06T09:58:00.000-06:00

ABC Teach is a website for educators. If you've ever done a Google Search for worksheets or printables you've probably already been there. ABC Teach has around 5000 free printables available. But the member site is amazing!

I was thrilled to be offered a free 1 month membership as a member of the TOS Crew. I had a membership to ABC Teach years ago when I was teaching my littles to read. It was worth every penny. We did a letter of the week type thing and there was so much available on ABC Teach to use to enhance that.

I let my membership expire once my kids learned to read because we're not really worksheet style people, and ABC Teach seemed geared toward the younger crowd. I was happy to find out that there was much available for my older kids this time around. I was especially interested in all the book report forms and writing tools.

I am trying to teach a dyslexic to better write essays this year and there are many resources available to help me help him organize his papers before he begins writing.

I feel like I only scratched the surface of what's available on ABC Teach so I decided to renew my membership for a full year. Here is the list of links just under Language Arts...

Alphabetical Order Proverbs and Sayings
Book Reports Reading
Brainstorming Activities Rebus
Dolch Skills
Glyphs Spelling
Literacy Centers Word Families
Morning Language Arts Word Slides
Nursery Rhymes Word Wheels--Picture Shapes
Phonics Writing

And under brainstorming activities there were another 17 options to click on. You can see how they have over 35,000 printables and worksheets (with more being added weekly)!

There is also a new component to ABC Teach that was not available when I had my membership the first time and that's the ABC Tools where you can create your own worksheets: handwriting pages, word searches, crossword puzzles and the like.

ABC Teach is a wonderful resource in my opinion for those who are worksheet/workbook types and even those who are not. I am not usually a workbookie type, but I look forward to all I'll be able to use on ABC Teach over the next year.

The $40 a year cost for a membership is well worth it. You can click on the icon below to see what others had to say about ABC Teach.

Happy Homeschooling!

My Access

2009-10-31T13:37:00.000-06:00

There are many ways to learn about writing. There is much curriculum available and many programs to choose from. It is my opinion however, that the best way to learn to write is simply to write. That is one of the reasons I liked the My Access program. The point of the My Access Program is to write.
Here’s how it works.

You pay your $99 and you get one parent account and three or six student accounts. The parent begins by setting up the student accounts and inputting the grade level of the student. From there you can create your own topics for writing assignments or have your student choose a readymade topic. I created my own because my children are taking a writing class at our co op this year and they had specific topics they had to write about. When my children choose their own topics they don’t read a lesson, they just write into the provided space and then click on My Editor when done. Think of the My Editor button as you would the spell/grammar check in Word, except (and this is key) it not only gives you suggestions as to how to correct the problem, it tells you WHY it needs to be corrected. What grammar/spelling/usage rule you are breaking, and how to fix it.

I must admit we have not spent a great deal of time on the My Tutor portion of the My Access because my kids have been getting all their teaching at the co op class. However, coming up, they have some things to do outside of the co op English Class, and I am planning on having them use the Tutor portion of this program to help them with that project.

In all honesty, I believe this program is VERY MUCH worth the money. $99 for up to 6 accounts? That’s a deal!

There is one caveat however. As with most things in life, it’s never as simple as it seems. This program will not take away parental involvement. For instance; I have two prolific writers in my house. They write because they love to do it and they want to do it to the best of their abilities. My Access was a real treat for them. I even forgot to ask my Eve to write her essay for co op using My Access and she did it anyway because she really enjoyed it the last time. She thrives on the non-judgmental critique. You don’t tend to get as defensive when critiqued by the computer. She wants to do better and she sees this program as a way to help her write the best possible paper.

On the other side of the coin is my Bob. Bob is dyslexic and hates writing. He would write on the My Access website and then I’d come sit down next to him and we’d go over the corrections. He was simply not able to process all the program was telling him without someone there to walk through it with him. When I took the time to sit next to him and edit with him, he got much more out of it. The defensiveness was also gone there because I was helping him solve the problem, not the one pointing it out. So, while My Access was definitely a help for him as well, it was not necessarily a time saver.

The My Access site has MUCH information on its website. If you are interested in this program, I’d recommend taking some time and looking over the site. There are many video demos that can really give you a good understanding of what the My Access program is all about.

Happy Homeschooling!

Virginia Soaps and Scents

2009-10-31T12:07:00.000-06:00

Being on the TOS Crew has many perks, mostly I get to try curriculum that I might not otherwise think to try. But every now and then, we get to try something non curriculum. Like Virginia Soaps and Scents! VSS sent us some homemade soaps, three to be exact, in Coconut Lemongrass, Fresh Orange, and Oatmeal, Milk and Honey scents. I loved them all, but the Fresh Orange was my favorite. I don't usually use soap, I like liquid soap better. I don't like the feel that is left on my skin from regular soap. I was pleasantly surprised that these soaps did not leave that sort of dry sticky feel. I thought I'd use them just enough to do the review then go back to my usually liquid soap, but I liked them so much I used them all up! I didn't even share with my girls.

We were also sent a Shampoo Bar. I had never heard of a shampoo bar before. I tried it for a week, but I just couldn't get it to work with my hair. I have heard of many of the others who like it alot. Honestly I think this depends on your hair type. I have thin, baby fine hair. It did not respond well to the shampoo bar. I left it kind of oily and heavy feeling. My hair is very temperamental and I only use one type of shampoo/conditioner and any time I try something new, I tend to end up with oily, lifeless hair.

The price on the Shampoo bar is $5.50 for a bar weighing 5.5 ounces or $10.00 for 2 bars. Honestly I wish this had worked on my hair, because it s so convenient and easy to travel with. It would have been GREAT for camping! I have stuck the rest of the bar in the RV to let the boys use.

The last thing we were sent was a laundry soap kit. I must admit here that I have not yet made the soap. I have been intrigued with the idea of making my own laundry soap for a while now. We have 6 people in this family and 5 of them are adult size. I do A LOT of laundry. My problem with this is that we live in a small house with a small kitchen and a small laundry area. The thought of making the big vat of laundry soap Duggar style, was just too overwhelming to me.

I like the idea of this kit because all the gathering work is done for me and it makes a manageable batch for me to work with in my kitchen and laundry area. Now for honesty...I've not done it yet. We've been passing around a cold here, (not the flu PTL!) and I've just not gotten to it. However, Kristen, on the Crew did it and she videoed it! Just watching her do it makes me feel like this is something I could do!

So next week, making the laundry soap is top of my list!

I know it seems a little odd to be reviewing soaps on a Homeschool Blog, but the family from VSS is a homeschooling family. Their account of how they came to be soap makers is heartwarming and I am all for supporting another homeschooling families business venture whenever I can.

You can go here to learn more about Virginia Soaps and Scents, read more about their family and find our their prices, and as always you can click on the icon below to see what others on The Crew had to say.

Happy Homeschooling!

Amazing Bible Timeline

2009-10-29T11:53:00.000-06:00

I was sent the Amazing Bible Timeline to review. It came in this really cool long, triangular box. That really has nothing to do with the review other than it was a treat to get a log triangular box in the mail and the kids had hours of fun turning the box into many things before it finally went out with the trash.

Now to the timeline…

This is a really cool timeline. I do like the way it’s laid out. Before I received it in the mail, I had never seen one laid out in this circular way before. It really does make it easy to understand and ‘see’ history. I am a big fan of timelines, though we don’t use them as much as we should I’m sure, and we don’t keep one or make one as we go because well, eeewww, arts and crafts.

This is a big timeline…here is a photo from their website that shows the timeline laid out on a table. You can really get how big this is. It is made on heavy card stock paper. It’s not laminated but it’s sturdy.

There are a few negatives or things some might perceive negatively. I think it’s important to remember that while this is a Bible timeline, it is not, in fact, the inerrant word of God. It is not inspired. It’s man’s attempt to put Gods word into chronological perspective. There are also some references on the timeline that are not necessarily biblical, or more accurately, more historical than Biblical. There are also some Book of Mormon references on the timeline.

Honestly, this does not deter from the usefulness of the timeline for me. It is a timeline after all, not a bible study. It is a great timeline, one my family will use. However, I am careful to explain to my kids that it is not the Bible. It is a tool to perhaps help us to understand history from a more Biblical perspective, but it’s not a Bible Study. There is a difference.

I think this Timeline will find a place amongst my curriculum tools…now if I could just find a good place to display it where everyone can see it…

You can go here to check out the prices (included in the price for the timeline is a few free downloads, YIPPEE!) and as always, you can click on the icon below to see what others had to say about the Amazing Bible Timeline.

Happy Homeschooling!

Sarah’s Wish

2009-10-19T15:59:00.000-05:00

When I was sent this book by Jim Baumgardner I was thrilled. It had several things going for it, in my opinion. First of all, Jim wrote this book for his grandchildren. He has 9 who are all homeschooled. I Love that. I have enjoyed getting to know Mr. Baumgardner through his emails. He has a wonderful sense of humor and an obvious love of history, and a nose for the type of quality literature he would want his own grandchildren to read. It makes me feel very safe letting my kids read books a man wrote with his own grandchildren in mind. Here is an excerpt of the email he sent out to those of us reviewing this book on the Crew.

The Sarah Books are authored by me for my grandchildren. I say that so that you will know these books do not have any sex, profanity, or anything that would be offensive to young readers. I would never subject my grandchildren to such writing.

The books have been referred to as Christian fiction. I prefer to describe them as Young Adult fiction written by a Christian author. Sarah’s faith is important to her and she lives by it, but the books do not try to convert the reader to anything. The stories do teach Christian principals of living a good life and treating others as you would have them treat you. I do not ignore the evil in the world and Sarah must confront it at times just as we all do.

Not all learning has to be from textbooks. Kids like to see history set in story form, and the Sarah books fulfill that quest for realism. The reader will learn pre-civil war history while enjoying a good read.

That is exactly what we found Sarah’s Wish to be; a delightful read, which was historically accurate, and good clean and fun.

My girls have asked for the rest of the books. I wish I could just go out and order them. I HATE saying no to my kids when they’re asking for books. Sadly money is tight right now so we’re not able to buy any extra’s. I have added these to the Christmas list though. We have a few relatives who send money down for Christmas gifts and I think that money will be spent on Sarah’s books!

There are a few things to me, that take these books over the top as far as appeal. One is the audio component. I have two dyslexic children so anytime I can get something on audio I do. It is such a good practice to have my dyslexic child follow along in the book while listening to the audio. When you buy the book, you get some numbers to type into some little boxes on a website (what a technical explanation!) and you can download the audio! I had my son use his magic and convert them to the right type of file and upload the book onto my daughter’s iPod. It is an ancient iPod (a 1st gen) and it all fit and worked like a charm.

Also, Mr. Baumgardner has a newsletter he sends out with fun facts, historical information pertaining to the book a question of the month and several other things pertaining to the stories.

Another little bonus for me was that Mr. Baumgardner is from Wichita, KS, my old stomping grounds and he volunteers at the Old Cowtown Museum which I visited as a child. I remember spending a day there in 1800’s garb (including my great grandmothers actual bonnet! Which I still have!) in the one room schoolhouse. I have very fond memories of Cowtown and can’t wait to take my kids there next time I’m in town visiting relatives. I may stop and introduce myself to Mr. Baumgardner!

This book, about the underground railroad in 1858 Kansas. It’s about a little girl, a great tragedy, and a big wish. This book gets an A+ from this Homeschooling mama!

You can go here to read more about Mr. Baumgardner and the Sarah books (including excerpts). And as always you can click on the icon below to see what others had to say about Sarah’s Wish.

Happy Homeschooling!

FREE Unit Study/Lapbook!

2009-10-17T09:20:00.001-05:00

FREE STUFF FROM TOS MAGAZINE!!! Who does not *heart* free stuff!!! (here is the email I received and I was given permission to pass it on to you!

Here at The Old Schoolhouse Magazine®, we just love sharing with our friends. So when we have something new that we can give to you FREE to share with your friends, we just have to get it to you.

We want you to enjoy a completely free autumn unit study and lap book from Amanda Bennett and The Old Schoolhouse®. It is over 80 pages of activities and resources.

This free autumn unit study can be downloaded through our store at:

http://www.theoldschoolhousestore.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=145&products_id=12934

We also have an encouragement article, along with a special coupon code. It can be found at the following URL:
http://www.thehomeschoolmagazine.com/Homeschooling/Are-You-Trained.htm

Enjoy this free learning resource and thank you!

Happy Homeschooling!

Guardian Angel Publishing

2009-10-10T14:29:00.000-05:00

Guardian Angel Publishing sent me 4 E books to review. I am really trying to get used to the E-book. I want to like the E-book, I really do. I know it has its place, but I think I’ll always be partial to the print book. If you can swing it, buy the book with pages, if not go for the E version.

The books I was sent to review are…

Hamster Holidays: Noun and Adjective Adventures of The Pet Grammar Parade Series is a book that helps children learn about nouns and adjectives. The nouns are in blue and the adjectives in the story are in red. At the back of the book there are some ideas on how to teach them and some games and puzzles to play.

No Bones About It: The Sum of Our Parts Series was a very timely book for us to receive. My oldest son is taking an anatomy class at the community college and has to memorize the bones in the skeleton. I gave him this e book to help him and he was really glad to have it! When things rhyme, it makes it oh, so much easier to remember!

Earthquake is a lovely book with some really cool illustrations, factoids and charts and graphs. It would make a nice complement to an earthquake study. We down her in Texas don’t have many earthquakes so we don’t know a lot about them in this house. We found this book to be informative.

Andy and Spirit Go to the Fair This is a sweet 24 page story about a boy in a wheel chair and a horse named Spirit. The illustrations in this book are very nice and I liked the story.

One thing that made viewing the E book a little easier is to view the pages side by side. I did this by clicking on view, then page display and then two-up. Several of the books have illustrated pages on one side and the writing on the other side, so if you can view them side by side it is more enjoyable.

You can go to the Guardian Angel Publishing site to see what other books they have to offer. They have quite a variety of books, E, and print for you to choose from, and as always, you can click on the icon below to see what other Crew Members had to say.

Happy Homeschooling!

Five Minutes to Better Reading Skills from Bonnie Terry Learning

2009-10-10T13:54:00.000-05:00

I have two dyslexic children. Both have been through the Scottish Rite Dyslexia Lab School. This is a two year program that uses a very phonetic based Orton-Gillingham style approach to dyslexia remediation. Unfortunately, not everyone lives in Texas to be able to take their child to Scottish Rite, and not all children with reading difficulties are dyslexic.

I was sent 5 minutes to Better Reading by Bonnie Terry Learning to review. This program is very similar to one of the things my children did at Scottish Rite called Rate. It is a very specific set of words that the children practice until they reach a certain level of fluency.

It’s not the most interesting thing in the world, but I can tell you, it works. Bonnie Terry has done a very good job if taking this idea and simplifying and streamlining it for the parent to be able to do at home. She has very specific instructions, easily laid out so that you can use this program, (in just 5 minutes a day!) to help your struggling reader gain fluency.

You can go here to read more about this specific program, and here to the Bonnie Terry site to see her various other programs for struggling learners.

As always, you can click on the icon below to see what other mothers had to say about Bonnie Terry Learning products.

Happy Homeschooling!

Nature Friends Magazine

2009-10-07T16:30:00.000-05:00

I heard about Nature Friends Magazine about a year ago on a homeschooling website I frequent. At the time I was looking for a good gift idea for my daughter Eve who was turning 11. Her Grandma had asked for something she could get her that would be easy to ship. Well what’s easier than a Magazine subscription?

I was a little hesitant because let’s face it, science type magazines for kids are tricky. It seems either they are secular and have to be closely monitored, lest my children are taught we crawled out of the ocean, or they are Christian in nature and low budget with disappointing content. I wish it were not so, but in our experience it seems you get either/or.

I was pleasantly surprised. Eve liked these magazines so much that she has saved each and every one. The rest of the family has to practically check them out to get to see them. I have been meaning all year to do a post about them because we have enjoyed them so much, but did not get around to it.

Well, much to our sadness, her subscription expired in July and her grandma did not renew it. Sadly, money’s a little tight right now, so we didn’t either.

I was pleasantly surprised to find Nature Friends among the TOS Crew vendors this year! YIPPEE! The timing was perfect. We were able to get Aug and September’s magazine! And they’ve added a study guide to it!

I am so pleased with the study guide. I think, with the use of the study guide, you could use this mag as the basis for your science curriculum for the elementary years. At minimum it would be an excellent supplement to a textbook curriculum, if you’re a textbookie type.

You can go here to see some samples of the magazine online, or you can order a sample copy for $5.

I was surprised at the quality of the paper; it’s quite thick and easy for the little hands to turn the pages. All of the magazines we’ve gotten over the last year are still perfectly in tact with no rips or tears. Of course, like I mentioned, my daughter treats them with great reverence.

The photography in this publication is also noteworthy. They have a tab on their site just for the nature photography. The photos are amazing! I just recently found this and my kids have spent hours looking up various birds to see what the look like.

The prices for Nature Friends Magazine are as follows:

1 year subscription - $36.00
2 year subscription - $68.00
The Study guides are added on for $2 an issue.

Personally, I like what the study guides had to offer. If you’re going to use this as the basis for your science curriculum I think it a worthy investment, but if money is tight, the magazine is magnificent even without the study guide.

I give this magazine an A+! I am sad we’re going to miss a few issues, but I suspect this magazine will reappear at this house shortly after Christmas.

You can click on the icon below to see what others had to say about Nature Friends Magazine.

Happy Homeschooling!

College Prep Genius (2)

2009-10-03T15:47:00.000-05:00

Remember College Prep Genius?

Well, we’ve been spending a bit more time with it the last little bit and let me just say…whoa! We’ve barely scratched the surface! There is SO MUCH in this curriculum. Honestly I wish I’d had it with Will before he took the SAT & ACT. He’s not really interested in taking them again. And really he does not need too for what he is after. He’s already on the college track for what he wants to be (Paramedic/Fireman though he is also considering Nursing School after he becomes a Paramedic).

I can see how very useful this will be when it’s time for Bob to start thinking about the SAT/ACT, which will actually be sooner than I would like to admit!

Here is an excerpt from the book…

College Prep Genius contains hidden secrets and little-known patterns found on the SAT and PSAT/NMSQT/NNSQT tests. By unraveling these concealed codes, students can score higher on these tests and in return receive up to full scholarships/full ride to colleges of their choice.

The book goes on to show you how, by using various acronyms and test taking strategies, you can really improve your score.

Yes, you must know the material. My guess is that a third grader could not take this course and get a great score on the tests, but, for those who are on grade level and ready to take the tests I believe that this course will help immensely.

If you go check out my first review on College Prep Genius, you can see the pricing structure and what others had to say about it.

Happy Homeschooling!

A Journey Through Learning Lapbooks

2009-09-28T08:39:00.000-05:00

I’m pretty sure I have mentioned a time or fifty my non crafty nature. I can sew a little bit and I can crochet. That’s the end of my creativity. Give me a book or let me write and I’m happy. Paper and glue and scissors do not make me happy.

Enter A Journey through Learning and the dreaded lapbook…

I have used some material from A Journey through Learning before. We did a Government Unit Study during the elections that I reviewed here.

It was a well done study and we really enjoyed it so I decided to give the lapbook the old college try. I was sent 5 lapbooks to do...

We choose to start with the Autumn study. I gathered all the material, which consisted of file folders, glue, pencils, markers, a stapler and scissors. All things we already had here at the house.

I printed out the study and extra sheets so both girls could make one and we got started. Turns out, I was not required. How wonderful! I know that sounds terrible but if it is up to me to get these girls to do a lapbook we’re in trouble because, as I previously mentioned…not creative.

Basically, the girls looked over the directions and (my favorite part) the PICTURES in the directions! Then they assembled the file folders the proper way. They then read the first segment and began the activity that went with it. Then they did all the cutting and the drawing and the pasting. They LOVED it. It was really simple. I think my favorite thing about this study is the pictures. Not just drawings (though there are some of those two) but actual photographs of the finished product so the girls knew exactly where to put the things in the folder when they were done making them.

Honestly, if you’re new to lapbooks or of the very word makes you twitchy I HIGHLY recommend trying one of the many lapbooks A Journey through Learning has available.

My daughters are in 5th and 7th and in my opinion, the perfect age for a lapbook like this. For them it was reinforcement of things they already knew and not new learning, but they really enjoyed it. I think if you go too much below 2nd grade, the mom would have to be heavily involved. Which is fine, unless you’re like me and do not enjoy the cutting and the pasting.

I have no doubt that we will quickly make our way through the rest of the lapbooks A Journey through Learning sent me, and then I will have to purchase some more. We did our lapbooks last thing in the day when everything else was already done, and it seemed a good motivator to help keep them on track throughout the day and a nice way to cap off a day of school.

You can go here and check out all A Journey through Learning has to offer and see their prices here. (VERY reasonable pricing!)

And as always, you can click on the icon below to see what others on The TOS Crew had to say.

Happy Homeschooling!

Nutrition 101: Choose Life

2009-09-24T13:28:00.000-05:00

To call Nutrition 101: Choose Life, published by Growing Healthy Homes, a health curriculum seems incomplete. It is more of a science curriculum. This baby is thorough!

The following 6 units are included in this 448 page book:

1) The Brain and Nervous System

2) Digestion and Elimination

3) Respiration and Olfactory

4) Muscular and Skeletal Systems

5) Cardiovascular and Immune Systems

6) Endocrine System and Emotions.

We barely scratched the surface of what this book holds. We did the Muscular and Skeletal System since it seemed appropriate right about now with what’s going on in our house...

To a homeschooler, everything’s a lesson, right?

We read over the lesson and discussed the discussion questions together. Easy. But the pictures and fun facts included make in very engaging.

We then went to the ‘Activities’ section and choose an activity to do. The girls decided to look up the skeleton online and found some really cool X-Ray photos. (be careful here, parents. As you know Google can be your friend but also your enemy!)

We also read several of the scriptures the curriculum pointed us to about bones.

Buy the time my Eve (pictured above) was ready get her cast on, she knew a lot of information about the bones and the skeletal system and was able to tell the Orthopedic Dr some of what she knew. (I think he was duly impressed so score one for homeschoolers!)

All in all, this is a very good curriculum. It could easily be used for an entire family, for a year’s worth of health/science.

Personally, I am still having a hard time with all the E-Books and would LOVE to own this in hardback. If you have it in your budget, I’d get the print version. I think for my family, we’ll probably take it to Kinko’s and get it printed out.

You can go here to find out more about Nutrition 101: Choose Life.

As always, you can click on the TOS Crew icon below and see what other crew members had to say.

Happy Homeschooling!

Study Pod

2009-09-23T19:06:00.000-05:00

I think I should include some sort of rating system with the highest rating being ‘I could barely do the review because my children kept running off with the product’. That was the case with the study pod.

When it came in the mail they were unimpressed at first. It’s just a little unassuming black book shaped plastic thing. Ho-Humm.

But then I showed them what it was and what it did. Okay, in the interest of full disclosure my dyslexic and amazingly spatial son Bob, glanced at the pictures on the box and had it open and a book sitting in it before I could find the clasp. That kid is amazing!

Once the kids realized what it was, it has been completely unavailable for me to use.

So far it has been used in the following ways…

~ Will, the College Student, realized it will hold up his floppy, think, cumbersome Anatomy book while he is studying.

~ Eve learned it will double as an easel for her art canvas

~ Ann learned it will hold up her Daring Book For Girls, so she can look at the pictures and practice Karate moves. (I can’t tell you how much I wish I had my camera with me when I saw her doing that!)

~ I learned it will neatly hold up a single piece of paper with a recipe on it, without it flopping over, while I’m cooking.

~ Bob learned it’s very sturdy and if you try to place several textbooks on it to see how many it will hold and it falls off the table and crashes onto the floor, it will survive no worse for wear.

~ Bob also learned it will hold up the diagram to the lawn mower engine so he can look at the pictures without getting grease on everything.

You can watch this video to see the way it was intended to be used.

You can go here to check it out and see the prices.

And, as always, you can click on the picture below to see what other Crew Members had to say.

Happy Homeschooling!

College Prep Genius

2009-09-11T10:03:00.000-05:00

I was sent College Prep Genius to review. Ahhh, the SAT. The SAT and I are not on the best of terms. Honestly I am frustrated by the SAT. We do not teach our children in the traditional, textbook/workbook way. We just don’t. Over the last 11 or 12 years (I’ve lost count) we’ve developed our own style of learning, it is more of a whole learning, whole literature, interest driven sort of philosophy. We’re not Unschoolers by any stretch, but I encourage my kids to follow their interests as much as possible as opposed to read the chapter, memorize the vocab, take the test, forget it all.

So, that being said, the SAT has always given me a looming sense of doom. That big test at the end of their schooling that says if I as the teacher passed or failed… Pressure much?

Because I’m nuts, and don’t like to do it the way everyone else does, I had Will take the SAT, last year cold. He didn’t study, he didn’t learn all the tricks, he didn’t read all the ‘how to beat the SAT’ how to books. I wanted to see what he knew. Not what test taking strategies he knew.

Turns out? Not such a good idea. He didn’t do as well as I had hoped. He didn’t bomb it, but I know he could have done better. I’m honestly not too worried about it because he’s taking college classes right now at the Community College. He plans to transfer to another CC after he graduates from highschool to go through their Paramedicine program. He’ll graduate from there with an associate’s degree in paramedicine and will have a way to earn good money to be able to go on and get a 4 year degree in the health sciences field. That is what he wants to do and I don’t think the SAT’s are going to make one bit of difference for him.

However, he is only one of my children. I have three others below him and if my experience with Will has taught me anything, it’s taught me that sometimes you have to play the game. Even if you don’t like to play the game.

Enter College Prep Genius. It is a course on playing the SAT game.

Simply put, College Prep Genius shows the tricks of the trade when it comes to the test. How to use logic and various, specific strategies to improve your score.

There are lots of SAT prep classes that run in the $100’s. But College Prep Genius is priced lower than that at $79 for the course and best of all, you can go through it at home at your own pace.

Here's the price breakdown.

Master the SAT Class DVD: $59.95
College Prep Genius textbook: $39.95
Class workbook: $15.95
Total value: $115.85

Introductory Price: (which is 30% off!)

$79

This also has a "100% Money Back Guarantee.

I’ll be working through this with my freshman and my senior in the coming months and I’ll let you know how it goes.

Final review to come…

As always, you can click on the picture below to see what other Crew Members had to say about College Prep Genius.

Happy Homeschooling!

Aleks: Updated

2009-09-02T15:17:00.000-05:00

I was given the opportunity to review Aleks last year. You can see that review here.

There were many things I liked about Aleks, most of which included my children doing math without me. I love it when my children can do math without me.

The people at Aleks asked me to go back and review Aleks again, paying special attention to the things they’ve changed or updated.

One of the things they’ve improved is that now you can give your student a quiz whenever you want. A Pop quiz I believe they were called back in my day. Before you could only have your students take a complete assessment, which took quite a bit of time and was sometimes, really more than I was after. It is nice to pop over the quiz page and choose which specific topics you’d like your student to be quizzed on.

The other thing they’ve updated is the Master account. I really don’t remember the Master Account being a problem before, but I do like they way they’ve updated it. Everything is right there, at your fingertips to help you keep ut with your student’s progress.

The pricing structure for Aleks is as follows… You can buy a monthly subscription for $19.95, a 6-month subscription for $99.95, or a 12-month subscription for $179.95.

You can also click on the little button above and try out Aleks for 1 month for free. You can click on the TOS button below that to see what others had to say about Aleks.

Happy Homeschooling!

Hank the Cowdog

2009-09-02T10:58:00.000-05:00

I was thrilled this year to see that Hank the Cowdog was on the list of vendors. Hank the Cowdog books were some of the first chapter books on tape that we tried when my boys were little. It really turned them onto books on tape. And being that I ended up with two dyslexic children, books on tape have really been a life saver!
I was sent three things from Maverick Books; (The Hank the Cowdog Publisher) the book The Case of the One-Eyed Killer Stud Horse, a game called Tornado, and Tales and Tunes from Hank the Cowdog

Now is where I have to admit to you that I never actually got a chance to do much more than glance at the products before they disappeared into the bowels of the house (aka, the children’s rooms). I was able to hear the CD playing from the girls’ room…and the silly songs being sung over and over and over and over, by my girls. I am not sure this is a good thing because shortly after they got all these silly songs stuck in their heads we all piled in the car for a 15 hour car trip…

The book had been previously read by my children, but it did get read again. In fact, when I asked the kids what they did with it after they read it, they said their cousins had it because they wanted to read it too!

And the game? Well, that was a huge hit. It’s a simple game, much like Trouble or Sorry, but the best thing about it??? Its size! It’s a TRAVEL GAME! I love those. We stuck it in our RV and took it with us on our two week CO trip. My daughters and their cousins had a blast playing this game. And with all the rain they had it CO during that two weeks, we adults were also ever-so happy to have it!

Personally, I love the Hank the Cowdog stories. They are cute, and just silly enough that kids love them. Hank thinks he’s big stuff but he often bumbles around and mixes up his speech in a way that children love.

His language is an issue for some as he does use ‘Ranch Talk’ like stupid, dumb, gosh and the like. My children were able to distinguish what was okay for them to say and what was not and that was never really an issue for us, but it’s something to be aware of.

I highly recommend Hank the Cowdog stuff, the books are great, but, I HIGHLY recommend the audio books. They are so well done and highly dramatized that my boys would sit for hours coloring and drawing and laughing their heads off listing to these books on tape.

You can go here to see the prices and find out more about Hank the Cowdog stuff, and you can click on the photo below to find out what others of the TOS Crew had to thing about Hank.

Happy Homeschooling!

Web Design For Kids…(and Curious Adults)

2009-08-29T12:21:00.001-05:00

Web Design For Kids...(and Curious Adults) is a DVD that teaches how to create a website…and it’s SIMPLE! I must admit that I was a little hesitant to watch this DVD because I don’t speak ‘Computer’. I have a blog on Blogger and it requires me to know virtually nothing about how it all works. I type stuff and hit publish and viola! Done. I don’t need to know how any of it works.

When I first put in the DVD I was sitting alone in my living room. Mr. Richardson started telling me what to type onto Notepad and I had flashbacks to 9th grade Computer class…back when everything was in DOS Mode…remember that? Way back in the dark ages?

Well, after I got some code on the Notepad and then saved it and put it on the web, I was starting to enjoy myself. Then he started teaching me some really cool stuff like this…

Look what I can do!!!!!!

And this...

Look what I can do!!!!!!

And before I knew it, my kids were sitting with me in the living room watching me make my words move all around the computer all just by changing a few letters in the HTML code.

They were duly impressed!

This is a great little DVD and I highly recommend it. Honestly I really wish I’d have pulled it out earlier this summer when I heard one of my kids saying ‘I’m board’. This DVD and the laptop would have kept them busy for hours!

Mr. Richardson does a great job of taking this scary foreign language known as HTML and making it easy for the average Joe like me and my kids to understand.

You can go here to get the prices and order this DVD (and right now it's on SALE! Who does not LOVE a sale???) And you can click on the photo below to see what the other Crew Members had to say.

Happy Homeschooling!

Quarter Mile Math

2009-08-27T11:02:00.000-05:00

I’m pretty sure I have mentioned on my blog my hate/hate relationship with math. Math and I are not friends. I am loathe to admit that it was the topic of math that almost caused me to miss out on this wonderful adventure that is homeschooling. I remember lamenting to my dear husband that there was no way on this earth I was going to be able to teach math to my children. He looked down at the 5 year old playing cars at my feet and assured me that I knew more math than a Kindergartner and that was all that was required at this moment. We’d worry about the future when it got here… what a wise guy! I did know how to teach Kindergarten math. Things got wonky when they started putting letters in with the numbers. But by that time I had been at this homeschooling game long enough to know there were many, many resources available to help me out.

One of those resources is Quarter Mile Math.

Quarter Mile Math is a software program that helps students learn math facts. The thing that makes QMM different than other programs is the fact that it quizzes the students not only on addition, subtraction, multiplication and division, but also all that icky stuff after that (you know, the parts with the letters) you can go here to see a list of all the tops covered, but let me throw a few out there like fractions and decimals and percents and integers and on and on and on…

It covers topics all the way from K through 9th grade.

I also like the way it works. Basically, you’re racing a car or a horse depending on your preference. You are racing the computer the first five times and after that you’re racing your own best time! I really like that the students can see themselves getting better and better and better!

There are many other benefits to this program like the fact that all the records are stored for you and can be printed off if you live in one of those grumpy states that requires all that record keeping.

Also there are tournaments you can do with several members of your family, so this is nice for larger families. We have not yet used this feature, but I know once I get this feature up and running the competitive nature of my children will jump out and they will really enjoy this part.

Also, the prices of QMM are excellent. If you’re curious, I would highly recommend trying it out since it will only cost you less than $3.00 for one month. You can’t beat that!

Here are the prices…

• $2.95 per family per month
• $19.95 per family for one year (save $15.45 over one year)
• $34.95 per family for two years (save $35.85 over two years)

Right now they are running a promo, if you use the Referral Code 7K7Y7, you'll get $5 off any product--Standard or Deluxe.

You can click on the photo below to read what other Crew Members had to say...

Happy Homeschooling!

Summer, where'd you go?

2009-08-18T16:04:00.000-05:00

Okay, summer is ending. It takes courage, I'm told, to admit one's problems. It is the first step to a healthy solution. SO here goes.

I am not ready.

I don't want summer to end.

It's not the mind-numbing heat that makes me heart summer so much as it's lack of, well, Math.

During the school year there is math.

I don't like math.

I'm pretty sure the feeling is mutual and that is why Math has been torturing me all these years.

Now that *gulp* the summer is ending, I will begin posting here again. Posting about some of the homeschool curriculum that I love.

And even, maybe if I am so lucky, a newly discovered math curriculum that does not hate me...

Just to whet your appetite, read this. I've never met Mrs. G, but I think she may be my long lost twin.

Happy Homeschooling!

Demigods Saved the Summer!

2009-07-18T09:37:00.000-05:00

It's summer here in Texas. And I do mean SUMMER. It's too hot to be outside, even at 8am. Also our neighborhood pool is having some technical issues and has not opened. This is very, very sad.

Our neighborhood pool is very, very, important to my families' well being, it turns out. Because the pool is not open, I've had to get a bit creative with how to keep the kids occupied. I must admit here that I never really understood all the whining and complaining mom's do about keeping their kids occupied in the summer. I've never had a problem with my kids whining and saying they're board and wanting to do nothing but watch TV. That is until this summer. Turns out, being at the pool every afternoon, all afternoon, with their friends was what was keeping them occupied. NOW I get it!

So the reason for this post...(you were wondering if there was one, weren't you).

These books. The Olympians Series by Rick Riordan. This series of books has saved my summer! My girls are devouring them! I got them on audio CD for the girls to listen to on our long car trip to Colorado that is coming up, but at this rate, they'll be done already!

They have spent hours in their room, playing, sewing, drawing, all while listening to this book series.

Now, these books may not be for everyone. They're sort of Harry Potter meets Greek Mythology. I personally am not a big Harry Potter fan and we've not read them here, but my girls LOVE Greek Mythology. I remember when we studied it during our Ancient History units, the girls really enjoyed the fanciful stories. I know some people have issues teaching their kids about other 'gods' but here we discussed how these were myths, and as such, not true.

I don't want to get into a debate about the ethics of Harry Potter or Greek Mythology, but I felt the need to give a heads up to those who try to steer away from such things.

I personally am ever-so thankful to Percy and his Demigod friends for salvaging this pool-less summer!

Happy Summerschooling!

(cross posted at Life on the Hilltop)

Mystery Unit Study

2009-06-01T10:17:00.000-05:00

Are you looking for something light and fluffy and fun to do this summer with the kids? During the summer we like to keep it light, we like to watch too much TV and eat too much junk and drink too much soda and get sunburned and go see the early cheep movies where the movie is almost irrelevant and it is really the cold theater we’re after.

But in between all the summer silliness, we also like to do something slightly educational. I try to disguise it so it appears fun. Often they don’t know they are learning. Sadly my kiddoes are getting a little old for this educational trickery but I still have to give it a shot.

I love Five in a Row as I believe I have mentioned a time or twenty and I am often on the FIAR boards. There are a few moms over there who have come up with a great Mystery Unit Study! I LOVE it. I have requested several of the books/movies from the library and we’re going to have a bit of a Mystery few weeks, complete with playing a lot of Clue if we can ever find all the pieces! (I LOVE that game, though it seems somehow wrong to call out to your impressionable children “It was Professor Plum with the lead pipe in the conservatory” with glee in your voice, but I digress).

So head on over to Julie’s Blog and Debbie’s blog for some great Mystery Unit study ideas, and have fun tricking your kids into learning!

I plan to try to do a few more fun type entries this summer. Light, easy, fun family learning is what I have on the agenda for this summer. And the pool. I think I see a water unit study on the horizon…

Happy Summerschooling!

Memoria Press

2009-05-01T13:20:00.000-05:00

I was sent two different items from Memoria Press. One was Famous Men of Rome, and the other is Latina Christiana. I was very excited to receive these items. I must say here also that Memoria Press is a wonderful company to work with. They were extremely nice and helpful and easy to work with. As far as home school curriculum companies go I give this one an A+.

Here is how it works…You read the story about the famous man, then the student spends the week doing the exercises in the Student Guide. The Student Guide is broken down into four sections per ‘Famous Man’. These sections are Facts to Know, Vocabulary, Comprehension Questions, and Activities. You could easily make this last two weeks per ‘Famous Man’.

I love the idea of teaching history through the stories of the men of that time. It is a very engaging way to teach history. My children loved the stories and did not complain to heartily about the ‘workbook’. We are not generally workbook people so this was new for them. I was pleased at their response. I plan to continue this program as our main history text next year. It worked that well for us.

You can go here to find out more about the program and see the prices, and here to see what others had to say about Famous Men of Rome.

Now to Latina Christiana…

Honestly Latin scares me. I don’t speak Latin, in fact, if I’m not mistaken, no one speaks Latin. I have been told by many however, of the great benefits of having your students go through a Latin course. I have always wanted to do it. I would look at a program at the conventions, begin to get twitchy, and put it back and run away.

Initially I felt the same twitchiness when I looked at Latian Christiana, but because I was supposed to review it, I did not put it down and run away. Turns out, after some investigation, teaching Latin with this program is not quite as scary as I initially thought. In fact, here is the first sentence in the book… “Latina Christiana is designed for parents, teachers, and students who have no background in Latin or foreign language.” Hay! That’s ME!

Then I went on to the meaty section of the Teacher’s Manual and I found this quote… “This grammar overview is designed for the teacher who has no background in Latin. It is not necessary to understand it fully. Read carefully and then go on to the teacher guidelines. The content of this section will become clear as you teach the course.” Again, ME!

We did a small portion of this program and so far my favorite part is he pronunciation CD. Very helpful.

This program is designed to be done in one lesson a week doing a little each day.

Again, this program is one that we will continue to use as part of our main curriculum next year. I am very excited to dive fully into this program. Me…doing Latin…who’d a thunk it?

You can go here for more info on this program and for pricing and here to see what others had to say about his program.

Happy Homeschooling!

Tapestry of Grace

2009-04-23T13:53:00.000-05:00

I was very excited to see Lampstand Press’s Tapestry of Grace on the line up this year for review. I had heard many people talking about it, usually great things, and I couldn’t wait to get my hands on it and see for myself.

TOG is a Christian, Classical, Literature based Curriculum that teaches based on a Unit Study approach incorporating multiple grade levels. TOG covers history, church history, literature, geography, fine arts, government, philosophy, and writing & composition. TOG does not include a phonics program, science, math, grammar, spelling, or foreign language. Though its publisher Lampstand Press does recommend various programs that cover those subjects.

TOG has a 4 year rotation approach to history. This means that you will cover all of history in a 4 year time span. However, you will cover it at different levels of depth depending on your grade level.

Those are the facts…now for the opinions.

Personally I was disappointed to receive a digital version. I know that many companies are going that route and I understand the reason for it. I have even learned to embrace the digital versions of some items. But TOG In digital format is just too much in my opinion. This is an amazingly thorough program. If you did just half of what is in this program with your students you’d have extremely well educated children. But to wade through ALL that information on a screen is just more than I could take. I am sure this will change as we become accustomed to this format, but for me and my house? Give me paper.

However, I must add, there is one benefit to a digital version that you do not find in the print format. Once you sign up on their site, and there are MANY benefits of doing this, from the loom to the forums, you’ll have everything you have purchased in digital format saved on the site. That way if your computer crashes and you lose it all, your curriculum will still be saved, safely stored on TOG’s website. That’s handy!

As for the curriculum itself, like I said, it is extremely thorough. I really like the idea of one central theme or period of study being applicable to many grade levels. This makes the mom’s life a little easier.

One caution I would give you is that if you are a box checker, a must-do-it-all personality, run, do not walk away from this curriculum. You will kill yourself and your children’s love of learning if you try to do this curriculum in its entirety. It is just TOO MUCH. But if you are of the mind that you take what works and use it and don’t worry about the rest, you’ll love TOG as there is MUCH to choose from.

You can go to TOG’s website to read more about it and you can go here to try a three week sample!

Happy Homeschooling!

WriteShop Primary Book A

2009-04-17T09:03:00.000-05:00

When I first started homeschooling there were not a lot of options as far as curriculum. Don’t get me wrong, it was better when I started that it was back in the early 80’s when you had only the big curriculum publishers who sold to private schools and you had to jump through hoops to get it. There were more choices when I started but not to the degree there are today.

Take Writeshop for instance. They have some wonderful stuff! I reviewed their Story Starters earlier in the year and more recently I was given the opportunity to review their Primary materials.

I am an eclectic homeschooler. I love the idea of getting a little of this from here and a little of that from there. I prefer to buy a writing curriculum from a publisher, preferably someone aimed at the homeschool market specifically, who publishes mostly stuff on writing or Language arts. It just makes sense. You don’t buy a washing machine from a car manufacturer.

Back to WriteShop. I really like what they sent me. WriteShop Primary Book A (B & C are in the works) is geared towards the K - 3rd grades. It is very gentle and relational which I LOVE. It is simple and specific. It eases you into writing with your early learner.

When I went through the book I liked how it was incremental and simple. I remember when I first started homeschooling and I would open the box of curriculum and look over the teacher’s manual then cry and then call the local public school and ask when I could bring my child. Okay, not really, but so much of the curriculum was overwhelming at first. WriteShop Primary A is not overwhelming. You can open it up, read the first few pages, grab your student, a piece of paper and a pencil and start. It’s that easy.

There are print versions (which I prefer) or e versions which have their benefits; immediate access and no shipping fees chief among them.

You can go here to see samples and here for pricing.

To those of you just starting out in this homeschooling adventure with your littles…you have it made!

You can click on the icon below to see what other Crew members had to say.

Happy Homeschooling!

Apologia Zoology 1

2009-04-09T19:02:00.000-05:00

I was so happy to receive Apologia Zoology 1: Flying Creatures of the Fifth Day in the mail. I knew that Apologia was sending me something, but I was unsure what it was until it came in the mail. I am familiar with Apologia’s material since we have done General Science, Physical Science, Biology and Advanced Biology (Anatomy). And I use the term ‘we’ very, very loosely. I helped my kids get the hang of General Science, being that it was the first textbookie thing my kids had come in contact with. Once they had the hang of it, it was pretty much all them. I graded the study questions and gave tests and occasionally helped them study for tests, but as for teaching, Apologia did that for me. Oh Happy Day!

I definitely had nothing to do with the Advanced Biology my Highschooler is doing now. He is studying words I don’t believe I’ve ever heard before. I am so pleased with this particular course of study, because my son is planning to go in the Health Science field (that’s the masculine term for nursing, FYI) and what he is learning in this course will directly benefit him in his chosen field.

Even though I am familiar with most of Apologia’s work, we have never used any of the elementary material. Personally, my theory on science in elementary school is that it should be fun and relational and observational (is that a word?). It should not be from a textbook. Students should watch documentaries about the planets and make models, they should observe the caterpillar and draw it and identify it. They should look up fish on the internet and the birds that come into our yard in their bird books. Science should not come from a textbook in the early grades.

So, imagine my surprise to receive this early elementary textbook and actually like it! This is not your mama’s textbook. There are projects and experiments, suggestion for narration and notebooking exerscizes, and it’s all done from a creationist standpoint. The book itself has wonderful pictures and is written in a very engaging way. It is not the dry stuff of the textbooks of yore. One of my favorite things is the list of items the student needs for each chapter broken down by lesson at the front of the book. This is VERY handy.

I did a few chapters with my daughters (ages 10 & 11) to get a feel for the curriculum to be able to review it for you. However, I have decided to pick it up in the Fall and do the complete course. My girls really enjoyed this book and so did I.

I have done a little research on how I am going to implement it fully next year and have found a wealth of information and various extras that can be added on like book lists, lapbook ideas, schedules, and extra experiments. I was amazed at how many people have loved this curriculum and have done some wonderful things with it.

I can’t wait for next school year to dive fully into it!

Happy Homeschooling

Schleich Action Figures

2009-03-31T14:35:00.000-06:00

How cool are these?

I keep getting sent the coolest toys to review for you, which is nice, but also kinda frustrating because they’re about 14 years too late.

My boys would have LOVED these when they were little! I spent at least 12 years toting around some sort of miniature motor vehicle or animal replica in my purse. My boys loved cars and animals.

They didn’t have little animal replicas like this when my boys were little. Not that I can remember anyway. These things are so realistic! They are also just heavy enough to be sturdy, but not so heavy that you couldn’t manage to carry a few around in your purse for your emergency entertainment needs.

Schleich makes some really great stuff! They offer a lot more than just animals. You can go here to see what else they offer. I mean look at the Knights! How adorable!

Now if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to go ~~play with my new toys~~ arrange the animal replicas in a nice display.

Happy Homeschooling!

Beautifully Made

2009-03-29T13:31:00.000-06:00

I was sent a set of books, entitled Beautifully Made, written by the founders of Generations of Virtue. It is a set of three books about a girls changing body. I so appreciated how this set of books was described on the website that I have copied and pasted it here. I don’t think I can improve upon this description…

Written by the founders of Generations of Virtue (various women and teenagers), this set of books is specifically designed to help guide girls and their mothers through the passage from girlhood to womanhood. These books focus on a girl's first period and what a beautiful and wonderful time that is. The message of this series is that women are blessed with God's gift to be able to give life. Our culture has made a women's period out to be a burden, but our desire was to write something that really celebrated the period and emphasized the positive aspects of womanhood--not the negatives. Both mother and daughter can go through the first two books together. These books are sensitively designed with young girls in mind: they only focus on a girl's body changes and do not go into boys and their changes.

These books are just that. They are not sensationalized or gimmickie, they are simple and yet very deep. I personally found them very helpful. I have two daughters who, despite my best efforts to find a way to freeze time, are growing up quickly. I am so very grateful to have these books sitting on my shelf waiting for the time when they will be needed.

The price for this set is 18.99. I think it’s worth every dime.

I was only sent this set of books from Generations of Virtue, but in doing my research for this review I found many other things on their website that I have my eye on, things specific for boys and girls. What a great resource Generations of Virtue is!

Happy Homeschooling!

Tell Me More Spanish

2009-03-29T13:12:00.000-06:00

I was sent Tell Me More Spanish curriculum to review. Turns out it is not currently available and we on the crew were some of the first to get to use it. I LOVE that! You will be able to purchase it in April.

When I got the box in the mail I was surprised. This is not an inexpensive curriculum and I guess I expected there to be more to it. It’s just a box with a CD Rom and a headset in it. I was under impressed. But once I got into it, my impression changed.

Tell Me More Spanish is quite a course! It covers 4 levels; Complete Beginner, Beginner, Intermediate, and Advanced. You can create different accounts for each of your children and yourself, that way you can all work at your own pace.

This curriculum also has voice recognition software. That is where the head set and microphone come in. This is huge because it helps you get your accent and pronunciation correct. You don’t get that from a written curriculum.

There are tests available to help you track your students progress and 24/7 adviser if you need help with how to use the software via an online chat feature.

There is just so much in that one little CD Rom I hardly know where to start. You can set it up one of three ways; Free-to-Roam, Guided, or Dynamic. Personally, I think it best to set it up in the Free-to-Roam mode at first and let your students play with it. Then choose either the Guided or Dynamic from there.

This course is a little pricy at 319.99 but you are getting several levels that can be used with several students.

Overall, I think TellMeMore is a wonderful program that my family will be using for years to come.

Happy Homeschooling!

Noah's Ark

2009-03-08T17:08:00.001-06:00

One 2 Believe is a company making Christian themed toys. Earlier in the year they sent me the Nativity set, which I loved. Recently they also sent me Noah’s Ark.

Noah’s Ark has Noah, of course, and 14 of his animal friends and his ark.

One 2 Believe makes a high quality toy that is sure to last many, many hours of play. There is nothing that warms a mother’s heart more than seeing her child reenact the stories from the Bible they have been learning. It helps them cement in their brains these very important Bible stories.

One 2 Believe has many other items to choose from, you can see more here.

To check out Noah and his Ark, go here.

To see what others are saying about One 2 Believe’s Noah’s Ark, go here.

My only complaint about this toy is that I did not have it years ago when my kids were smaller!

Happy Homeschooling!

Homeschool In The Woods

2009-03-08T16:55:00.000-06:00

Lap Books

Two words that strike fear into my heart. Anything in the arts and crafts field makes me feel frightned. My poor children.

We’ve never done a lap book before. My sister in law makes lap books with her children. They are a thing to behold. Looking at them makes me twitchy.

When I received The New Testament Lap Book to review I was a little apprehensive. Spatially, I am not terribly adept, so I really appreciated the clear directions and the pictures. The pictures were very helpful.

Sadly, I still did not always understand exactly what I was supposed to be doing, but I’m pretty sure that was just me because my 9 and 11 year old daughters had no such trouble figuring out what to do.

Overall, this seemed like a high quality, well thought out product. I cannot compare it to other Lap Books because whenever someone said ‘lapbook’ in the past, I ran the other way. This was our first.

We are not finished with the Lap Book, we have a few more projects to go and then it will need to be assembled. Perhaps when we finish I will post pictures. Who am I kidding? When we finish it I will post pictures and shot from the rooftops that a lap book was created here at the Hilltop Academy. It will be a monumental occasion!

Homeschool in the Woods has several other products available, including many timeline products that I have used in the past. I have always been impressed with the quality of their products and the Lap Book is no exception.

You can go here to see what others are saying about the Lap book.

You can go here to see what other products Homeschool in the Woods has to offer.

Happy Homeschooling!

Spellquizzer

2009-03-05T21:05:00.000-06:00

Spellquizzer is exactly what it sounds like, a program you can use to quiz your child on spelling. At first, when I opened it I was unimpressed. It is just a small little box that asked me to create a list. Hummm, okay. I started to create a list (without reading any of the directions. Brilliant, I know) but after a few minutes I figured it out. Somehow, this cool program knows how to make my computer record my voice. This is really impressive because I don’t even know how to make my computer record my voice.

Here is how it works. You open it, type in the word then hit the ‘record’ button. I would then say, “Very. It is very cold. Very” Then hit the ‘Stop Recording’ button and then the ‘add word’ button. Done!

You do this for all the words (or, you could have your student do it, which would be good practice). Once I had my lists created, I had my kids go in, find their list and then spend 10 or 15 minutes on it day. It was quick and easy and didn’t need me AT ALL except for the initial set up.

Another way this program can be used is instead of recording your voice; you can type in the definition of the word. Or (some of the ladies on the Crew came up with this and I think it’s a brilliant idea!) you could use this for vocabulary words. One of my children is doing a science program with many vocabulary words and they are tricky to spell. I have him type them into the program and work on them throughout the week just as he would his spelling words.

Honestly, for a program that I can download instantly, at a reasonable $30 I think it is a great deal. I get to keep it and use it for years, for various students and I can save my lists from one child to the other. That I really like as well.

Overall, I think I really like this program.

You can go here to read more reviews.

You can go here to try a demo or buy the program.

Happy Homeschooling!

ARTistic Pursuits

2009-03-05T20:25:00.000-06:00

Let me begin by telling you if you are an artist, you might want to just click on over here to the TOS Crew and read some of the other reviews because I am a total artistic novice. This review is being written by a mom who failed Arts and Crafts. However, I will do my best to give you my impression of this curriculum.

ARTistic Pursuits is an art curriculum created by a homeschooling mom, for homeschooling families. I really appreciate this and feel that not only am I supporting another homeschooler, but only another homeschooler would understand the unique needs of the homeschooled student.

When I received the book in the mail I opened it and got a little twitchy. I am not artistic. I cannot state that strongly enough. The thing is…I have a daughter that is.

So I did what any homeschooling mom would do. I delegated. I handed the book off to my 11 year old daughter and let her loose.

She really liked it. She read over several lessons and even came to me to show me some of the ways the author showed you various art techniques in actual paintings. She did not do many of the activities as she is currently working on something for her art class, but she did ask if I would be willing to allow her to work on this curriculum this summer.

Um, really? I think a hearty yes was the answer!

So while I don’t know much about art or art curriculum, I do know that my daughter wanted to work on this in her spare time. Is there a better endorsement?

Now, if you want to find out about this yourself go here. There is a great deal of information on the website for you to find out more about this curriculum. Also, and this I thinks speaks volumes, if you order it and you look at it and decide it’s not for you, you can send it back and get a refund.

Remember that thing called customer service? I think I’ve found it.

Happy Homeschooling!

Five in a Row

2009-03-02T15:43:00.000-06:00

I’m just going to say it right up front. This review is not going to be unbiased. I love Five in a Row and have been using it for years and I think you, whoever you are or whatever age your students are, should go out and buy it. Now.

When my boys were little we used another well known literature based curriculum. I was a first time homeschooler and thought in order to have a successful day we had to check off every box. My poor boys.

I was a little more laid back when it came time to homeschool the girls, and we did not check off every box anymore. But I felt guilty for not getting it all done.
I had a friend tell me about Five in a Row (FIAR) when the boys were younger so when I saw a copy of Volume 1 at a homeschool convention I picked it up and glanced at it. I am sad to say my reaction was “eh, nothing special. Just a bunch of writing to the teacher. How do I translate this into a school day? Where are the little boxes for me to check off?”

When it was time to school the girls I ran into Jane and Steve Lambert at the homeschool convention and had the opportunity to ask them. How does this work. How do I take this seemingly innocuous little teachers book and translate it into a school day?

What I heard changed the way we homeschool. FIAR is not a check-off-the-boxes kind of curriculum. It is relational. It is gentle.

I started with Volume 1 book 1, which was Ping. (It’s hard to break from doing things in order!) I still remember that week fondly. (Actually we did Ping for two weeks because we were having so much fun!) We read the book 3 times that week (you’re supposed to read it 5 times and we did work up to that eventually). We used sentences from the book for copywork which is a combination of handwriting practice and language arts practice. We read about China in age appropriate library books. We found China on a map. We learned why the Yangtze River is yellow. We talked about lying and how it’s always better to fess up and face the consequences. We learned all about the anatomy of ducks. We went to a duck pond and fed the ducks.

I still cannot believe how simply I was able to teach my then 4 and 5 year old daughters so very much with just one book, a little planning using the FIAR guide and a lot of conversation.

I know I’ve gone on and on about how much we loved FIAR and we did. But I was actually sent Beyond Five in a Row Volume 2 to review for you. BYFIAR is very much like FIAR, except if it is for, say it with me now…students who are beyond Five in a Row! It is the same concept, the same gentle, conversational teaching approach only with more age appropriate chapter books.

There are 4 chapter books in each volume of BYFIAR; two fiction and two nonfiction. In Vol 2 covers the books Sarah Plain and Tall and Skylark and The Story of George Washington Carver and Helen Keller. The beauty of BYFIAR is its flexibility. Some weeks you’ll get nearly a chapter a day done, including reading the chapter and doing the various activities from the manual. Other weeks there will be so many wonderful opportunities for further research and learning that you will spend a week on one chapter.

Honestly I could go on for pages regaling you with the benefits of using FIAR in your homeschool but I think I’ll stop there.

If you are at all interested in FIAR, I highly recommend you go the the website and the forums. Register at the forums and you will be able to see the archives were other FIAR moms have given their ideas and suggestions for each book.

Here are the things currently offered by FIAR. At this time, even though we on the forums have nagged incessantly, there is no high school program from the Lamberts.

The following links tell you about more about each product. You can go here to purchase.

Before Five in a Row – Preschool

Five in a Row Volumes 1-4 ages 4 to 8.

Beyond Five in a Row volumes 1-3 ages 8 to 12.

Above and Beyond FIAR ages 12 and up.

Digital Produces – Lapbooks corresponding with the books and various nature studies and whatnot.

Happy Homeschooling!