Author Archives: Deanna

Wrapping Up Week 33 (2015-16)

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Weekly Wrap Up 2015-16
 Change is in the air.  Between finishing up with the curriculum we’ve been working through this year, review products we’ve added in, and looking ahead to the coming school year, this week has felt like we’ve entered a transitional period.  I’m excited about the direction we’re heading, and I look forward to sharing more about it after we officially close this year.

We kicked off the week with a choir festival, in which Ian got to both sing and and his first performance with handchimes.  It was a wonderful experience and fun reward for the last couple years of work he’s put in in our Friday music classes.

Choir Festival Collage

Science

Book of AstronomyWe’ve got a few science-related reviews coming up, but this week our main focus was the Book of Astronomy Set from Memoria Press.  I was really excited about this product, and so far it’s living up to my expectations.  This week we memorized the fifteen brightest stars and began learning about the constellations.  One night Ian came in from playing announcing that he’d found Orion’s belt, so we grabbed our book and headed outside to see how our picture of the constellation matched up with the real thing.  Another night we were out late and as we walked in from the car, Elijah said, “That looks like something to scoop up soup!”  Sure enough, he’d found the Big Dipper.

We’ve haven’t learned about Orion or the Big Dipper yet, so that was as far as our stargazing went those nights, but I’m thrilled to see the boys looking to the sky and recognizing the pictures that have captured man’s attention for thousands of years.  When I lived in rural Kenya back before I got married, I was so familiar with the stars in the night sky and always aware of the current phase of the moon, but now being back in busy, light-polluted Southern California I rarely look up or sense the rhythm of the heavenly bodies as the months pass by.  I am enjoying learning alongside my children as we “listen” to the heavens declaring the glory God.

stargazing

Computer Learning

We have grown so dependent on our computers this year, and when I cracked the screen on one of them a couple weeks ago it really disrupted our rhythm.  Thankfully, I was able to replace it this week (thank you, YouTube!), and so both boys are able to work at the same time.

Language Arts

Both boys spent quite a bit of time on Read, Write, and Type.  I love the extra spelling practice it is giving them.  Elijah seems determined to complete all ten levels, and I’m going to have both of them keep working toward that goal.  Ian has to work harder on spelling than his brother, and this will be a fun way to practice through the summer.  He also got started exploring Essential Skills Advantage.

History

Ian only as two lessons left in his Veritas Press Self-Paced History Course on the Middle Ages, Renaissance, and Reformation!  This has been one of our favorite things about this school year.  He’s always eager to get his history done, and it’s been a great introduction to the Classical method has he’s memorized the timeline and worked through the lessons.

Math

Ian is just a few lessons away from completing Teaching Textbooks Math 3.  I’ll give him the summer off before we continue onto Math 4.  For now, he’ll finish up his A+Interactive Math Mini-Course on time, since he’s still struggling to master reading a clock, and then just keep up with facts practice.  The boys have had a break from xtramath.org while the extra computer was down.  I’m dreading to see their scores next week.  For Elijah, summer math will consist of facts practice and completing the A+Interactive Math Mini-Course on money, but he’s still got a few weeks worth of MEP lessons left.

A few final thoughts

This week should see us finishing up most of our year’s curriculum, as well as the final choir performance for all three kids in the music program, but the boys still have several weeks left in their IEW class, plus working on our review products, so while things will be changing, we’re not quite looking at a full break just yet.

Upcoming Reviews

We’re enjoying several products right now, so watch for these reviews in the next few weeks:

 

Posted in Weekly Wrap Up

Learn to Read, Write & Type with Talking Fingers (Crew Review)

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Talking Fingers Review
Typing is an essential skill in today’s computer-dominated world, but my kids haven’t really spent any time learning it until now. When we got a chance to review Read, Write & Type from Talking Fingers Inc., I thought this might be a good chance to develop that skill.

About Talking Fingers

As the title implies, Read, Write & Type is more than just a typing program.  It is designed for students ages 6-8 who are learning to put together letter sounds to form words, so they’re working on multiple skills simultaneously.  Through colorful animation and a fun story line, they work through 10 levels to defeat a “virus” who’s causing trouble.  Along the way they practice letter and sound recognition, spelling, and correct finger placement on the keyboard.

Talking Fingers Inc. Review
When the student logs in, the program remembers what they were previously working on and lets them pick things up right where they left off.  Students can go back and practice previous lessons by clicking on different places around the “city” in the opening picture.  However, if they don’t want this review the program systematically takes them from skill to skill, so there is no guesswork about what they should be doing next.

Talking Fingers Inc. Review
The lessons contain a variety of activities practicing reading, putting words together, and typing with instruction on which fingers to use.  When each level is complete, the student earns a “Certificate of Merit,” which can be printed if desired.

certificate_zpsjgabjv3t
This program could also be a great tool for students learning English as a second language.  So many language programs just focus on conversational English, but Read, Write & Type teaches the literacy skills of reading and writing that they’ll need to be successful in school.  Voice-over help is available in nine languages: Arabic, Farsi, Japanese, Korean, Malaysian, Mandarin, Portuguese, Spanish and Tagalog.

Our Experience

Elijah (6) is within the target age range for Read, Write & Type, so I decided to use it with him.  He’s already a strong reader, so he didn’t really need that aspect of the program, but I was intrigued by the prospect of helping him learn to type.  He got started and didn’t want to stop!  Even within the first half hour, I could see that this was going to be really helpful.  Eli’s very comfortable on computers, but he’s always used the “hunt and peck” method when it came to typing.  Right away Read, Write & Type had him holding his hands in the proper position and using specific fingers to type each letter.  The repetition helped develop the muscle memory he needed to make the motion automatic (though I did have to remind him a few times to think use the correct hand/finger).

Talking Fingers
Of course, seeing Elijah having fun on something new set Ian to begging for a chance to try it.  I told him it’s probably too easy for him since he reads really well for an 8-year old, but he pointed out that he could use some help with typing.  I gave in and set him up with an account and he enthusiastically jumped on the other computer and tried to catch up with his brother.  (Competition can be so motivating!) I appreciated that it also gave my boys a chance to practice and feel successful at spelling.

We had a little bit of trouble when using Read, Write & Type on our newest computer running Windows 10.  For some reason when using the Chrome browser we were sometimes unable to type the letters required, so we just switched to the Edge browser and continued with no trouble.  (We didn’t have issues with Chrome on any other computer, just that one.)

I can’t really say how the program works for students just learning to read, but I could see it being a wonderful tool because it introduces each sound individually and repeats it throughout the lesson.  When it comes to typing, however, both my boys had a lot of fun and I could see definite improvement.  It makes so much sense to teach typing at the same time as learning to read, and I just may have to try Arianna on it when she seems ready.  I’m already considering moving the boys on to Wordy Qwerty, the sequel to Read, Write & Type, designed for 7-9 year olds.

Talking Fingers Inc. Review
Crew Disclaimer

Posted in Homeschool Resources, Product reviews

Homeschool Copywork Lifetime Membership (Crew Review)

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Homeschool Copywork Review
When I first began getting ready to homeschool my children, I was drawn to Charlotte Mason’s writings and incorporated many of her ideas.  One feature of a CM education is copywork: literally copying a written passage exactly, helping them absorb patterns of spelling, grammar, punctuation, capitalization, etc. as well as practicing handwriting.  It’s a simple tool to use, but sometimes finding interesting material can be time-consuming.  We were recently introduced to Homeschool Copywork, a wonderful resource with a large, varied selection of copywork ebooks ready to download and print.  We were given a Lifetime Membership, which allowed us to access all the available products to review.

About Homeschool Copywork

So often I come across homeschool resources that are wonderful but not really practical when you have more than one or two children.  I think what I appreciate most about Homeschool Copywork is that it is perfect for families like mine many ways:

  • Free membership level that lets you really get a feel for what the products are like (save those precious budget dollars!)
  • Products available for a wide range of ages/levels, from preschool through high school (something for everyone!)
  • Ability to print multiple copies for multiple students (no buying the same thing over and over!)

With a Lifetime Membership ($45), I’ll be able to find copywork for all five of my children in the years to come.  There’s also a 1-year membership available ($29.95) if that fits your family’s needs better.

Copywork can be a subject on its own, or you can use it so supplement another subject.  Homeschool Copywork has books related to Bible verses, hymns, science topics, holidays, historical figures (including several artists and composers), and more.  Depending on the level for which it is intended, pages use print, d’nealian manuscript, and/or cursive.  Line styles vary by level as well, but most of the books we used (see below) had multiple options.  There are also charming pictures on each page that go along with the passage being copied.  (The BONUS! Products section contains several sets of notebooking pages, which have blank lines with pictures.)

Animal Alphabet Armor of God Character Building Dragons of the Bible

Our Experience

Elijah is just finishing up Kindergarten, so it’s the first year I have required any writing from him.  He surprised me by how well he did with this copywork considering he hasn’t done much for a few months.  His handwriting has definitely improved over the course of this year!  He worked on pages out of the “Character Building Copywork” and “Armor of God Copywork,” which has smaller lines but still worked well for him.

Homeschool Copywork 1 Homeschool Copywork 1b

Ian has just recently been learning cursive, so I decided to use that for his copywork pages.  He definitely struggled on the pages that didn’t have a dotted middle line to guide him.  The cursive font was also a bit different that what he learned, so he found the extra loops and the higher starting points a bit confusing.  I told him to just go ahead and write the letters the way he learned them (if he could remember).  He’s usually my hardest to get motivated, so I loved having options that caught his interest.  He was immediately drawn to the “Dragons of the Bible” pages and also did some work in “Armor of God Copywork.”  The Dragons book has lots of awesome pictures, including several coloring pages without copywork.

Homeschool Copywork 2  Homeschool Copywork 2b

I was only planning to use Homeschool Copywork with the boys, but on a whim I decided to print a page of the Animal Copywork for Arianna.  She was so excited to be doing an assignment at the table next to the boys.  She hasn’t done any writing before except a little bit of work on learning to write her name, so I wasn’t sure how she would do.  She started out a little rough and got a little frustrated when I made her form letters correctly if she was doing them wrong, but she actually really enjoyed it and asked repeatedly to do more, especially after I told her there was a page for every letter of the alphabet and she could make a book out of them.  We’re not going in order, just letting her choose which animal she wants to work on.  I don’t know if her interest will hold out for all 26 letters, but I love her enthusiasm, and it’s definitely getting easier for her with the repetition.

Homeschool Copywork 3 Homeschool Copywork 4
Really, consistency is what makes copywork effective.  As we’ve drifted away from Charlotte Mason into a more eclectic approach I’ve forgotten what a useful tool it is.  After spending time with it on this review, I’d like to get all my writers into a copywork habit.  With such a broad range of subject matter, it will be easy to find something to interest all my children.  I love the pictures that accompany each page, and I appreciate the options for different handwriting styles.

I try to save my homeschool budget for items that will provide the most value for our large family.  I LOVE the lifetime membership option because I know I’ll have copywork at my fingertips not only for my three children doing schoolwork now, but in a few years when my little ones are ready to join them.

Homeschool Copywork Review
Crew Disclaimer

Posted in Homeschool Resources, Product reviews

Wrapping Up Week 32 (2015-16)

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Weekly Wrap Up 2015-16
 I love that my younger children have the benefit of learning alongside their older brothers, but sometimes I feel a little sad that they don’t get to do all the fun preschool activities I did with Ian (and a little with Elijah).  So when Daddy and the older boys headed off to a retreat together, I decided to work in some special preschool time with Arianna and Nicholas.

Arianna always wants to have a tea party when the boys are gone, and I find those are great times to pull out special books to read.  This time I pulled out three Before Five in a Row books: Jesse Bear, What Will You Wear?, Ask Mr. Bear, and Blueberries for Sal.  We got out the Wooden Bear Family Dress Up Puzzle I bought back when I first “rowed” Jesse Bear with Ian, and we made our craisins go “kuplink, kuplank, kuplunk” in the tin buckets I collected when I first “rowed” Blueberries for Sal” (no blueberries in the house, so cranberries had to do).  Then we had fun dancing around while watching Jana Alayra videos on YouTube.  It was so sweet to have time with just these two little ones for a while.

B4FIAR Teatime

Science

We’re about to start a review of a new science program, so I decided to finish up Our Planet Earth, completing the God’s Design for Heaven and Earth for the year.  (Woohoo!)  We finished learning about the planets (the gas giants, plus the two dwarf planets, Pluto and Eris), watching the rest of Wonders of God’s Creation: The Milky Way and our Solar System as well as The Solar System: Outer Gas Planets.

Then we really enjoyed learning about NASA and America’s exploration of space.  Lots and Lots of Roaring Rockets-Soaring Spacecraft is a wonderful video for kids about the history of the space program.  The boys saw it a couple years ago, but they both enjoyed watching it again.  (We have the DVD, which for some reason doesn’t work in our DVD player but works fine on the computer, so I recommend the streaming video.)

The boys and Daddy also kept up a continuing game of Solarquest: The Space-Age Real Estate Game all week.  They’ve gotten so familiar with the names of the moons of various planets through this game, and they loved it when they’d recognize them in the videos we watched.

History

Ian is down to the last three weeks of the Veritas Press Self-Paced History Course on the Middle Ages, Renaissance, and Reformation.  This week he studied Calvin and the Institute of Religion.  John CalvinIt wasn’t assigned in the course, but I had him read John Calvin: What is the truth? by Catherine Mackenzie to go along with the lesson.  I really like Mackenzie’s whole “Little Lights” series.  They are picture books about important people in Christian history.  Arianna has brought me several of them to read to her, and I love that she’s getting familiar with people like Corrie ten Boom and Amy Carmichael at four-years old.  Yet they’re not so simple that Ian can’t learn from them as well at eight.  (Plus he can easily read them on his own, which is always something I try to encourage in my reluctant reader.)  I’m glad I was able to add the whole series (14 books) to our family library.

Upcoming Reviews

I’ve published several reviews lately, but we’ve still got lots we’ll be sharing about in the weeks and months to come:

 

Posted in Weekly Wrap Up

Stopmotion Explosion (Crew Review)

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Stopmotion Explosion Review
One of my kids’ favorite things to do with Daddy is watch stopmotion videos made with their favorite toys on YouTube, so when we found out some of the Schoolhouse Review Crew was going to get to review the Stopmotion Explosion Animation Kit, we were eager to join in the fun.  Stopmotion Explosion generously provided us with everything we needed to get started making our own movies!

About Stopmotion Explosion

Stopmotion Explosion Review
The Stopmotion Explosion Animation Kit is perfect for beginners learning about the whole process.  It contains both the equipment and the instructions to help you get started:

I’m not a photographer, so I can’t really speak to the quality of the camera.  It worked fine for us and was simple to use with our computer.  It had a clip to help position it, though we didn’t make a stand for it and ended up just using poster putty (which also came in handy when shooting our scenes) to keep in in place.  I did end up using a usb extension cord to make it more convenient for us since 4.5 feet wasn’t quite long enough to reach the movie set we had created on the desk next to our computer.

Stopmotion-Explosion-Book-Front-2015_zpsocy3ufjrThe Stopmotion Explosion book was fantastic!  I knew nothing about making movies before we started this review, and the book really walked us through everything we needed to know, from writing the script to lighting, to special effects and video editing.  There was far more in it than we could absorb and put into practice as beginners, but I’m pretty sure my boys will want to come back to it as they become more experienced.  I appreciated that it was simple enough to help us know how to get started and yet detailed enough that we can keep learning from it as we go.

The only thing we really used off the software CD was the actual Stopmotion Explosion animation program.  It had a really simple interface that both my boys (ages 6 and 8) were able to use to create video.  We also used two programs they recommended (Audacity and Windows Movie Maker) to record audio and put everything together.  (The software can also be downloaded from the website if your computer doesn’t have a disk drive.)  We had no trouble running any of it on our computer using Windows 10.

DSCN1206x

Our Experience

Elijah (6) and I were the first to dive in.  We didn’t really start with any sort of story idea; we just grabbed the nearest action figures and started playing around.  We ended up creating “Supergirl Rescue.”

Just making that short little video was a huge learning experience!  I had some previous experience with recording audio with Audacity, but I had never done ANY video editing, so putting it together took a little trial and error.

Ian (8) was inspired by our efforts and created a couple of his own short videos.

 

After this, we felt we were ready to tackle something a little bigger.  Ian looks forward to oral presentations in his writing class, so we decided to create a movie to go along with one of his assignments.  He was writing about the King Arthur tale of “Sir Gawain and the Green Knight.”  We just had to abridge the story quite a bit so it was short enough to not be too overwhelming.  (We worked on this one scene at a time over several days, and altogether it has almost 1000 individual frames.)

We had SO much fun making this movie together.  I had to help Ian with staging each frame, but he headed up the computer end of recording the video.  Then we did the audio together and both boys really enjoyed listening to different music clips to pick something that fit with the story as I edited it all together.

Ian was really proud of the final product, and it was a lot of fun getting to share it with the friends in his writing class.  Many of them were fascinated and asked him about how he had done it.  I think several of them will be checking out Stopmotion Explosion for themselves.

We are always looking for open-ended products that allow our children to use their imaginations.  The Stopmotion Explosion Animation Kit is an awesome tool for helping kids unleash their creativity.  I look forward to seeing what wonderful creations mine come up with in the future!

Stopmotion Explosion Review
Crew Disclaimer

Posted in Homeschool Resources, Product reviews

Wonderfully Made–GIVEAWAY!

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Cover small

If you follow His Treasure Seekers on Facebook, you may have seen me posting about Wonderfully Made: God’s Story of Life from Conception to Birth by Danika Cooley.  I’ll be posting a full review of the book soon, but if you’re looking for an age-appropriate, God-honoring way to talk with your children about how a baby develops in the womb, you’ll want to check it out.  I wish we’d had this book through my last few pregnancies!

On her website, the author has already posted several related FREEBIES (including posters, Scripture memory cards, and a lapbook) for subscribers to her blog.  You can also get a glimpse at the first pages of the story.

GIVEAWAY

To celebrate the release of Wonderfully Made: God’s Story of Life from Conception to Birth I am hosting a wonderful GIVEAWAY with the rest of the launch team.

The giveaway includes a hardcover copy of the book, along with several other books and products your family is sure to enjoy. The total value of the giveaway is nearly $600!

Wonderfully Made Giveaway

Here is what you could win:

Wonderfully Made: God’s Story of Life from Conception to Birth by Danika Cooley – hardcover $9.99 value

Wonderfully made is an excellent book that introduces a young child to the wonder of God’s creation – the wonder and miracle of birth. From conception in the womb through the nine months within the mother’s womb Danika Cooley takes us on a journey of discovery… the discovery of life.

“For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb.” Psalm 139:13

Touch of Life First Trimester Fetal Models $89.95 value

Sculpted from real-life photos, these four fetal models representing weeks 7, 8, 9, and 10 after conception have a personality of their own, and the life-like feel of the skin brings home the humanity of the preborn baby in its first trimester of life. Accurately portrayed thanks to medical descriptions and photos, these little samples of life are a great educational tool for helping to understand the wonder of the early stages of human development.

Bible Road Trip Year One Curriculum (includes Lower and Upper Grammar Notebooking Journals $60 value

The Bible Road Trip Year One Curriculum is a 463-page digital PDF download of the full Bible Road Trip Year One curriculum for all five levels, preschool through high school. The Bible Road Trip Year One Curriculum includes the Parent / Teacher Guide and 32 weeks of curriculum schedules for all grades.

$100 Amazon Gift Card $100 value

Enjoy shopping amazon.com with a gift of $100 + an adorable bookmark.

Big Bible Science: Experiment and Explore God’s World by Erin Lee Green (Ages 5-11) $12.99 value

Big Bible Science helps children and those who teach them to explore God’s World and God’s Word through real live science experiments. There are twenty-one different units taking students through scientific concepts such as Gravity, Friction, Animal Classification and the Nervous System.

My 1st Books and More by Carine MacKenzie and Philip Ross (ages 4-7) $15.99 value

Who is God? What does he do? Can I know Jesus? Why did he die? Children always have questions about God. They want to know what it means to be a Christian and who Jesus is. My 1st Books and More gives a year’s worth and more of bible readings, devotions and memory verses.

Living Water in the Desert: True Stories of God at Work in Iran by Rebecca Davis  $8.99 value

One man was overcome by the missionary’s kindness. Another was stopped by a vision of men in blue.  One became sick and tired of his own religion. Another saw a man named Jesus in a dream, coming to him on a donkey.  A girl found a strange book on the floor of the library and visited a secret prayer meeting. All of them eventually came to Jesus Christ for His full and free salvation, becoming missionaries to their own people. Seventeen chapters tell true stories of the Living Water pouring out on the country of Iran, even up to the present day.

Lights in a Dark Place: True Stories of God at Work in Colombia by Rebecca Davis (ages 7-12)  $8.99 value

Colombia has been known as a land of violence, but God is at work! Even though the Colombian people have reacted with violence to the Gospel of Jesus Christ, God has delivered people from burning houses . . . God has healed ones who cursed . . . God has given people dreams and visions . . . God has rescued kidnapers . . . God has conquered demons of darkness. Read fourteen true stories of the Light of the World shining in the land of Colombia, South America.

Jungle Doctor’s Monkey Tales by Paul White $8.99 value

The wisdom of monkeys is proverbially small. They never could remember not to get too near to the hind feet of zebra, nor to throw coconuts at Chewi the leopard, nor to look into the eyes of snakes. Luckily for his little nephews, Uncle Nyani, the only survivor of a family of seven, is always near at hand to tell them how they can live to be as old as he is!

Jungle Doctor’s Tug-of-War by Paul White (ages 5-11) $8.99 value

Even by monkey standards, young Toto is pretty dim! Those baddies of the jungle, Crunch the Crocodile, Mbisi the Hyena, Slinki the Jackal, Vibi the Vulture and Gnark the crow look as though they are going to have an easy time finishing him off. However, Toto soon finds himself in the middle of a tug-of-war, for his real friends, Elephant, Giraffe, Parrot and Hornbill are determined to rescue him from the clutches of the jungle underworld.

The Bible’s Big Story: Salvation History for Kids by James M. Hamilton Jr. $4.99

With easily remembered rhymes and Bible verses take your child through the span of Salvation History from Creation to the Fall, the Flood to the Exodus, the Exile to the Crucifixion and beyond… James M. Hamilton writes about real history, God’s Salvation History, and our future.

Notebooking Pages Lifetime Membership $97

1000s of topical pages, themes, and designs . . . Perfect for any subject or study A to Z!

Art Study ♦ Copywork ♦ Character Study ♦ Famous Men & Women ♦ Geography (state/country studies, continental, world maps) ♦ History of the Ancient World, Medieval, Renaissance, Reformation, and Modern Times ♦ Music Study ♦ Nature Study ♦ Science ♦ Timelines ♦ and more!

Mom’s Toolbelt Lifetime Membership $24.95

A customizable home management planner for every area of your life that craves order.

Hal and Melanie Young: Mom & Dad Special: Raising Real Men (book + audiobook) plus a free registration to both Boot Camp 9-12 AND Boyhood Boot Camp. $101 value

If this is God’s chosen gift to us, then why does it seem so hard? How can we prepare these boys to serve God when we can barely make it through the day? Isn’t there a better way? The answer is yes.

When You Lie Down: Lullabies and Scripture Songs CD $12.97 value

These twelve songs remind us that true rest, comfort and hope come from God alone. This music is an awesome way to experience God’s Word with your baby, kids and family. You will discover that this album will be a powerful addition to use in your personal time with God.

Seeds Onesie- Psalm 139:13-14  $14.97 value

Seeds Family Worship Onesie featuring Psalm 139:13-14 on the front with a small Seeds logo on the back.

Cultivating Responsibility: Parenting Wisdom for Ages 9-12 by Dr. Scott Turansky and Joanne Miller, RN $14.99 value

The later elementary age years are among the greatest times to build responsibility in children. Heart transformation takes place when parents use other tools than behavior modification.

Elementary Foundations: Parenting Wisdom for Ages 5-8by Dr. Scott Turansky and Joanne Miller, RN $14.99 value

Many new things happen during the ages of 5-8. Children start school, develop significant friendships, learn to think abstractly instead of just concretely, and have a greater ability to draw close to God. Parenting during this stage produces a number of challenges and opportunities so you’ll want to be prepared.

To enter the giveaway, use the Rafflecopter below. Giveaway open to residents of the U.S. and Canada, age 18 and older. Giveaway will end on Wednesday, April 20 at 11:59pm EST. Winner will be announced at the Wonderfully Made Facebook Release Party (winner does not have to be present to win, but we hope you’ll be there!)

a Rafflecopter giveaway

You’re Invited!

Join us for the Wonderfully Made Facebook Release Party on Thursday, April 21. We’ll have even more giveaways and freebies, too! The party begins at 9pm EST, and you can RSVP on the event page

Please RSVP!

Wonderfully Made Facebook Release Party, Thursday, April 21, 9pm EST

Posted in Parenting Resources

Times Tales (Crew Review)

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TimesTales review
Memorizing the times tables is one of those things you just have to do.  I don’t know anyone who has enjoyed the process, but it’s such a crucial part of a solid math foundation that we push through (and push our children through) to ensure future success.  The Trigger Memory Co. has come up with an innovative way to make this task less deplorable.  Their Times Tales videos take a totally new approach to helping cement multiplication facts in children’s minds, and we were thrilled to be given a digital download to review.

About Time Tales

The crazy thing about Times Tales is that they’re not really about numbers.  Well, they are, but they aren’t.  Really, they are a series of stories about characters that represent numbers, and as children learn the stories, they also learn multiplication facts.  The video is divided into two parts (covering two different sets of facts), each leading students through a series of steps to mastering the more difficult upper times tables. (The videos teach 3×6, 3×7, 3×8, 3×9, 4×6, 4×7, 4×8, 4×9, 6×6, 6×7, 6×8, 6×9, 7×7, 7×8, 7×9, 8×8, 8×9, and 9×9.)

Here are the steps through which each video takes you:

Meet the Characters (Introduces the characters that represent different numbers–only in Part 1)

Meet the Characters
Learn the Story (Goes through all the stories, each being about one or two sentences long.  First the story is written out with a simple picture; then there is an animated sequence that further helps drill each peace into the memory.)

written storyanimated story
Story Quiz (Asks questions to make sure they remember all the important parts of the stories)

Story Quiz
At this point, they tell the students that if they had trouble remembering any of the stories, they need to go back and repeat the previous two steps before moving on.

You’re the Story Teller (They show the picture for each story.  The student pauses the video to test themselves and then checks their answer.)

You're the Story Teller
You're the Story Teller1
Practice flashcards (Using the same pause-say-play technique as Step 3, these flashcards use the characters to help students recite the facts.)

Practice flashcards
Flashcards (These flashcards use numerals instead of the character-symbols, and they are timed, rather than instructing you to pause the video while trying to remember.  This section also contains a “Division Challenge” using a combination of numbers and symbols to test how well the students know the facts.)

flashcards
At this point if students missed any of the flashcards they are told to go back and repeat these steps before taking the written test as the final step.)

The Trigger Memory Co REVIEW

In addition to the videos (which are available as downloads or in DVD format), there are PDF files included with the purchase of Times Tales.  Each of the two parts has it own set of printables which include the following:

  • crossword puzzle
  • flashcards using the character-symbols
  • flashcards using numerals
  • practice test (using character-symbols)
  • test (using numbers)
  • division flashcards using character-symbols
  • division flashcards using numerals
  • pattern for a paper cube and instructions for a game to help practice facts

Our Experience

I wasn’t sure if Elijah (6) would like this method, since the stories have nothing to do with the actual mathematical concept of multiplication.  They’re simply mnemonic devices to help get the facts implanted in kids’ brains.  However, he LOVED the videos and was absolutely gleeful about knowing all the answers.  Ian (8) also enjoyed them, though math isn’t really his thing, so he wasn’t quite as excited about them.  He definitely needs to work on memorizing his multiplication facts, however, and he’d certainly rather watch videos to learn them than a traditional method like flashcards.  Even the younger kids enjoyed watching along with the boys.

TimesTales CrosswordI think Times Tales are great for both visual and auditory learners, especially those who like to think “out of the box.”  I liked the way they showed the words of the story, showed an animated version of the story, plus told the story out loud AND repeatedly emphasized the key elements of the stories both visually and verbally so that it could really get into the kids’ brains.  I thought the printable materials were also really helpful for reinforcing what the kids had seen in the videos.

The only thing I felt was missing was a sort of “cheat sheet” for myself with all the stories written out.  Whenever the boys ask me, say, “What’s 6X3?” I turn it around and say, “Well, what was the story about the 6th grade class and butterflies?”  They usually remember immediately, “At 1 o’clock, they let 8 butterflies go.  Eighteen!”  Occasionally though, none of us quite remember the story, and I’d love to have a quick way to look it up.

Overall, Times Tales were a big hit in our house, and I know we’ll be reviewing them periodically as the kids move further into multiplication.  This is a great supplement for any math curriculum, and there’s a 15-minute sample video available for FREE (teaching the upper 9’s) so if you have kids working on learning the times tables, be sure to check them out!

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Times Tales by the The Trigger Memory Co REVIEW
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Posted in Homeschool Resources, Product reviews

Wrapping Up Week 31 (2015-16)

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Weekly Wrap Up 2015-16
 It’s all downhill from here!  I told Ian that as soon as he finishes up everything scheduled for history, science, and math (about four weeks’ worth of work), we’ll lighten up school for the summer.  (We never really stop completely, and I do have a few things planned, but they won’t be quite as intense as our regular school year.)  He was really motivated at the beginning of the week, flying through his entire week of lessons for the Veritas Press self-paced history course in one day, but then he never got back to it, so he didn’t really get ahead at all.

20160329_103951xI’m definitely ready for the break myself.  After posting my review of Essentials earlier this week, we’re taking a break from the intensity of its daily lessons.  I also dropped handwriting and read alouds this week.  We spent a day at the Natural History Museum (and was tempted to give in when Ian begged to go back the next day).  The weather has been beautiful and I loved that the kids wanted to spend hours and hours outside.  So I feel like I’m already kicking into summer mode.

Science

One thing we did accomplish was getting caught up in Our Planet Earth, our final book for the year in God’s Design for Heaven and Earth.  We read/discussed the moon and half of the planets in our solar system.  That inspired the boys to pull out Solarquest: The Space-Age Real Estate Game, (somewhat similar to Monopoly), a fun way to learn more about the planets and their moons.

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We also watched a few videos:

Math

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I wish I had enjoyed math as much as Elijah does!

Math is the one subject I just can’t let go of during the summer, at least not completely.  We’re still in the thick of things as we try to finish up our curriculum for the year.  (Ian’s doing really well working independently with Teaching Textbooks Math 3 and Elijah’s still loving the challenge of MEP).  They’re both working through subtraction fact drills on xtramath.org (though Ian has almost mastered them and will be moving on to multiplication in the next week or so).

Actually, because the boys are also going through mini-courses from A+Interactive Math (Ian’s getting extra practice on Time, and Elijah’s doing Money), they both did a LOT of math this week.

Extras

 We’re having fun working on our first lapbook ever!  I’ve known about lapbooks since we first started homeschooling, but they’re not really my style (just seem really wasteful).  However, it’s part of our Beethoven unit in the review we’re doing on Zeezok Publishing’s Music Appreciation Book 1 Collection.  I’m curious to see how the boys like it when we have the whole thing finished.  Maybe I’ll have to overcome my reluctance.

Upcoming Reviews

We’re enjoying several products right now, so watch for these reviews in the next few weeks:

 

Posted in Weekly Wrap Up

Spring goodies–FREE gifts from The Old Schoolhouse!

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Spring is here!  Time for gardens, spring cleaning, and a little soul refreshment, don’t you think?

I have been so blessed by The Old Schoolhouse over the last few years.  When I first started exploring homeschooling, they were my go-to source for product reviews, and I devoured every issue of the magazine on which I could get my hands.  I joined The Old Schoolhouse Review Crew a little over two years ago, and that has been a huge blessing to our family as we get to try out different products and share with you what we think of them.

Now it’s YOUR turn to be blessed!  Members of the Review Crew got to choose three digital products to share with our readers for FREE!  I chose 3 products I either love already or want to check out myself this spring:

KeepingtheGardenKeeping the Garden

“For the garden-lover or wannabe … You’ll be inspired by over 100 pages of articles on organizing your garden, saving seeds, growing herbs, keeping pests at bay, recipes for your own produce, and so much more!”

I would definitely fall in the “wannabe” category, having never successfully grown ANYTHING.  I’m looking for inspiration and tips to help me take baby steps toward growing some of our own food.

NaturalCleaningPlannerThe Molly Green Naturally Clean Planner

Growing up,there was a brief season when my family’s financial situation meant my brother and I had a few housecleaning duties, but for most of my childhood all that was expected of me around the house was making sure my room was picked up in preparation for the cleaning lady’s visit.  My mom was a teacher, and having help with housecleaning was one way she kept herself sane.

That was great for me at the time, but now that I have my own home I feel woefully unprepared for taking care of it.  I have been looking for help getting organized, and I’m hoping this planner will help me take a step in the right direction.  I’m also looking forward to trying out some of the recipes for natural cleaners.

HeymamadevosHey Mama! 31 Day Devotional

Last year I used the Hey Mama! Planner, and by far my favorite thing about it was the encouraging notes from TOS publisher, Gena Suarez, that went with each month.  I really looked forward to the supportive, uplifting messages she shared.

Now Gena has put together a devotional to bless you each day for an entire month.  The Hey Mama! 31 Day Devotional will remind you each day to take a moment to rest in God’s truth about who you are and who He has called you to be.

Any of those items pique your interest?  Just click on the links and put any or all of these items in your cart, entering code DJCREW16 at check out to get them FREE!  This code will be good for the whole month of April.  While you’re there, check out the other encouraging and helpful resources that are available!

Posted in Organization, Personal, Product reviews

God Bless Our Country by Hannah C. Hall (Book Review)

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Now more than ever, I want my children to come to love and appreciate America as a special gift from God.  I was excited to review God Bless Our Country by Hannah C. Hall, hoping it would teach them about patriotic symbols and what they tell us about America’s greatness.

The book wasn’t quite what I expected.  It’s more about celebrating summer time, with a nod to traditional 4th of July celebrations thrown in while not actually naming the holiday. One page talks about going on a picnic, watching the clouds, and ants heading off with apple pie.  Then it turns patriotic for a minute, speaking of raising the flag and thanking God for this land.  But then we’re back to digging in the garden and enjoying ice cream before watching a parade.  From that point on the text focuses summer activities (swimming, stargazing,playing hide-and-seek) and praising God for our country, while the illustrations show more picnicking, playing with sparklers, and finally a fireworks show.

Overall, it was was a cute book with colorful pencil illustrations of animal characters by Steve Whitlow, but I felt like it was lacking focus.  This sturdy board book will probably end up on the shelf in my 2-year old’s room rather than in with our other patriotic books.  He’ll appreciate the cute animal illustrations and it’s a nice introduction to 4th of July celebrations.

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Posted in Book reviews
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