Golden Prairie Press--TOS Review

Golden Prairie Press is an online business started by Amy Puetz. Her first book was a historical costume book and then later she wrote other historical books with a Christian worldview. Amy Puez, the author, enjoys telling stories of people who impacted their generation.

Amy Puetz is a homeschool graduate who loves history. Here's a little background written by Amy herself: "When I was a teenager if anyone had told me that one day I would write books I would have laughed in their face. Me a writer? You’ve got to be kidding! But sometime God opens up a door that we would never have imagined going through on our own. That’s what happened to me in writing. My ambition was to be an archeologist but during my high school years I began experiencing unbearable fatigue and pain. As I approached graduation I realized that I needed to rethink my plans for the future. The Lord led me to take a correspondence course to become a computer graphic designer. After completing the course I was hit with a most sensational idea--write a historical costume book! This book combined several of my passions--history, sewing, designing, and photography. Since then I’ve built up a business selling historical items and writing historical books."

We were able to review Ten girls From History e-book and I have to say that my 12 year old, history loving, love-to-read daughter absolutely adored this book! This book was written in a way that is very engaging for the reader and captivates the audience while going through the accounts of ten, brave girls throughout history. When previewing this book for my daughter, I immediately noticed that I'd only heard of a few of these girls or remembered their stories. That fact alone made me very aware that I didn't love history when I was in school. My own curiosity was peaked so I read this e-book as well as my daughter. We were both captivated by the stories, the way it was written kept us coming back for more.

See if you recognize any of these girls from history:

1. Cofachiqui
2. Madeleine De Vercheres
3. Dorothy Quincy
4. Molly Pitcher
5. Elizabeth Van Lew
6. Ida Lewis
7. Clara Barton
8. Virginia Reed
9. Louisa May Alcott
10. Clara Morris

For any girl who loves history, I highly recommend this book. I also recommend it for people like me...I didn't enjoy history in school, therefore I'm curious about the things I missed out on. This was an intriguing (and informative) read!

 

If any (or ALL!) of these books look interesting to you, you can still get in on the back-to-school sale. Be sure to go over to Golden Prairie Press by tomorrow (9/1/12) and take advantage of the sale prices.

To see what my fellow Crew Mates had to say about Golden Prairie Press visit the Homeschool Crew Blog to read more.

**Disclosure: My review and opinion written in this post is entirely my own. This product was provided to me for free in exchange for my review as a member of the 2012 The Old Schoolhouse Magazine Homeschool Crew.

Apologia, I Don't Have Enough Faith To Be An Athiest--TOS Review

Apologia is a familiar name to most homeschooling families. I personally enjoy their curriculum because their science and worldview curriculum are written from a Christian perspective. I was able to review their newest product, I Don't Have Enough Faith To Be An Atheist. This book can be used as a curriculum for high school but I reviewed it personally as an "adult student." You can read a sample of the book here to determine the voice in which it's written.

 

Here's a little background on the authors (taken from the website):

"Norman Geisler and Frank Turek (the authors) argue that Christianity is not only more reasonable than all other belief systems, but is indeed more rational than unbelief itself. With conviction and clear thinking, Geisler and Turek guide readers through some of the traditional, tested arguments for the existence of a creator God. They move into an examination of the source of morality and the reliability of the New Testament accounts concerning Jesus. The final section of the book deals with a detailed investigation of the claims of Christ. This volume will be an interesting read for those skeptical about Christianity, as well as a helpful resource for Christians seeking to articulate a more sophisticated defense of their faith." 

I found this to be a fascinating read. I was a bit skeptical and unsure at first on what to expect, mostly because of the title. But, I learned long ago not to judge a book by its cover. The topics in this book discussed questions or uncertainties I've had for many years. Even though I grew up going to church, the older I got the more questions I seemed to have about my own personal faith and why I believed the things I said I believed. 

If your curious about this book and if it's right for you and your family, check out the Table of Contents.  I really did enjoy the book in it's entirety but the chapters "Why Should Anyone Believe Anything At All" and "The Top 10 Reasons We Know The New Testament Writers Told The Truth" were my favorites. I feel these topics (among others discussed) have helped me to to become more confident in how I approach and talk to non-Christians.

 

Along with the book to review, I also received a workbook companion. This is where things became a curriculum and not just a good book to add to one's collection. The workbook is extremely comprehensive in nature and made each chapter "sink in" at a deeper level. 

 

The sections involved in working through each chapter include examples such as: key topics, key terms used, questions that grab your mind, famous people in Christian history, and much more.  When using this as a course, you or your student will "tackle the question of absolute truth, demolish the follies of postmodernism, debunk moral relativism, and march logically and surely toward the inescapable truths of the Christian faith."

The book costs $16.00, and the workbook costs $33.00. This set seems to be a popular item (I can see why!) so be sure to check back if you find it unavailable. 

To see what my fellow Crew Mates had to say about Apologia, I Don't Have Enough Faith To Be An Athiest visit the Homeschool Crew Blog to read more.

**Disclosure: My review and opinion written in this post is entirely my own. This product was provided to me for free in exchange for my review as a member of the 2012 The Old Schoolhouse Magazine Homeschool Crew.

Vocabulary Spelling City--TOS Review

 

Vocabulary SpellingCITY.com is an interactive game-based website that will help your Elementary, Middle, and High School Student with their Vocabulary, Spelling, Writing, Parts of Speech, Handwriting, Alphabetical Order. I was all about this review, the kids on the other hand weren't so sure. Even though they were skeptical, they actually enjoyed using this program. Anything to help in this area and make it fun is a huge bonus for this family!

The creators of Vocabulary SpellingCITY.com offered us a one year premium membership to use in our homeschool for the review. I'm super grateful for this because now we can continue on and use this throughout our school year. I have 2 kiddos who have had a hard time with alphabetical order so I'm excited to continually use this resource. Another child has a hard time with the parts of speech and yet another child despises handwriting. I think Vocabulary SpellingCITY was made for us!

Another thing I enjoyed in this program were the training videos. These videos help to explain things in a video format, this is customer service at its finest. Talk about user friendly!

Visit the Vocabulary SpellingCITY website for information on Classroom or School pricing. Premium Memberships for homeschooling families is available for $29.99 a year and can be used for up to 5 children.

To see what my fellow Crew Mates had to say about Vocabulary Spelling City, visit the Homeschool Crew Blog to read more.

**Disclosure: My review and opinion written in this post is entirely my own. This product was provided to me for free in exchange for my review as a member of the 2012 The Old Schoolhouse Magazine Homeschool Crew.

Vocab Videos--TOS Review

 

Vocab Videos uses short videos to illustrate the meanings of 500 high value, frequently tested (SAT, ACT and junior high/high school) vocabulary words. In addition to vocabulary videos featuring entertaining characters and outrageous plot lines, the website also has extensive review material found in the form of digital quizzes (as well as other forms explained below).

We were set up with the Small Educators Subscription to review, this subscription offered us the ability to monitor student progress, access all videos and study material, and the ability to create individual student accounts. Our teacher's account allowed me to register my kiddos for their own individual Vocab Videos accounts, I was able to monitor their progress by viewing the student quiz scores and completed worksheets. Below is an example of the teacher's dashboard:

Vocab Videos also uses a flashcard maker and digital worksheets to enhance sentence writing and practice the use of synonyms and mnemonics. Crossword puzzles, an extensive glossary and teacher tracking tools all combine to further student success. Below is an example of a flashcard you might see when using this program:

Student Subscriptions are available in 6-month and 12-month subscriptions. If you were to purchase a yearly subscription it is available for $74.99.  A single student subscription is available for $39.99 a year. Please visit the VocabVideos.com for more information and details. Vocab Videos offers a one month free trial so be sure to check that out.

One thing that didn't work well for our family was the content of the videos. While the information and form was good (and made sense), we had a hard time with phrases used such as "Oh my God" and "Oh God" when the actors were playing out the scene. Also in the videos that showcased co-workers and their interaction with a female co-worker, we found to be inappropriate according to our family's belief system. The men were "eyeing up" the female co-worker and calling her "fine." We are trying to raise our children with Godly character traits and we found these videos to not portray such traits. After watching a few and allowing my older children to see some "tamed down" videos to get the point across of how this program was designed, we stopped watching the videos and focused on the other things within the program.

To see what my fellow Crew Mates had to say about Vocab Videos, visit the Homeschool Crew Blog to read more.

**Disclosure: My review and opinion written in this post is entirely my own. This product was provided to me for free in exchange for my review as a member of the 2012 The Old Schoolhouse Magazine Homeschool Crew.

Thomas Jefferson Education--TOS Review

We were able to review A Thomas Jefferson Education, an amazing and comprehensive resource! A Thomas Jefferson Education wants you, the parent, to experience the joy of helping each student discover, develop and polish his/her genius. This is the essence and very definition of great education.
A Thomas Jefferson Education encourages parents to apply the 7 keys of Teaching:

1. Classics, Not Textbooks
2. Mentors, Not Professors
3. Inspire, Not Require
4. Structure Time, Not Content
5. Simplicity, Not Complexity
6. Quality, Not Conformity
7. You, Not Them

to help you educate your children to their fullest potential. To read more about the 7 Keys to Great Teaching, click here. Getting to know the ins and out of this resource honestly blew me away. I was amazed at what was offered. The website not only gave me tons of background on the founders but also what I needed to do to get started and work my way around the site.

 

This Week In History, the Thomas Jefferson Education’s subscription program (one of my favorite features!), delivers new lessons to your email inbox each week. Each week full of pictures, links and videos to help you educate your child to their full potential. The program costs $9.99 a month and delivers the following benefits to you the homeschooling parent:

• relieves fear, stress and burnout
• energizes your kid-school
• fills in the gaps
• cultivates cultural literacy
• facilitates state or provincial compliance
• correlates resources for co-ops, classrooms and family learning
• harnesses the power of technology in a classical leadership education
• harmonizes with Unschooling, Charlotte Mason, Montessori, Trivium/Quadrivium, IEW, eclectic, etc.
• delivers new ideas and areas of learning to you and your child
• instigates discussions and projects that expand wisdom and understanding
• connects the subject areas–from music to math, from geography to world religions, from hobbies to science projects, etc.
• motivates you and your students to greater excellence

This Week In History was one of my favorite features, by far! The two words that come to mind are comprehensive and FUN! As an example of this week in history (August 9-15, 2012), the construction of the Leaning Tower of Pisa began in the year 1173.  The site gave me pictures, background information, resource links to learn more about the Tower, activity ideas and suggestions for writing and discussion. All of the work was done for me and left my family with FUN and time to explore! More dates/facts were given for this week, each one complete with pictures, background information and lists of resources.

The cost of the program may seem a bit steep but from what we've used during this review period, it is WORTH EVERY PENNY! I am pleased to say we will be incorporating this resource into our school year this year. Thank you Thomas Jefferson Education for helping me to make learning fun in our homeschool!

 

To view a sample week click here. To see what my fellow Crew Mates had to say about Thomas Jefferson Education, visit the Homeschool Crew Blog to read more.

**Disclosure: My review and opinion written in this post is entirely my own. This product was provided to me for free in exchange for my review as a member of the 2011-2012 The Old Schoolhouse Magazine Homeschool Crew.

Math Made Easy--TOS Review

 

Math Made Easy is a simple workbook set designed to help your kids master the basics of addition, without using their fingers, in just six short weeks. We reviewed the addition package and it's primarily for children in the 1st-2nd grade range (but has been used with successfully with some kindergartners and special needs kids of various ages).

 

Each set sells for $24.95 and the addition book includes the following:

• Philosophy
• Lesson Plans
• Pre and Post Tests
• Zeroes and Ones
• Addition Table
• Weekly Guide Sheet
• Six Weeks of Daily Activity Sheets
• Addition Reviews
• Games
• Flash Cards

The activities in this book are fun and like a "project" My 1st grader is all about projects so she didn't mind doing these math worksheets at all! Each week included addition drills, matching up the question with the correct answer, coloring sheets (after finding the answer, the correct color was indicated). There were cut and paste puzzle type activities and "break the code" type activities. This book was the perfect level for my first grader and she enjoyed every day's activity.

The back of the book provided the games (printed on cardstock) as well as the flash cards. We had fun "laminating" these with contact paper so they would stay in good shape for the next child. Everything was presented in a simple yet effective way, we REALLY enjoyed using Math Made Easy!
 

To see what my fellow Crew Mates had to say about Math Made Easy, visit the Homeschool Crew Blog to read more.

**Disclosure: My review and opinion written in this post is entirely my own. This product was provided to me for free in exchange for my review as a member of the 2011-2012 The Old Schoolhouse Magazine Homeschool Crew.

King Alfred's English--TOS Review

 King Alfred’s English: A History of the Language We Speak and Why We Should Be Glad We Do was written by Laurie J. White as a way to bring the history of our language to students in grades 7 through 12 in a fun and engaging manner.

Laurie fell in love with the history of the English language after taking it as a college course; it made the study of key parts of history, English and even foreign language come alive.  King Alfred’s English looks at how the growth of the English language through four key invasions, or as Laurie puts it “language altering tsunamis,” both broadened and simplified English into the language we speak today.

My oldest daughter (going into 7th grade) was my helper for this review. She is very interested in history so she was excited to dig in and start reading about the evolution of the English language. There are 15 total chapters in this book, LOTS of  material was covered. To give you an idea of what we read about, see below:

Pre-English Britain (The Romans, King Arthur) 55 BC-500 AD

Old English (Language Background, The Invasion of the Church & on Latin, The Vikings) 500-1066

Middle English (Invasion of Normans, Middle English background, Introduction of print) 1066-1500

Transition from Middle to Modern English (Invasion of the Greek, Martin Luther) 1400-1600

The Making of the English Bible 1526-1611

Shakespeare and Modern English 1500-Present

 

As a recap, the book discusses how the advent of the printing press was not only a boon to language, but helped with the dissemination of the Bible to the common people aiding the Protestant Reformation and molding the vernacular.  She explores the work of Wycliffe (pre-printing press), Martin Luther and Tyndale.

As you march through history, the reader learns that many of the words with the SK sound come from the Old Norse, ph comes from Greek, how the advent of printing solidified spelling, why the Great Vowel Shift changed pronunciation and the lasting effect of Greek and Latin on the “roots” of English.  Answers to why we spell knight with a kn and other mysteries of spelling are illuminated.  My daughter had quite a few A-HA! moments as to why our spelling can be so strange!

Overall we enjoyed the material, I will be saving it with our curriculum and will pull it out in years to come as my kiddos get a little older and have a deeper understanding. What we gleaned out of the information at this level was still very interesting and useful!

Visit Laurie’s website, The Shorter Word.com, to find both Student and Teacher resources.  Using her suggested minimum requirements, the book and free supplemental material she provides can be used as a 1/2 credit high school history course, or a combined 1/4 credit history and 1/4 credit English course.  Resources include suggested readings and links, worksheets, tests and writing activities.

 If you're interested in buying King Alfred's English at the wholesale discount (for half price at $8.47), I have a promotional code I can share with 4 of my readers. If you would like this code to purchase King Alfred's English at the wholesale discount price, please contact me at: blessedmama6@gmail.com. It will be first come first serve! This code will be available and good through the month of September.

To see what my fellow Crew Mates had to say about King Alfred's English, visit the Homeschool Crew Blog to read more.

**Disclosure: My review and opinion written in this post is entirely my own. This product was provided to me for free in exchange for my review as a member of the 2011-2012 The Old Schoolhouse Magazine Homeschool Crew.

Keyboarding for the Christian School--TOS Review

Keyboarding for the Christian School is a complete typing curriculum that will help you teach your children how to type. We found this e-book to be an amazing tool! I was able let my 12 year-old go through this book and she was able to follow the steps on her own. I read through the e-book first and was very thankful for the very basics it discussed before beginning with the typing lessons. See below for an excerpt from the book showing you what I mean by "the very basics."

"In order to reach all of the keys easily and to type efficiently, there are certain techniques to use.

1. Sit up straight and lean in at the waist.
2. Keep feet flat on the floor (with one slightly in front of the other for balance).
3. Body is one hand-span (or length) from the keyboard.
4. The J key on the keyboard is opposite of your bellybutton.
5. Hands are on the homerow (to be introduced in the first lesson)
6. Curve fingers.
7. Elbows are naturally at your side.
8. Wrists are level (not touching the table or the keyboard).
9. Eyes are looking at the copy.
10.Keyboard is parallel to the table.
11.The text or copy is placed on the right-hand side.
12.Use quick, snappy strokes in a rhythmic pace"

The letters and numbers were just the beginning lessons, there was SO much more to learn in the book. I really liked that there was scripture used throughout the book and in the examples. Other things taught in this curriculum was how to write MLA and APA reports, cite works, make a bibliography, create personal and business letters, marks used in proofreading, timed exercises and more! While my 12 year old isn't quite to the MLA and APA report writing, she can use this as a reference for letters and timed exercises now. I thought the information presented was exceptional and this e-book will be a valuable resource for our homeschool for years to come!

We used the book in the e-format as we went along for the review. BUT, I will be printing it off and putting it in a binder for future reference and for our other students to use. Keyboarding for the Christian School, costs $15.95 and was created to be used by students in the 6th through the 12th grades. You can view sample lessons HERE.

To see what my fellow Crew Mates had to say about Keyboarding for the Christian School, visit the Homeschool Crew Blog to read more.

**Disclosure: My review and opinion written in this post is entirely my own. This product was provided to me for free in exchange for my review as a member of the 2011-2012 The Old Schoolhouse Magazine Homeschool Crew.

Apologia, Who Is My Neighbor--TOS Review

 

For this review we were able to preview Who Is My Neighbor in the What We Believe Series by Apologia. This series was made to help teach our children about the essential beliefs of the Christian faith.  This book focuses on helping children learn what it means to be “salt and light” in the world. The lessons encourage children to build a servant attitude based on these biblical truths:

*God created me to be a blessing to the world
*God chooses to work through me
*I can make a difference at home, in my community, and at church
*The church is God’s family
*The church is one body with many gifts
*I am an important member of Jesus’ body

 

 I was excited to get started on this review and teach our Christian worldview "on purpose." I found this series to be thorough and carefully laid out. Because the book series is aimed at children ages 6-14, I was able to use it with all our kiddos at the same time. We decided to follow the proposed lesson plan of three weeks per lesson, two days per week. I felt doing it this way helped the kids to "digest" what we were reading and talking about. On the first day we read two sections, read a short story (and discussed it) as well as talked about the questions in the "Think About It" section. Even though the older children are solid readers, I ended up reading these sections to all of the children.

The beginning readings talked about China, their customs and way of life. It was written in story form so the children were able to follow the events easily. Discussing the questions at the end were a way of capturing the essence and meaning of the story. 

On the second day (week 1) we continued on with studying words associated with what we were reading. One of my favorite sections of the chapter was the "Hide It In Your Heart" where the kids and I learned scripture. This is the day we brought in the notebook to reinforce what we learned.

 

 The notebooking journal  reinforces the information with questions, word searches, and other activities (to help kids further explore the topics in the book).  The three older kids (ages 13, 12 and 9) were able to work in the notebook and go over the things we talked about in the book. The two younger kiddos (ages 6 and 4) went to the coloring book (see below).

 

The coloring book had simple pictures that were associated with the lesson/stories we went through in the book. The little girls were able to work on coloring the pictures as we talked about things that happened in the stories and what it all meant. All of this was just in the first week! We continued on with the lesson plan each week and by doing it at that pace, I really felt the kids were able to grasp the information in it's entirety.

We look forward to continuing with this book and completing the lessons during our school year. We really did like it so much I'm thinking about looking into more from the What We Believe Series to continue through the entire school year.

To see what my fellow Crew Mates had to say about Apologia, Who Is My Neighbor series visit the Homeschool Crew Blog to read more.

**Disclosure: My review and opinion written in this post is entirely my own. This product was provided to me for free in exchange for my review as a member of the 2011-2012 The Old Schoolhouse Magazine Homeschool Crew.

Hewitt Homeschooling, Lightening Lit--TOS Review

I'd heard of Hewitt Homeschooling before but have never used any of their curriculum. I was very excited to have been chosen for this review so I could check it out and see what all the "buzz" was about!

Since we're now in the middle school age range, we are finally able to use the Hewitt Homeschool curriculum (there are programs with elementary grades coming soon). We were able to review the 7th grade curriculum and it came with a student guide, a student workbook, and a teacher guide.

From the Hewitt Homeschooling website: "Hewitt's Lightning Lit guides use full-length novels, autobiographies, plays, essays, short stories, and poems to teach deep reading and composition skills. Unlike some literature programs that take a scatter-shot approach (where none of the literature seems connected) or that try to include too much into one book, Lightning Literature guides focus on a few classics in depth, in a systematic manner."

The junior high levels (7th and 8th grade) are year long courses. The Student Guide includes biographies of the authors, vocabulary, comprehension questions, lessons on the readings, additional lessons on composition, and writing exercises. The Student Workbook is consumable. The Teacher Guide includes a teaching schedule, answers to comprehension questions, answers to the workbook pages, extra teaching help for the lessons, help in choosing appropriate writing exercises, and discussion questions.

We used this with my daughter who is just going into the 7th grade. The student guide (and workbook) was straight forward and easy for her to use. For example, chapter 4 was my one of her favorite lessons (Alice's Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carrol). She began by reading the Introduction in the student guide. The next section, While You Read, points out things to look for while reading the story. There is a Vocabulary List listed by chapter so my daughter was able to refer back to that list to check for words she didn't understand. An example of that was in chapter five the word "languid" was used. She was able to refer to the vocabulary list and see the word languid means dull. Next in the student guide is Comprehension Questions. These are also listed by chapter. I had my daughter answer them as she finished each chapter and we also discussed her answers and why how she came up with them.

To further comprehension, the section The Meeting Of Two Things talks about bringing together two ideas that aren't normally together. For example, in Lewis Caroll's time, many men used pocket watches. But, in the story it was a rabbit that ran around with a pocket watch to be sure he was on time. Lewis Carroll invented a funny new character by having a rabbit carry a pocket watch and rush around in a hurry like a man would. This section brings two unlikely ideas together and shows that creativity can show us something new and also have a point. The What-If section brings together a simple creative technique using questions that start with "What if?" Assisting my daughter to use this section helped to build her creativity muscles by helping her to look at the world around her and combine some things to make new things while tweaking others until they became something new.

At the end of this lesson were some Writing Exercises. The instructions gave my daughter a section of the story to read and then asked her to "imagine" a certain scenario and write about it. The Teacher's Guide gives the answers when specific questions were asked in the student workbook as well as giving direction for some of the creative writing exercises. We found all of the material very user friendly and thorough. We were so pleased that we will be using this as our literature curriculum in the fall for the entire year. Thank you Hewitt Homeschooling!

To see what my fellow Crew Mates had to say about Hewitt Homeschooling, visit the Homeschool Crew Blog to read more.

**Disclosure: My review and opinion written in this post is entirely my own. This product was provided to me for free in exchange for my review as a member of the 2011-2012 The Old Schoolhouse Magazine Homeschool Crew.

Homeschool Spanish Academy--TOS Review

I was so excited to get started on this review! I personally love the Spanish language and want to pass that love down to my children. When I was chosen to review the Middle School age group, I knew my first born was a perfect fit to help me out.

Homeschool Spanish Academy (HSA) provides immersive, interactive 1-on-1 interaction with native Spanish language tutors via Skype video. All that is needed is a high-speed internet connection, web cam, and a Skype compatible computer headset with microphone.

My daughter is very familiar with Skype so she was ready to roll when it came time for her first lesson. Before hand I had a brief Skype meeting with tech support to determine my internet speed and how that would affect the quality of our Skype meeting. Tech support was very easy to work with and we were ready to go in minutes!

HSA's website was very user friendly in assisting me to make our scheduled appointments. I could choose from any day during the week and virtually any time. It took me a moment to realize there was a time zone difference but I quickly adjusted our needs accordingly.

My daughter's first lesson went smoothly and the teacher was very sweet and made my daughter very comfortable and eased her nervousness. We learned the HSA teachers are in Guatemala! Before every scheduled lesson, the teacher would email me the worksheets they would be going over that day. I simply printed them out for my daughter so she could look them over and have them on hand during the lesson. There was also homework assigned after each lesson that went over the things they learned that day.

It was so great to hear my daughter learning (and speaking!) Spanish after just a few lessons. She really enjoyed the enthusiasm of the teachers and the set-up of using Skype as the classroom. After her lessons, the other children asked questions about Guatemala so we had a little Geography lesson as well. The joys of homeschooling! :)

Homeschool Spanish Academy offers several  levels of instruction, from early learning (age 5 and up) to adult. The Early Learning sessions are 25 minutes long, while the Middle School, High School, and Adult sessions are 50 minutes. Prices range from $59.99 (7 week Early Learner course) to $314.99 for a full semester of 30 lessons in 15 weeks. You can visit HSA's website to receive a free trial and see if their program would be a good fit for your homeschool.

We were so pleased with this company (and my daughter has enjoyed her lessons so much) that we plan to continue these lessons throughout the school year as her foreign language instruction. 

To see what my fellow Crew Mates had to say about Homeschool Spanish Academy, visit the Homeschool Crew Blog to read more.

**Disclosure: My review and opinion written in this post is entirely my own. This product was provided to me for free in exchange for my review as a member of the 2011-2012 The Old Schoolhouse Magazine Homeschool Crew.

IXL--TOS Review

IXL.com is a fun, easy to use, interactive web based math practice site for students in Pre-K through Algebra. I was so pleased for the opportunity to review IXL, my kiddos on the other hand were kind of skeptical. You see, Math really isn't their favorite subject so I had to be quite creative in presenting this review to them! They were willing to give it a try and when they did, they were pleasantly surprised!

 IXL is currently being used in more than 150 countries around the world. In the USA, state standards are listed for every state. I was able to click on a grade level and the IXL site automatically brought me to the WI state standards for math. What a handy tool! We received a family subscription to review for up to 3 students for this review, my three oldest children participated. The children that gave IXL a try are ages: 13, 12 and 9.

IXL can be used along with any math curriculum. Students practice their math skills in many different areas, and are rewarded for their efforts with virtual awards as they complete a challenge or master a concept. There is also an option to print awards if you like (my kids really like that option, you, you should see our refrigerator!). Parents or teachers can keep track of what each child accomplishes through the parent/teacher account. Weekly email reports are also sent. Each detailed report lets you see at a glance how many minutes each child practiced, and what skills they have worked on or mastered. You can see how much time was spent practicing in each category, and where a little more practice may be needed. I personally loved this as review so our family had additional "summer time practice" that was fun and not in the form of boring math worksheets.

 IXL gives their members complete coverage of math curriculum from Pre-K to algebra. Your kids won’t miss a thing! There are unlimited questions in over 2,000 skills and fun, colorful practice formats. Questions adapt to your child’s ability and increas in difficulty as they improve.One thing that we found really neat is that there is audio for all Pre-K and first-grade skills.

You can sign up your child for either $9.95 monthly or $79.00 per year. Additional children can be added to the account for an additional $2.00 per month or $20.00 per year. Special pricing is also available for schools.

To see what my fellow Crew Mates had to say about Creation Illustrated, visit the Homeschool Crew Blog to read more.

**Disclosure: My review and opinion written in this post is entirely my own. This product was provided to me for free in exchange for my review as a member of the 2011-2012 The Old Schoolhouse Magazine Homeschool Crew.

Creation Illustrated--TOS Review

 

Our entire family just adored this review! We knew about this magazine but had never received it (until now!).  What a plethora of information and wonder, the animal lovers in our home were especially intrigued. As a side note, when our family visits science museums I spend quite a bit of time explaining to the children why/what we are seeing that doesn't line up with our belief of Creationism. This magazine is a refreshing addition to the reading material in our home, no outside explanation required. 

The makers of Creation Illustrated say this:

Our Purpose…is to share the wonders of God’s creation. By revealing fresh insights of His infinite wisdom, gentle touch, undeniable justice, redeeming love, and flawless design, pure truth shall bring renewed peace. Each part of this publication is offered as a reprieve from the daily rigor’s of life so that all can look to the future with unbridled gratitude and hope.

 

For almost 20 years, Creation Illustrated magazine has used articles, short stories, photo contests and puzzles for kids, even recipes to share some of God’s wonders with readers.  In order to bring a balance of  physical, spiritual and mental enrichment, each issue is divided into three parts: nature, Scripture, and living. Just as the title implies, throughout the magazine there are dozens of photographs—from macro close ups of flowers and insects to panoramic landscapes. 

Creation Illustrated is published quarterly in the United States with a cover price of $4.99.  You can subscribe online for the following lengths/rate:

• 1 year    $ 19.95
• 2 Years  $ 37.95
• 3 Years  $ 53.95

Those who pay with a credit card will save another $5.00 per year per subscription.  Canadian Residents will need to add $5.00 for postage, those living in other foreign countries will need to add $10.00. Did you know you can request a sample issue before deciding on the commitment of a subscription? Fill out this form to receive your sample- see how your family likes Creation Illustrated!

 

To see what my fellow Crew Mates had to say about Creation Illustrated, visit the Homeschool Crew Blog to read more.

**Disclosure: My review and opinion written in this post is entirely my own. This product was provided to me for free in exchange for my review as a member of the 2011-2012 The Old Schoolhouse Magazine Homeschool Crew.

Pearson Homeschool--TOS Review

Pearson Education Inc. is a curriculum supplier (to school districts across the nation). They are proudly presenting Pearson Homeschool. This curriculum has been created to help you develop a rich love of learning in your home education program.

Pearson has offered four examples of their curriculum to reviewers on the TOS Homeschool Crew. Each family had the opportunity to review one of the four products at a grade level that would be the best fit for their family. Our family received myWorld Social Studies: Regions Of Our Country, 4th grade.



Growing up in public school, I never really enjoyed Social Studies. When we received this review I was very excited to see what was inside and to present it in a fun way to my children. I really want my children to be interested every aspect of learning. I've come to realize how important this subject really is so my goal was to be excited about presenting a subject in hopes my kiddos would be excited too! The main lessons in the book we reviewed were: Land and Regions in the US, Weather and Climate (along with Maps), Regions and Resources, and People and the Land. There's a list of vocabulary words along with each chapter, that was another bonus for us. This Mama is big on vocabulary and usage!  :)

myWorld Social Studies uses Essential Questions help students see the “big ideas” they’re learning about, and activate prior knowledge in social studies. These questions engage students in an active discussion of what they already know about the topic, but also encourage them to think further.
This curriculum also offers a variety of ways for your child to think critically about key concepts so they actively experience the world they live in and develop a true understanding of the subject. For me, that's the main goal in learning- to develop a true understanding!

Students don’t simply memorize facts, dates, and places. They take what they’ve learned and transfer that knowledge to new content, situations, ideas, and to their own lives. The goal is to help your kiddos become successful learners so they will remember not only what they have been taught, but how to learn more (and want to learn more)!

Scott Foresman’s myWorld Social Studies will be priced at $69.99 for their Homeschool Bundle for the 2012-13 school year. Please visit Pearson Homeschool’s website for individual pricing details.

Read what other crew members are saying about Pearson Homeschool on the TOS Blog. 

**Disclosure: My review and opinion written in this post is entirely my own. This product was provided to me for free in exchange for my review as a member of the 2011-2012 The Old Schoolhouse Magazine Homeschool Crew.

Mobile Education Tools--TOS Review

 

We were able to review a really cool app from Mobile Education called Story Builder. I downloaded the app on my iPhone and the kiddos had fun getting to know the ins and outs and playing with different aspects of building their own story.  

 StoryBuilder is an app that is specifically for the iPhone or 4th generation iTouch ( the ones with a camera). It is designed to help children accomplish the following goals: 1) Improve paragraph formation; 2) Improve integration of ideas; and 3) Improve higher level abstractions by inference. Through the use of extensive audio clips it promotes improved auditory processing for special needs children with autism spectrum disorders or sensory processing disorders.

 

There were different settings available (levels of difficulty) for all the "reading" kiddos in our home (ages 6-12). In the easiest level, the question is read for you and they you press the green "record" button to record your answer. The only thing we didn't catch right away was that we needed to answer the question in a full sentence.  After recording your answer, you can play the answer back to see if you are satisfied with the way it recorded.

My kiddos had a really fun time with this, some times they laughed and giggled through their answer. The playbacks were really funny to listen to.  At the end of all the questions, you hit the "play story" button and all of your answers are read back to you in the order in which you recorded.  You then have a "story" of all your answers.  The kids loved this app! 

As the level of difficulty increases, our older kiddos needed to look at the picture and decide what they thought would happen next.  They then recorded what they thought might happen next as a result of what they saw in the picture.  This level was great for the imagination!

We also have a child with a sensory processing disorder so this app is great for him to practice on.  Not to mention all the kids get a turn "playing" on my phone (which rarely ever happens)! They told me they want more educational apps on my phone so they get more time to "play" on Mom's phone. Pretty smart kiddos if you ask me! LOL

 Both of these apps are available for purchase in the Apple App store. Rainbow Sentences is available for $7.99, while StoryBuilder sells for $5.99.

Read what other crew members are saying about Mobile Education Tools on the TOS Review Blog. 

**Disclosure: My review and opinion written in this post is entirely my own. This product was provided to me for free in exchange for my review as a member of the 2011-2012 The Old Schoolhouse Magazine Homeschool Crew.

Dive Into Your Imagination--TOS Review

What a cool review!  I have a household of animal lovers so this DVD was right up our alley. Dive Into Your Imagination was started by Annie Crawley, aka Ocean Annie, to bring the ocean to children in all its beauty and color. Her goal is to help children (and adults) love the ocean and thus be inspired to protect and care for our environment and ocean.

We were able to review What Makes A Fish A Fish.  This is the first DVD in the Dive Into Your Imagination series. This DVD teaches children about astounding fish from around the world. How do fish take a bath? Learn the truth about sharks. Play hide and seek on the reef. The underwater realm provides boundless opportunities for parents to learn and laugh with their children. An upbeat original score celebrates the ocean and brings it to life. The DVD has three audio tracks, English, Spanish and music only. Great as an entertaining teaching tool for the classroom too!

My kiddos are fascinated by marine life and since we live in the midwest, this DVD was a welcomed glimpse into the life beneath the sea!  My sons were fascinated and commented that there is another world under the water that we don't see.  They said, "It's like a secret we get to see!"

There are other DVDs available in this collection.  In Who Lives in the Sea?, viewers will meet dolphins, sea lions, sharks, octopi, blue footed boobies, and other unique ocean life. Information is accompanied by fascinating underwater photography and catchy music.

Dive Into Diversity. Journey under the sea and learn how ocean creatures depend on each other for survival. Explore the depths of the ocean and learn what happens at night.

Not only did we enjoy and learn a lot from the DVD, we are looking forward to incorporating the educator's guide into our curriculum this fall! Each of the DVDs has accompanying educators’ guides. There are two editions for each title; PreK/K and Grades 1-3. They feature background information about all the topics presented on the DVD and many activities which correspond with each featured topic. These activities cover math, language arts, social studies as well as science.
All three DVD’s have three tracks; English, Spanish, and music only.

Each DVD sells for $19.95 and the guides are available as a printed version (as individual PDFs) for $69.95 or $299 for the whole set. As a special for The Old Schoolhouse Magazine and followers Annie Crawley of Dive Into Your Imagination (on Facebook), she will gift you a set of PDFs with purchase of the DVDs. When you place your DVD order, just let her know in the notes that you are a Homeschool Parent!

Read what other crew members are saying about other Dive Into Your Imagination videos on the TOS Blog. If you decide to buy one, shipping is free!

**Disclosure: My review and opinion written in this post is entirely my own. This product was provided to me for free in exchange for my review as a member of the 2011-2012 The Old Schoolhouse Magazine Homeschool Crew.