TOS Crew Review: Pearson Homeschool EnVision Math

 

Pearson Homeschooling offers complete build-your-own core curriculum packages for grades Pre-K - 12 at affordable prices for homeschooling families. On the home page of their website you can choose your state from a pull-down menu that links directly to your state's homeschooling requirements!  The Program components Pearson offers are all well-researched and proven effective. On the website, for each element there is a heading called "Research and Validity" that lists the specific studies done proving its effectiveness.

When I opened the package from Pearson with the gorgeous enVision Math Grade 3 book in it, I was really excited.... and a little nervous. You see, all year long we'd been using a math program that was a completely different format than the typical public school math book, and the enVision book, while colorful, looked kind of like...standard PS fare. 

Joshua had been doing so well with our chosen curriculum that I was hesitant to add confusion with such a completely different approach. I really shouldn't have worried.

At all.

He opened the book to the introduction/test prep pages in the beginning and dove in. My son is 8 years old and a very strong reader, who loves (LOVES) history, and this little Math book is stuffed full of interesting historical facts like I've never even *imagined* a math book could possibly be. He was lost in the book, reading through it, searching for the little boxes to tell him more, more, more facts, then popping his nose up above the edge of the book to tell me things like, "In 1818 a law was passed that the flag should always have 13 stripes and there should be one star for each state!", and "The Space Needle is 605 feet tall!", or "A giraffe weighs 4,255 pounds!!!". Really? Giraffes?! Wow.

What an interesting way to get my son excited about doing his math lesson: "You can't read ahead until you've finished this page, Joshua!"

As this is a standard, non-consumable text book with no corresponding workbook, it took him a while to get used to writing his answers on a separate sheet of paper, but once he got the hang of it he did fine. The Teacher's Edition CDROM also give you the option of printing out each page so the problems can be worked on the page, though we didn't opt to go that route ourselves.

In the beginning of the book is a little 12 page "Problem-Solving Handbook" with specific strategies for problem solving, including detailed work-throughs, pictures, and examples. Strategies include: draw a picture, make a table, look for pattern, act it out, work backward, and solve a simpler problem. No matter how your child learns, there is something useful in the PSH to help them help themselves when stuck on a problem. It is meant to be used through out the course as a handy reference tool.

For my son, who is a strong reader and very interested in the real-life fact-based problems used in this format, enVision Math Grade 3 works very, very well. We will continue to use this as our 3rd grade math curriculum for Joshua even though some of it will be review material that he has previously covered. I know the addition of real-life problems will only reinforce these math facts in his mind!

I do, however, think the layout and bright colors could be distracting for a special needs child, one who is on the spectrum, or one who is easily overwhelmed with busyness. If your child is not a strong reader, the reading comprehension in this book might be adding too much at one time.

We received the enVision Math 3rd Grade bundle, which includes Student Edition text book, Teacher Edition CD-ROM, Parent Guide, and Mind-Point Quiz Show CD-ROM. This bundle is available here for $99.99

Click on the link below to read what our other Schoolhouse Review Crew is saying about enVision Math Grade 3 and other Pearson Homeschool products!

Disclaimer: I received this product free of charge in exchange for an honest review. All opinions here are my own.

 



 

TOS Crew Review: Dive Into Your Imagination

Dive Into Your Imagination is a production company started by Annie Crawley, an underwater cinematographer and educator, who hopes to change the way a new generation views the ocean. Because we "protect what we love", says Annie, the goal of Dive Into Your Imagination is to help people of all ages fall in love with our ocean!

While the goal and purpose of the educational videos and guides is to help people of all ages fall in love with the ocean and its beautiful creatures, it's not all pretty pictures and basic information. By engaging the wonderful tool of Imagination within the context of learning pertinent facts and starting in-depth conversations, these videos and the corresponding Educator Guides become a relevant and useful tool in a classroom or homeschool setting.

Great effort has been put into gathering together a set of activities and curriculum that meets up with the CCSS (Common Core State Standards) not only in the area of Science, but Math and Literacy as well. Furthermore, the lesson plans are also designed to achieve benchmarks for the Mid-continent Research for Education and Learning, and Ocean Literacy Standards. Yep, not only is Annie passionate about getting us all to LOVE our oceans, she's also passionate about providing relevant curriculum that meets or exceeds our expectations and provides a fact-based platform for learning to have that Love relationship!

We were sent a copy of the DVD "Who Lives in the Sea?" and given access to the corresponding educator guides pdf files for grades PreK/K and 1-3. Both individual guides have over 300 pages each, containing a wealth of information and ideas. Each chapter corresponds with a portion of the video and includes a list of required materials, objectives, character education, treasure chest of vocabulary words, imagination play script, classroom activity stations (really cool!), extension ideas (including lots of suggested books!), CCSS alignment, and more!


Educator Guides

If you have children who are interested in knowing more about sea creatures, have a classroom of curious kids that you want to give sea-life unit studies to, or have an interest in spreading love for our oceans to the grandkids in your life, this might be a great resource for you!

The Who Lives in the Sea DVD is part of a series. Each DVD is available for $19.95.
The Educator Guides are available as a printed version for $299 (for the set of two grade level guides pertaining to each DVD) or as individual PDFs for $69.95. As a special for the Homeschool Crew and The Old Schoolhouse Magazine and followers Annie Crawley (of Dive Into Your Imagination) will provide a set of PDFs with purchase of the DVDs FREE of charge! When you place your DVD order, just let her know in the notes that you are a Homeschool Parent! What a great deal!


With products from books to DVDs to colorful greeting cards, there is something to engage the hearts and imaginations of everyone in the Dive Into Your Imagination store!

We found that watching through the video straight through was an enjoyable rainy-day activity, though the overall feel of the speech and songs had more of a preschool feel than an elementary feel. We did watch this several times before diving into one of the chapters of the educator guide for grades 1-3. By that time, the kids were very familiar with dolphins and coming up with answers to the discussion questions was automatic. The kids had a blast pretending to be scuba divers and then pretending to be a pod of dolphins! I was very pleased with the conversations we had about how there are stories of dolphins protecting humans, "So why don't humans protect dolphins?". They enjoyed the activities and worksheets, and I found the Educator Guides to be thorough, arranged well for ease-of-use, and of top quality. I'm not sure what format the printed version of the guides is, but if the pdf version is any indication, you won't be disappointed if you make that purchase for your classroom.

To read what other TOS Crewmembers are saying about Dive Into Your Imagination: Who Lives in the Sea? and other DIYI products, go to the Crew blog post here!


  

Disclaimer: As always, I was provided with this product free of charge in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

The Blue Ribbon Awards!

How exciting to come to the end of the year and be able to present to you ~ 

the 2011-2012 TOS Homeschool Crew Blue Ribbon Award Winners!

As the 2011-2012 Crew year comes to a close, we are once again presenting awards to our vendors. The awards are known as the TOS Homeschool Crew Blue Ribbon Awards. The following vendors are the recipients of the award this year. Click on their name to check out the Crew reviews!

Favorite Reading Instruction Product: Reading Eggs / My Review
Favorite Writing Product: Write Shop
Favorite Language Arts Product: Progeny Press
Favorite Social Studies Product: TruthQuest History / My Review
Favorite Science Product: Amazing Science / My Review
Favorite Math Product: Math Mammoth
Favorite Online Math Product: Math Rider
Favorite Foreign Language Product: Visual Latin
Favorite Fine Arts Product: Artistic Pursuits
Favorite Christian Education Product: Apologia: Who Am I? / My Review

~~~ 

Favorite Preschool Product: Before Five in a Row
Favorite Elementary Product: All About Reading
Favorite Middle School Product: Write with WORLD
Favorite High School Product: Excellence in Literature
Favorite College or College-Prep Product: Excellence in Literature

~~~ 

Best Online Resource: Reading Eggs / My Review
Best e-Product: Heritage History
Best Homeschool Resource: Apologia: Educating the Wholehearted Child
Best Book, Novel, or Magazine: Apologia: How to Have a HEART for Your Kids / My Review
Best Children's Book: Amazing Animals by Design
Best Game or Toy: Northstar Games: Wits and Wagers and Say Anything
Best Hands-On Resource: Pitsco Education

~~~ 

Best Resource I Didn't Know I Needed: eMeals
Best Customer Service: K5 Learning
Most Adaptable Resource: Creek Edge Press
Most Family-Oriented Resource: Northstar Games: Wits and Wagers and Say Anything

 ~~~ 

Kids' Choice (favorite of CHILDREN ages 0-12): Reading Eggs / My Review
Teens' Choice (favorite per the TEENAGERS): Pitsco Education
All Around Crew Favorite: Visual Latin    

Each winning vendor has received this wonderful award to display with pride:

  Congratulations to our winning vendors! We hope you will sail with us again!  

Many Crew Members are blogging about these awards as well. Click below to see what they have to say! Powered by Linky Tools Click here to see the Crew Blog Posts...

TOS Crew Review: CapJaxMathFax

Say that ten times really fast! "CapJaxMathFax!".

Yep, say it and you'll get a little bit of the picture CapJaxMathFax is trying to convey - building lightening quick response times to the boring old math facts your kids need to learn!

CapJaxMathFax is a computer program that "Supercharges math fact memorization" by offering a performance/reward based drilling exercise of the four basic math tables: addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division. It works with essentially any math curriculum to help your child not just familiarize themselves with the math facts, but to give them confidence in their ability to recall them with lightening quick accuracy.

The program itself is quite simple and easy to use. No fancy animated characters flying around the screen (Yay!) or even multiple screens for multiple areas. CapJaxMathFax is a program that completely focuses on getting your child proficient in the four math tables and does away with all the fluff!

As the educator, you can set the number of problems in a set and then the program automatically generates problems at random at the level that your child is at. No repetition, no flash cards, no monitoring to make sure they're working with the right set of questions.

CapJaxMathFax is rewarding based on performance and proficiency. Each problem is given only at the prompting of the student (it's not automatic so the student does not feel like there is a timer ready to go off in between problems!), the response is recorded, then an immediate positive statement if the problem was answered correctly or a "try again" if the answer was incorrect. The response is timed and displayed back to the student when the correct answer is given. If the student answers correctly on the first try within 3 seconds (adjustable to suit student), it's a Super Answer!

Students can play for practice or can play for ratings. The rating is based on a points system and gives the student a visual of the progress they are making. In addition to that, you can separately purchase a set of "Merit Badge" buttons to pin on backpacks or shirts to really make sure the student feels rewarded for their work and getting the recognition that gives forward momentum!

 

We used this program with our 2nd grade son, Joshua. I really liked the simplicity of the program and the way it waited for him to be ready to move on to the next problem and prompt the computer before moving forward. He could go as fast or slow as he needed to and there was always that pause of recovery time in between problems that reduced the stress of anticipation. He LOVED it when he got a Super Answer! within the 3 second time limit and enjoyed watching his ratings go up. I found that his drive to watch his ratings go up made him want to keep going and going until he got a better rating, but then he'd be sick of it and not want to do it at all for several days. Using it in smaller intervals more consistently is recommended for exactly that reason! Of course, you can always set smaller goals than the 1000 rating to reward the students with something more tangible and encourage that consistent use that really makes the difference!

I've heard from several other homeschooling moms in just the past month that as they arrived at the end of the school year they were finding their child was not as proficient in the four basic math tables as they needed to be! If you find yourself saying the same thing, look no further than CapJaxMathFax!

In fact, CapJaxMathFax has provided a free evaluation for YOU to try them out and see how fast your child improves on their math facts!

  

Go HERE to get CapJaxMathFax downloaded on your computer now for $29.95 (one year annual license for up to 10 students)

Or have them ship the software to you for $35.90 + shipping!

Merit Badges are available for purchase for $4.00 w/free shipping!

  To read what other TOS Crew Members are saying about CapJaxMathFax, check out the Crew blog post HERE!

Disclaimer: As always, this product has been provided to me for use in my own homeschool with my own family free of charge in exchange for an honest review and nothing more. All opinions here are my own.

TOS Crew Review - Amazing Science! Vol. 1

ScienceandMath.Com offers science experiment and math tutorial videos to help your kids learn difficult concepts and gain curiosity in the world of science.

We were sent a copy of their 2-disc DVD set: Amazing Science! Volume 1.

With 23 different science experiments to choose from, this video is bound to keep your family hopping for quite some time! Each chapter begins with a list of materials that you need to have before beginning the experiment. If you find that you don't quite have everything handy that you'll need - that's okay! Try a different chapter and come back to that one. These experiments are individually done and not sequential. It's fine to skip around and find ones that work for your family.

My daughters were less than excited when we opened the package. My son, however, took one look and his eyes lit up! Science! Experiments! Woohoo!

"Can I watch it right now?", he asked.

"Sure!", I answered. Little did I know how my plan for the rest of the day was going to completely change!

He literally watched the first experiment demonstration standing up in front of the TV, then he ran to the kitchen, gathering up the materials he needed to copy the Color Changing Milk experiment, shouting for his sisters to come watch, and jumped in feet first as soon as I said, "Go for it!".

He then watched several other experiment chapters and wanted to try them ALL that day, but we needed to plan a little bit for some of them. The next day he was back at it, helping me find just the right bottle, hard boiled a few eggs, and waited impatiently for Dad to get home so we could do the Egg in a Bottle experiment.


As you can see, the whole family enjoyed this one!

I do think there was room for a little more step-by-step breakdown of the basic science behind the experiments. I appreciated the detailed instructions, the list of materials needed at the beginning of each chapter, and the excitement of the presentation. More lower-level science building block information would be a beneficial addition.

There is no denying, however, that this set of DVDs excited my children, made them want to learn more about science, and was far more engaging of their little minds than any old science book will ever be. What's more, it engaged me.

Teaching science to my kids no longer involved me opening one more book, trying to figure out for myself how to best turn it into a hands-on learning experience, and dreading the set ups, explosions, and messes that may come with it. Instead, watching the experiments simply demonstrated for me walked me through the processes in a fun way and made it seem far less overwhelming.

Other experiments include: Build a Lemon Battery, Floating Eggs, Build a Motor with Lights, Invisible Ink, and Simple Lava Lamp. 

The 2 DVD set of Amazing Science! Volume 1 retails for $24.95 on sale right now for $19.95!
Or download it for just $17.99!






You can also read what other TOS Crew Members are saying about Amazing Science! Volume 1 on the TOS Crew Blog! 

 As always, I have been given a version of this product free of charge to use in our own home in exchange for an honest review. All opinions here are my own.

And.... just for laughs... here's the post-egg-in-a-bottle out take:

TOS Crew Review: TruthQuest History

Looking for an alternative to the standard public school history textbook? TruthQuest History is a series of guides focused on sharing REAL stories of history with your children!

As printed on their guides, their philosophy is this:
"God initiates...
People respond...
History happens."

It's a radically different way to think about, study, and teach history. Rather than the human-centered perspective on history given with dry facts in order to pass multiple-choice tests, these guides, through stories that bring those facts to life, help us see how God has led the paths of people throughout history.

Let me be clear, here, though. Yes, these guides are to encourage a Christian Worldview foundation, but the books compiled in these guides are available at your local library, bookstore, or at book swaps, etc. No, these recommended books are NOT used to teach doctrine in any way, nor do you have to go to such-and-such a church to find these books in a particular sect's library.

We were provided with a pdf version of American History for Young Students II (1800-1865), a guide for students grades 1-5.



Leading out each topic is a short synopsis to read together, followed by a list of suggested reading, with "ThinkWrite" activities sprinkled in to get the feedback flowing.

The list of suggested reading is daunting, but don't let it overwhelm you! These are options - not requirements! Use the resources you have available, get picky about what you want to read, or let your child's interest sway you in a particular direction.

We decided to focus on The Civil War, in particular, The Battle of Shiloh, since we are "field tripping it" down to Tennessee for the 150th Anniversary memorials taking place the first weekend of April.

First order of business: go to the library and see how many of the reading list books I could find! I carefully printed out the wrong pages (oops!) of the pdf file and off we went. Of course, since I'd already driven the 30 miles to the library and had no intention of making a second trip unless it was absolutely necessary, I found myself taking to heart the directive: "You are always free to choose whatever is preferred or readily available." So I searched through the available resources at the library and came home with a stack of books, a few music CDs, and a huge question mark over my head. I couldn't help but wonder if I was "doing it right" or what the end goal really was.

I prefer to use all-encompassing text books. Really. Having a lesson clearly outlined, with objectives stated and comprehension questions at the end is much less stress for me! But as I plugged away at the reading and listened to the questions my kids were asking, I found that they were enjoying this way of learning and gaining a great deal from it!

Joshua (8) particularly enjoyed this subject and the way it was taught. Emmy, however, just barely put up with it. Perhaps that was because by the end of it, Joshua was marching around with his homemade drum singing, "Glory, glory, hallelujah!" over and over and over...

Three of the books I (randomly) brought home from the library were on our list and I focused on those during our reading time. I also brought home songs of the Civil War CDs and a book on crafts for kids to do. Combining these resources made a deep impression on all of us.

It was good to be pushed to think outside the box, to rely less on things that spoon-feed and a little more on real, vivid, story-telling to get history to come to life! I did not focus on any of the biographies that are integral to the timeline of the TruthQuest History Guides. But just looking through them makes me excited to think of the fun my kids will have as we read about Davy Crocket, John Deere, and Clara Barton. I was also pleased to see that one of the recommended resources for some of these stories is Your Story Hour, one of our family's favorite history resources!

The TruthQuest History Guide: American History for Young Students II (1800-1865) is available for purchase here in printed form for $24.95 or in pdf format for $19.95.

Companion resources and additional guides for all grade levels are also available.

You can go here to read more about how to use these guides and see the FAQs.

Go here to read more TOS Crew reviews on this products and others from TruthQuest History!


As always, I was provided with this product free of charge in return for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

TOS Review: Reading Eggs!

Reading Eggs is an online program where kids learn to read!

There are no downloads, no software purchasing to do, just a simple, online-only subscription-based program.

We have tried several different programs this year to facilitate the learning to read process. This one was hands-down the girls' favorite! They never once called it "school", complained or whined when I asked them to sit down for Reading Eggs time, and instead asked to "play" their Reading Eggs "Game" often.

When one girl was on Reading Eggs, the other was invariably sitting next to her, watching. They both enjoyed it immensely!



First order of business: take the reading test to be placed at the right level. I was amazed that Emmy tested at a much higher level than I expected. She is still a little bit behind grade/age level, but is making great progress now towards the end of the year!

After both girls took their placement tests, they began work on their lessons. I don't even know where to begin! The website is such an easy layout, so intuitive, that after a session or two with each child, I needed to supervise their use of the program very, very little. The lessons are set up as a path to follow from one end to the other, with a big arrow pointing to where the student needs to click next. On the left side of the screen is an easy-to-read option spot where they can leave their lesson and go to their other choices, such as Playroom, Story Factory, Arcade, My House, etc. More options become available as the child progresses through the lessons.

The Playroom really looked like a playroom that any child would love to dive into at the end of a lesson time! You could choose any number of simple activities from blocks to puzzles, painting to book reading. Emmy's favorite was the painting. Every time.



Golden Eggs are earned by completing lessons which can then be used to choose games to play in the arcade. The arcade was actually explored very little as the girls found the lessons to be fun and entertaining on their own!

The parent interface is also very easy to use, easy to navigate. At the dashboard, you can choose each child from a drop-down menu to see their progress reports, what they've recently completed, and their estimated reading-age, phonics skills, and sight words. You can also go to the Free Activity Sheet page and download activity pages to go with each lesson!

Reading Eggs is for children just learning to read, ages 4-7. There are 100 lessons and they are currently working on more lessons to extend this part of the learning process for older kids who still struggle with the basics. If you have a child who reads the basics well but might need a little extra help with reading comprehension, Reading Eggs also offers Reading Eggspress! Geared toward the 7-13 year old crowd, this interactive learning tool teaches lifelong reading skills.



Occasionally Elayna (age 4) would become confused and need help with her lesson. At those times, I would come to the computer to help her and look for an easy button that would repeat the instructions so I could hear it and quickly move on. There isn't one. At first I found that frustrating for myself as a johnny-come-lately helper, but the more I thought about it, the more I realized it was teaching my children the importance of listening carefully to instructions the first time. And not once were we stumped for more than a minute or two. With a little bit of trial and error, deductive reasoning, and patience, Elayna found she really could figure out what needed to be done!

We found this to be just the right amount of interaction, animation, and graphics/sound for our family. There is not constant movement and music, which is important for us because I have one child who is easily overwhelmed when there's too much going on!

I see this as a great tool for any classroom, homeschool or not!

Pricing for Reading Eggs/Eggspress subscriptions are:
$9.95/month per student or..
$49.95 for 6 months (add a second child for an additional $24.95 - a 50% discount!)
$75.00 for 12 months (add a second child for $37.50!)

Sign up for your Free Trial here! No credit card is required, and you can sign up for up to 3 children!

As with all of my TOS Crew reviews, this product was provided to me for use in my own homeschool classroom free of charge in exchange for an honest review of the product and how we used it personally. I was provided access to the Reading Eggs program for one child for three months.



To read more reviews about this product by other TOS Crew members, go here!

TOS Crew Review: Apologia: Who Am I?

As a new homeschooler, listening to the advice of older, more experienced homeschool moms, I've gathered information here and there about various curriculum choices. One thing has been consistent in their words of advice: check out Apologia!


We were provided with a copy of Apologia Press's textbook: Who Am I? And What Am I Doing Here? (Biblical Worldview of Self Image), along with the corresponding Audio CD, Notebooking Journal, and Coloring Book.

Although I've previously reviewed one of their books, this was the first opportunity to use one of their curriculum sets. WOW. I was impressed by the incredibly thorough approach to teaching Christian Worldview to students ages 6-14.

Who Am I? is the second book in the "What We Believe" series of Apologia Press textbooks. Other titles include: Who is God? Who is My Neighbor? and What on Earth Can I Do?. This series is intended to be taught in as little as two years or as many as four, though I really do believe this could be a rotating curriculum that could be used again as your children grow. It is written at the 5th-6th grade reading level, so while at this point I have been reading this with the kids, there will come a time when they can study independently and more in-depth.

The hardcover Textbook has an in-depth introduction that includes ideas for lesson plans and instructions on how to access the online book extras (which include teacher helps, notebooking pages, etc.). The Notebooking Journal has a sturdy ring binding for ease of use, the pages have beautiful backgrounds and illustrations, and the front contains a more specific lesson plan to utilize if you choose. Each lesson is set up to be taught over a three week period, two days per week, and can be easily personalized to the needs of your student(s).



We were indeed impressed with the Who Am I? Coloring Book as well! It provided a visual exercise to keep the hands busy while I read the lesson and the stories from the textbook. I found it surprising how well something as simple as a coloring book added so much to the teaching and retention of the lessons! It was often the first thing Joshua asked for when we started school: "Mom, can I get out the Coloring Book while you read the stories?". If I had had three copies of the Coloring Book, one also for each of the girls, it would have been an awesome addition to our school day. In the future, when considering more of these curriculum sets, I will add in the Coloring Book for even the youngest members of the family to draw them into the lesson as the older kids listen.

Joshua (2nd grade) loved the stories.

Let me say that again: He LOVED the stories.

Right away, from the first story of a little boy in Russia who was born with a disability and things to overcome, he was drawn into a new realm of thought towards God's purposes for each and every life. God doesn't make mistakes. Right now Joshua doesn't live with a disability that makes him outwardly "different", but inside his body, he was born with a broken heart. This story and the lesson surrounding it brought out some amazing, deep, soul-searching conversations. And that was just Lesson 1!

Joshua was fascinated by the cultural aspects of the stories involving children of other countries, or living in our culture, but being raised in another faith with vastly differing cultural aspects. Reading the story of Amira, a Muslim girl living in London, Joshua was fascinated by the prayers, the differing responsibilities and restrictions between boys and girls, and the fact that they keep Friday as a holy day!

In each story he was able to discern ways in which the child was similar to him and ways he or she was different. Of course, the perfect common denominator in every single life is that we are all created in the image of God. Not one person, on any continent, in any culture, speaking any language, is NOT created in the image of God and for a specific purpose. What a beautiful thing to see a child learn that and soak it into their soul! Truly, as I read these stories and affirmations of God's purpose for the lives of each person on the earth, including each of my precious children, and myself.... it soaked into my soul a little bit more, too.

I've watched Joshua's thoughts change as he goes about his day and does his normal routine activities. He looks for ways, now, to find his talents and use them for the glory of God. At times the lessons seem to repeat themselves, saying the same thing in slightly different ways, yet that restating of the same principle seems to have truly had an impact.

The Notebooking Journal includes two pages for each lesson where your student will copy and memorize two Bible verses. The authors chose each verse with specific reasons: the first verse is to express the main idea of the lesson, the second is to help your child learn and develop a Biblical character trait.

Who Am I? And What Am I Doing Here? Is a collaborative effort written by authors of various denominations with the specific idea in mind that a Christian Worldview be conveyed and taught without the hindrance of doctrinal arguments. It is non-denominational, therefore, and can be taught by homeschoolers and used by Christian schools of many faiths.

Using the Textbook, Notebooking Journal, and Coloring Book has been nearly planning-free for me. It is well organized and quite self-explanatory to work through. I would expect a 4th or 5th grader to easily be able to work through the book with little direction. We were not able to use the Audio CD in our homeschool, but that is also available to older students who can work independently and is a great resource for those who learn better through listening rather than reading. It is a full audio version of the Textbook read by Emmy winner Marissa Leinart.

If you are looking for homeschooling resources that are high-quality, long-lasting, well researched, and incredibly thorough, Apologia Press is where to look. I have found all of those qualities in this Christian Worldview curriculum set and more.

You can find the Who Am I? books and extras here!

If you have more questions about the What We Believe series, this links you to the FAQ pdf document.

Below is a list of the prices for the items we received and links to take you directly to each item.

Who Am I? Textbook: $39.00
Who Am I? Audio CD: $19.00
Who Am I? Notebooking Journal: $24.00
Who Am I? Coloring Book: $8.00

To read more reviews of this product check out the TOS Homeschool blog here.

I received these homeschool books and extras free of charge in return for an honest review. All opinions and experiences written here are mine.

TOS Review - Zeezok Publishing "Z-Guides to the Movies"

Zeezok Publishing is a company that provides quality literature and educational books, focusing on historical values for higher living. They believe "It is better to build children than to repair men.", and hope their products will inspire a greater love for God and country.


One of their products, the Z-Guides to the Movies, we were fortunate enough to have the chance to review. A Z-Guide to the Movies is a unit study meant to enforce, in a graphic and memorable way, a history lesson! There are Z-Guides available for many well-known titles depicting stories set in time periods such as Kit Kitredge for studying the time of the Great Depression, The Red Badge of Courage (War between the States), The Adventures of Robin Hood (Medieval Europe), and so on.

The Z-Guides are specific to school-grade level (high school, middle school, elementary school or elementary/middle) and we were chosen for the Elementary level Z-Guide for Ben-Hur!


The great majority of the Z-Guides currently available are for the high school crowd, and I wasn't sure what Joshua would think of the movie we chose considering its length and depth, but he was, of course, absolutely fascinated by the chariot races!

There were some parts of the movie that we considered to be too graphic or disturbing for our 8 year old son, but even with the viewing being slightly censored he was able to grasp most of the concepts that were discussed in the review questions part of the guide.

For him the best part of the Z-Guide activities was the assignment of making a "travel brochure" for chariot races. I helped him do some online research, found a few new facts, and had a great time making some illustrations, cutting out pictures we printed, and so on.

There were also a word search, creative writing, storyboard art project, civic involvement exercise, a research activity, a review of a conversation in the movie, a worldview activity, and a critical thinking summary. The Z-Guide also gives suggestions for family discussions, gives resources for further study, and comes complete with an answer key.

Just a word of advice on that word search, though: it is missing the bottom line - check the answer key for help on that one!

The Z-Guide includes activities to be completed over several days, it's not a one-day unit study type of project. We tried to stuff the whole viewing of the movie in one afternoon and it was too much. It would have been better if we'd gone a little slower with that part and given more time to let it sink in and discuss over a few nights!

The girls are just getting into American Girl dolls and I am actually looking forward to the time when they can enjoy the movie Kit Kittredge and learn about the Depression while doing a Z-Guide to the Movies!

Z-Guide to the Movies are available for $12.99 and if you don't own the movie or are unsure of which version is to be used with the Z-Guide, the movie itself is also available for purchase right there on the Zeezok website!

You can read more about what a Z-Guide is here!

I was provided with a downloadable Z-Guide to the Movies file free of charge in exchange for an honest review and nothing more. All opinions here are my own!

To see what other TOS Crew members are saying about Zeezok's Z-Guides to the Movies, you can read them here at the TOS blog!

TOS Review - The Reading Game

The Reading Game is a fast action memory card game to teach sight words to early learners. From the author of Wordly Wise, Kenneth Hodgkinson, this game includes 6 illustrated story books, 6 decks of matching play cards, and a Teacher/Parent Guide.



The first story uses only 30 words, which are also found in the first deck of cards. You play the game just like you would with any memory matching game, all the cards face down, with each player turning over two cards at a time and trying to match them up. Each card has nothing else but a single word on it, so the student must go only on the knowledge of the letters rather than on a picture to lean on as a crutch. Once the two matching cards are found, the player must repeat the word on the cards several times in quick succession to get the point!

Once those words are mastered (there is a test question section in the guide) then you can move on to the next set of cards. There are six sets in each deck (and one deck per book) to complete, by which time the student will know 30 words by sight and will be able to read the first book, Skunk!

Each deck and each book build upon another until at the completion of the program the student will know 180 words!

We enjoyed the stories very much, and the kids quickly caught on to the memory-matching premise of the game. We used it sporadically, however, because we are using a completely different method of learning to read than sight words. It soon lost its draw for my 4 year old, and my 8 year old spent his time helping the 4 year old play the game. My 6 year old, however, did benefit from the game play as good reinforcement of the words that she knows, but does not quickly or instantly come up with on her own. It helped speed up her process of reading through recognition of these common words. Now she can focus a little more on the more difficult ones!

For those who enjoy or are already using the sight words method (my son was taught to read in large by this method at his former school) this would make an excellent aid. A fast-paced, non-frustrating way to have fun and learn, too!

You can purchase The Reading Game here and watch an informative video on how the game works! The Reading Game retails for $24.95.

We were provided The Reading Game for free in exchange for an honest review and nothing more.

To read more reviews from other TOS Crewmembers on this product, click here.

TOS Review - The Person I Marry - Bower Books

Bower Family Books is a family-run self-publishing company that offers an array of books that are written by Gary Bower and illustrated by his wife of 33 years, Jan Bower. Together they are raising and homeschooling their 12 children in addition to publishing and marketing their books!

These beautiful books are designed instill Christian values like love, respect, kindness, honor in a way that appeals to both young and old, single or married. They are written in a way that draws the heart gently towards an ideal or Biblical principle, things that I want their little hearts to be pulled towards!

We were given to review a digital copy of the book, The Person I Marry, book two in the Bright Future series, which includes the titles: The Person I Marry, What Do Heroes Wear?, The Jingle In My Pocket, There's a Party In Heaven, and The Garden Where I Grow (coming in 2012)

I have to admit: I read this several times to the children and not once did I manage to get all the way through it without choking up once or twice. I really should have previewed the book before diving straight into reading it aloud with the kids gathered around me. The first time included streaming tears, horn-blowing nose, and bewildered children! It reminded me of how much I want to instill these thoughts in their minds as they grow into young men and women and begin to look for their own life partner, and, of course, reminded me of how small my time with them really is.

We read it several times, the kids enjoyed it, I managed to make it through without complete emotional melt-down (occasionally with the help of distraction - oh, look at that pretty picture! *cough*splutter*) and overall I would give this a hearty thumbs-up! I'd love to own this in hardcopy!

The only drawback to the copy we received for review was that it was a digital copy. We had to gather around the computer to read it, but we pulled up a couple of chairs, snuggled a couple of kids on my lap, and we were good to go.

The books you order online, however, are all hardcopy, so this would not be an issue for you were you to purchase one. I do think it would be neat to be able to download this onto a portable reader at some point, though, and take it with us. The Person I Marry is hardcover, 32 pages, and retails for $11.99.

When I first read through the book (in between the tears) I thought the style and pictures looked somewhat familiar, but it wasn't until I really read through the website later that I realized that I've seen these books in local bookstores! Located near Traverse City, MI, these folks are practically my neighbors! I've seen their I'm a Michigan Kid! books and I'll be keeping my eye out for others as well now.

The Person I Marry is priced very reasonably at $11.99 on their website. This title and others are currently on sale here.

To preview a little of this book, watch this video!

The Person I Marry from Bower Books on Vimeo.

To read what other This Old Schoolhouse Crew members are saying about Bower Family Books' The Person I Marry, go here!

I received a digital copy of this book for free in exchange for an honest review and nothing more.

TOS Review - Ooka Island Adventure

Ooka Island Adventure is a game-based learning program to teach young learners reading proficiency and bring them - upon completion - to the second grade reading level. Within the realm of a mythical island where the elves need to be rescued by the little student "adventurers", there are multi-level and sequential reading exercises and games to play to gain phonemic skills that aid in progression along the book-reading path. For every 5 books read successfully, one elf is rescued!



The 3-D graphics are phenomenal! The songs are fantastic! My kids were immediately drawn in by the colors, the sounds, and the promise of engaging activities! We had a little trouble with the avatar's head not showing up pretty much at all, but that didn't bother the kids as much as it did me!

The program is equipped with a voice recognition program that you can use with an external microphone to really take advantage of the reading help offered. Unfortunately, we don't have a microphone and we went through the books with the other option offered, reading with help. That worked just fine, however, it did make it more difficult to see how much Emmy was actually progressing for herself.

You must download a large file (try starting it just before you go to bed for best results!) and have high-speed internet in order to use the Ooka Island program, which are drawbacks for some, but well worth it if this program enables and encourages your child to read when they have been struggling!

For us, the program is at the right level for use with Emmy, my almost 6-year-old first grader. She struggles a bit with reading at the first grade level. The lower level books of the Ooka Island program were right on target for her. The graphics and 3-D type movement, however, seemed to overwhelm her. After about 20 minutes of successful time using the program, she would begin to seem very agitated and needed to unwind. Sitting with her as she played, I couldn't find any obvious reason for the agitation, such as trouble with the reading or frustration with a game or activity and could only conclude that, for her, with some sensory issues, it was too much input.

I think for kids at the same reading level as Emmy who are not dealing with sensory issues would find this to be very fascinating and engaging! It's a great alternative to non-educational computer and video games!

You can go to Ooka Island's website for more information and to watch videos about how their program is used!





You can go here for information on a free 14-day trial!

You can read more reviews from the TOS Crew on the Ooka Island program here!

Disclaimer: We were sent this program for FREE in exchange for my honest review on this blog. No other compensation was received. All opinions on this blog are my own.

AIMS Education Foundation - TOS Review!

I was able to receive a copy of AIMS Education Foundation's Getting Into Geometry book for Grades K-1 for review last month, and I am very happy to be able to share this with you!

AIMS Education Foundation is a non-profit foundation that provides hands-on science and math for students grades K-9 in an affordable, easy-to-use format.

They offer:

• Activity Books
  
• E-Activities
• Essential Math
• Classroom Sets
• Labs, Kits & Components
• Literature Links
• Math Resources
• Science Resources
• State Specific Science (for certain states)
• AIMS Magazine

The Activity Book that I was given to review -


Getting Into Geometry - is aimed for grades K-1 children and contains 48 activities and is 264 pages. Included with the book is a cd of printable worksheets to use, a very helpful tool to go with this book!

The book is laid out in very easy-to-use fashion, with lessons clearly outlined under headings such as, Key Question, Learning Goal, Management, Procedure, and Connected Learning, among others. The Procedure heading is broken into specifcs steps to follow in teaching a classroom about the concept for that lesson.

If there is a printable to go with that lesson, it will be found immediately following the lesson plan so you know exactly what you are looking for on the cd to print out in appropriate quantities for the children you are teaching.


I enjoyed the layout, the prep work was very minimal thanks to the very specific instructions and plan to follow. I used this with my grade 1 girl and pre-K girl and they enjoyed the activities very much and asked several times to do more! This appeals very much to a kinesthetic learner, but I believe every lesson in the AIMS products would as they have a philosophy about the most effective way to learn:

"At AIMS, we believe that hands-on math and science is the most effective way to develop conceptual understanding." - from the AIMS website, emphasis provided by me.

The lesson plans and activities are definitely aimed at being a tool for the classroom teacher, with multiple students to teach and direct in these hands-on activities, however, I did not find it terribly difficult to adjust to teaching only two children. I find Getting Into Geometry to be a valuable homeschool tool for me that I will continue to use this year and may branch out to other AIMS products for my son as well.

The beginning lessons start out very simplistic, but they do build upon each other and could be used over any period of time that you deem appropriate.

You can find the Getting Into Geometry book here at the AIMS Educational Foundation website for $24.95 or call 888.733.2467 for more information.

For more reviews on this and other AIMS Education Foundation products, you can see them here at the TOS crew blog!

*I received this product free of charge in return for an honest review only.

BigIQKids! TOS Review

Are you looking for a way to get your child to do the drills necessary to get math facts, spelling words, or U.S. Geography to stick in their little brains?

BigIQKids is an online program that teaches math, vocabulary, spelling, and United States geography in a simple, 10-15 minute a day approach!



There are free programs available:

• Spelling
• Math Facts
• U.S. States
• Vocabulary
• Spelling Game and Spelling Bee
• Vocabulary Game
• Ebooks
• Short & Long Vowel Program

There are also Premium Programs for a subscription fee in these subjects:

• Spelling Junior
• Math
• U.S. Geography

Acchttp://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gifording to the BigIQKids website, "The primary differences between the BigIQkids FREE and PREMIUM programs are the ability of the PREMIUM program to monitor the progress of the student and advance that student only when mastery of the subject matter has been achieved. "

The premium program also offers detailed progress reports including problem areas that can be emailed to the teacher or parent and a game center rewards program that includes receiving coins (to be used as credit toward game time) for every lesson completed!

Also available to premium program users is a "Big IQ Buddy" - a personalized buddy that the student can give character to, including hair color and clothing according to their choices. My kids actually did not choose to personalize these because they didn't want to use a game coin in order to do so! That Emmy was more interested in playing the games than choosing to make her buddy wear pink clothes says a lot about the fun games!



Pricing on all of the premium programs can be found here.

The Spelling Junior Premium Program is $7.99/mo. or $39.99/12 mo. for individual students or $99.99/12 mo. for a classroom (up to 32 students).

The Interactive Math Facts Program is $9.99/mo. or $49.99/12 mo. for individual students or $149.99/12 mo. for a classroom.

The U.S. States Interactive Program is $39.99/12 mo. for individual students and is only available to the classroom when purchasing the bundle.

Joshua particularly enjoyed the U.S. Geography program and asked to use it several times. It seemed at first to repeat the same lesson several times and each time you go back to it, though later I realized it goes through several rounds of the first level before moving on to the next until you reach the mastery of each section. It also points the arrow at the Intro section every time you return, which does not need to be repeated every day. Once you understand a few quirks like these, the program becomes more useful and easy to navigate.



The math program started out very frustrating for all of us. The default setting is for 50 questions, far too many for my 5 year old to do without being bored to tears. The 50 questions were also more than my 7 year old to do in the 10-15 minute window. It wasn't until I discovered that I could adjust how many questions were done per lesson that the tears stopped! The goal is to get each lesson chopped into that 10-15 minute interval so that the drill becomes a quick review of facts already learned to make recall faster and easier!



It wasn't as easy to navigate as I hoped it would be; jumping between programs is not always a one-click process and while my second-grader can read instructions and figure out what to do next, it still required my help and presence more than I would have liked. My first grader needed near constant supervision to avoid clicking on something that would kick her out somewhere else entirely.

On the lesson pages there are no ads, but the ads on the rest of the pages, including the log-in page and the after-log-in page where the student chooses the lesson are distracting.

I think this would likely be a great program for a classroom where the teacher can use it to quickly switch several students through the same lesson in quick succession before moving on. However, for a homeschooling family with one child on each level it is not quite as ideal. We will continue to use it, especiallhttp://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gify for the U.S. Geography program, for the rest of our one-year subscription.

I received my premium one-year subscription from BigIQKids in exchange for an honest review only.

Click here for more information or email BigIQKids at admin@BigIQKids.com!

You can read more reviews on BigIQKids over on the TOS Crew Blog!