Knowledge Quest Time Maps (Schoohouse Review)

Generally maps are static—showing one time period in history. In the past, we’ve enjoyed using the historical maps produced by Knowledge Quest. They are great to print out, to label, and to put in a notebook to reinforce what we are studying in history.

 

Time Maps are different. Each Time Map includes a series of maps that cover a period in history. By moving from one map to another, it is easy to see how boundaries changed as time progressed. Very useful!

 

But, wait, there’s more! Various places on the maps are clickable. When they are clicked, information boxes pop up telling about various people groups or events at that time.

 

And….there’s a box to click for review questions to see if your student is really paying attention!

And….additional activities are suggested for each set of maps, such as making timeline, charts, printable maps to label, and discussion questions that encourage analysis of historical events.

 

And…they are really fun! I’ve really enjoyed clicking from map to map, following the progression of an area through history. These are for my child to use? Well, she can share, can’t she?

 

Time Maps cover these topics:

• Ancient China
• European Exploration and Discovery
• The Atlantic Slave Trade
• The Black Death
• The Rise of the Roman Empire
• The Fall of the Roman Empire
• The Rise of Islam

We’ve enjoyed our introduction to TimeMaps and will find them a valuable asset as we study world history this fall.

Each map unit is $9.95 and the complete set is $44.95. I think they would be useful for upper elementary ages and up.

Disclaimer: As a member of the TOS Crew, I received a free set of Time Maps in order to write this review. All opinions are my own.
 

T is for Thankful

I have so much in my life to be thankful for….

• The opportunity to stay home with my child and to homeschool her.
• God’s constant provision
• My grown and almost grown children and seeing who they are becoming.
• RAIN! We got lots of it today after a month of very hot, very dry weather. My wilting plants are grateful, too!
• All the new birds at our bird feeder this week. They seem to like the rain!

I’m blogging through the alphabet with Ben and Me.

Who Is My Neighbor? Apologia (Schoolhouse Review)

Who is my Neighbor? And Why Does He Need Me? is the third book in Apologia’s What We Believe Series. This Bible curriculum is designed for children from 6 to 14. The text is written to the student, so that older children can complete the reading and activities on their own, although the book is excellent read-aloud material for any age.

The text itself includes varied materials—stories about a family escaping China during the Cultural Revolution, stories about the Civil War, historical information, Bible stories, profiles of historical figures, and devotional/inspirational readings that help children relate the stories and Bible personally to their own lives. I think that the varied format helps to keep up the student’s interest, because each day’s reading and assignment is different from the last.

The text stands well on its own and is all you need. It includes discussion and journaling questions and vocabulary. However, the accompanying Notebooking Journal is wonderful. It is a beautiful, spiral-bound book with room to answer questions,  copy Bible verses, write out prayers, and journal. When Emily saw it, she said, “I’m going to keep this forever!”

There is also a coloring book that would be very nice for younger children to use to reinforce the lessons.

We have enjoyed this set very much. Emily looks forward to doing her lessons and is working through the books faster than the recommended pace. I am hopeful that the topic will help Emily to expand her horizons and to know more about and to care more about neighbors both around the world and close to home.

Who is My Neighbor sells for $39, the Notebooking Journal is $24, and the Coloring Book is $8 from Apologia.

Disclaimer: As a member of the TOS Crew, I received a free set of books in order to write this review. All opinions are my own.

Professor B (Schoolhouse Review)

Professor B is a unique math program that claims to cover 3 years of content in only one year. Many students who have used Professor B have made huge gains in their standardized test scores. The focus is on teaching children to understand concepts instead of simply memorizing the steps needed to “find the answer.” Every lessons aims to “develop mental programs for processing the operations on whole numbers, decimals, and fractions.” The result is second graders mastering long division to 5th and 6th graders mastering algebra.

Professor B curriculum is sold as either books or an e-learning curriculum. We tried out the e-learning curriculum.

Although I found the informational portion of the website a bit awkward to navigate, the e-learning program was easy to use. It’s a bit different from other online programs that I’ve used. The lessons are presented in a power-point type format. I stayed with Emily as she worked through the lessons, making sure that she understood each example and that she was working out problems as assigned. There is no audio in the slides, so the script must be read aloud by the teacher or the student. Although it is an online program, it is actually a fairly low-tech product.

We used Instant Master Teacher Level III, which is intended for 6th through 8th grades and remediation of older learners. The concepts taught in Level 3 include: comparing fractions, multiplying and dividing with fractions, place value, computation of decimals, equivalent fractions, transforming percentages to fractions and decimals and vice versa, and rounding.

Emily had actually covered all of these topics in the 6th grade curriculum she used last year. Notably missing from Professor B is any instruction of geometry, measurement, or graphs and charts, —concepts Emily also studied in the 5th and 6th grades.  Because of this, I would not recommend it as the only math program used.

I  liked the way concepts were taught. Operations are explained in multiple ways, using diagrams. The slides usually ask questions about each incremental step of the operation for the student to answer before advancing to the next slide. This ensures that the student is paying attention and actually comprehending the material. I feel confident that a student using this program would understand the “why’s” rather than just memorizing procedures. A pdf workbook is also included as part of the program for additional practice. Students are expected to keep reviewing previous lessons using the workbook pages to ensure complete mastery.

Professor B is very teacher intensive, though, because I needed to be there as Emily moved through each of the steps. Although everything was clearly explained by “Professor B,” moving through each concept was a fairly lengthy process—more so than using our regular textbook. This isn’t a bad thing, but something to take note of if you prefer a more independent approach or expect the program to “teach” your child.

In summary, I think Professor B does a very good job of teaching the math topics that it covers and the workbooks provide a good cumulative review so that children don’t forget what they’ve been taught. However, many important mathematical topics are not included, and would need to be supplemented. It is also very teacher-intensive and my child didn’t enjoy using the program, so it wasn’t a good fit for us.

A Professor B e-learning subscription costs $20 a month for the first level. Discounts are available for multiple levels. The 3 levels of the Instant Master Teacher Program cover Pre-K through 8th grade levels.

Please visit the Schoolhouse Review Blog to read more reviews of Professor B.

3/5 stars

Disclaimer: As a member of the TOS Crew, I received a free e-learning subscription to Professor B in order to write this review. All opinions are my own.

Teaching Preschoolers About Categories

Here is an excerpt from my just-published book, Language Lessons: From Listening Skills to Conversation.

Language Lessons is available at Currclick for an introductory price of $9.95.

Categories

Teaching children to categorize objects helps them to organize their world and to form a mental structure for adding vocabulary. Children with delayed language may not do this automatically.

· Make a picture notebook for your child. On each page, label a separate category, such as family, food, toys, animals, furniture, friends, dishes, etc. Cut out pictures from catalogs and magazines or print them from the internet and help the child glue them on the appropriate page. The book can be added to over many months. When several pictures are in the book, talk about each of them, "What is this? Yes, it's a fox. A fox is an animal, just like this dog and this cat." For young or lower functioning children, this activity will be easiest with actual photos of objects in the child's home. Start with only two categories, adding more as needed.

· Cut out pictures of items in different categories. Help the child to sort them. Store the pictures in envelopes to play again. Keep your eyes out for category flashcards, which can sometimes be found inexpensively at discount stores (or more expensively at teacher supply stores). Some pictures are included at the end of this book.

· Gather objects than can be organized into categories, then ask your child to find "all the things we eat with" or "all the toys" or "all the things we drink." Help the child act out the use of each item.

· Find pictures of people—either from magazines or actual photos of family members. Have your child pick out "all the women," "all the children," "all the people wearing blue," or "all the people wearing glasses."

· Ask your child to finish each statement:

• Blue and red are both ___________.
• Hats and shirts are both ___________.
• A hammer and a saw are both _______________.
• Cereal and bananas are both ____________.
• A ball and blocks are both _________.
• Dogs and cats are both ________.
• A cup and a plate are both __________.

· Collect pairs of pictures that "go together," such as fork and spoon, cup and saucer, dog and doghouse, lock and key, bed and pillow, or shoe and sock. Begin with just 2 picture pairs. Set them on the table. Pick up one picture and ask your child, "Which picture goes with this one?" Help him match up the "go-togethers." Gradually add more picture pairs.

· Gather an assortment of pictures. Have the child divide them into "inside things" and "outside things."

· Place 3 items or pictures on the table—2 similar items and one different. Ask your child to name which item "doesn't belong."

Lightning Literature (TOS Review)

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

We reviewed the 7th grade level of Lightning Literature. This is a year-long course that includes a teacher guide, student guide, and student workbook. Several other books are required: The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, All Creatures Great and Small, The Story of My Life (Helen Keller), and Stories and Poems for Extremely Intelligent Children.  These may be purchased from Hewitt if desired. We already own several of the books and our library has the rest, so we didn’t need to purchase them.

Lightning Literature uses literary works to teach literary elements, such as plot elements, foreshadowing, and elements of poetic language. The writing elements reinforce these concepts and teach the students to use them in their own writing. Comprehension questions and vocabulary are included for each literary selection. The workbook covers topics such as outlining, writing from note cards, writing poetry, and grammar.

Each unit teaches concepts, then provides workbook pages that reinforce the concepts and have the student outlining and writing creatively, then concludes with writing assignments that build on the teaching and workbook assignments. I am very pleased with the way that everything works together rather than being random assignments. For example, Chapter 2 includes:

• a review of plot, exposition, rising action, climax, etc. from Chapter 1
• a lesson on subplots
• a mini lesson on outlining that uses the literature selection from Chapter 1
• writing from note cards
• fact and opinion
• pronouns and antecedents
• writing for a particular audience
• writing exercises that use the concepts of subplot, parts of a story, and writing endings to stories

I like the literature selections chosen for this course. I think they are important works for students to be familiar with and are appropriate for the grade level. Emily enjoyed the first two selections—Ricki-Tikki-Tavi, by Rudyard Kipling, and Tom Sawyer, and I am especially looking forward to the upcoming poetry unit, since Emily has never done a formal study of poetry.

Thus far, I am very pleased with this course.  With Emily in middle school, I want her to start “analyzing” literature rather than merely reading it. This is one area that I’m not very comfortable teaching myself, but Lightning Literature is laid out very clearly and is easy to teach. (Actually, it is pretty much self-teaching.) I think Emily has found it quite easy, even though I know she is learning new concepts. I especially like the way the writing assignments are tied into the literary lessons. This program will be a big help as Emily moves toward high school and needs to start writing more analytical essays.

The 7th grade Lightning Lit set, including all five reading books, sells for $91.73. Each of the three manuals is available separately for $20.  Additional courses are available for 8th grade and high school levels.

5/5 stars

Please visit the TOS Crew Blog to read more reviews of Lightning Literature and other Hewitt Homeschooling Resources.

Disclaimer: As a member of the TOS Crew, I received a free product in order to write this review. All opinions are my own.

Summer Olympics Freebies at Currclick

From now until July 27,  Currclick is offering 12 FREE country studies as part of their “Countdown to the 2012 Summer Olympics” promotion. Plus, a huge number of Olympic themed studies are discounted by 10%. It looks like there are ideas for working the Olympics into any aspect of your studies, from math to history to science.  Sounds like fun!

Disclaimer: I am an affiliate with Currclick.

S is for Sisters on Safari

Here are my girls at Animal Kingdom’s Kilimanjaro Safari in May.

I am linking to Blogging Through the Alphabet at Ben and Me.

Homeschool Spanish Academy (Schoolhouse Review)

Everyone knows that the very best way to learn a foreign language is to learn it directly from a native speaker and  that private tutoring is an efficient way to learn any subject. But most of us don’t have the funds or the opportunity to hire a foreign language tutor to teach our children!

I was so excited to learn about the Homeschool Spanish Academy and to have the opportunity to try it out through the TOS Crew! Emily has studied Spanish a little bit—using some videos and workbooks, but not in a very organized fashion. I was eager to see what kind of progress she could make with this program.

Unlike most curricula available to homeschoolers, Homeschool Spanish Academy provides immersive, interactive 1-on-1 interaction with native Spanish language tutors via Skype video. All that is needed is a high-speed internet connection, web cam, and a Skype compatible computer headset with microphone.

All lessons and homework are emailed to students in a PDF format, so no additional books are needed.

Our Experience:

My first interaction with the company was with the tech. services. I was very impressed. A personal phone call walked me through testing my internet speed, checking my equipment, and getting me set up on Skype.

Emily’s first lesson went well. Her teacher, Rosa, called us on Skype right on time for the video chat. She was very encouraging and Emily was able to cover 2 lessons in the 55 minute time slot.

Emily had a little trouble with the second session. I wasn’t available for the first few minutes of the lesson and had forgotten to plug in the web cam and headset. She was frustrated trying to  figure it out herself, but by the time I walked in 10 minutes later, Tech Support was online with her helping her get set up. Fortunately, she didn’t miss too much of her lesson and, once again, I have nothing but praise for the Tech Support.

Each week, Emily has had homework to do and vocabulary to memorize between lessons. At the lessons, the teacher has conversations with her that review the previous vocabulary and teach new phrases. Emily has completed 5 lessons at this point. She has really enjoyed the experience and I think it has been motivating for her to have an outside teacher to work with. She was especially excited to learn that her teacher, Rosa, lives in Antigua, Guatemala, where Emily was born.

I highly recommend Homeschool Spanish Academy. Although we will need to take a break from lessons for now because of an unreliable internet connection/provider, I hope to be able to return for more lessons when we have that resolved.

Homeschool Spanish Academy middle school tuition prices are $104.99 for a half semester and $174.99 for a full semester (one 50 min. class a week.) Classes are also available for elementary and high school students.

5/5 stars

Please visit the Schoolhouse Review Blog to read more reviews of Homeschool Spanish Academy.

Disclaimer: As a member of the TOS Crew, I received a 7 week subscription free  in order to write this review. All opinions are my own.

Following Directions

Does your child have difficulty following directions? Here are a few ideas for working on this skill.

This is an excerpt from my new book, Language Lessons: From Listening Skills to Conversation. I expect to have  it published and available for sale in early July.

 

Following Directions

Look for opportunities during daily life for your child to follow directions. When expecting your child to complete a complex job, such as cleaning his room, or setting the table, give him one instruction at a time. If he is able to complete each small task accurately, challenge him by giving him two directions at a time, (Hang up your coat and put your shoes in the closet.)

· Play games like "Simon Says" and "Mother May I?"

· Sing and play, "Hokey, Pokey."

Exercises

Have the following objects available: chair, table, book, ball, block, door, spoon, and bowl. Ask your child to follow these directions:

1-Step Commands:

· Read the book.

· Pick up the block.

· Tap the block with the spoon.

· Walk to the door.

· Close your eyes.

· Clap your hands 3 times.

2-Step Commands:

· Sit down and cross your legs.

· Say your name; blink your eyes.

· Pick up the block. Give it to me.

· Clap your hands. Point to the ball.

· Touch the book. Crawl under the table.

3-Step Commands:

· Touch your ear, stomp your foot, then sit down.

· Touch the book. Touch the spoon. Touch the table.

· Touch the block. Point to the spoon. Tap the table.

· Touch your ear. Touch your nose. Spin around.

· Pick up the ball. Hold it over your head. Put it on the floor.

· Close your eyes. Spin around. Say, "hello."

Your Heart’s Desire (Review)

Your Heart’s Desire: 14 TRUTHS that will forever change the way you love and are loved

The title of this book intrigued me. So did the back of the book, where “love coach,” Shari Rose Shepherd, promises to provide insight for the married woman hoping to deepen or restore the love in her marriage, the single woman looking for love, or the divorced woman hoping for a second chance at love. Some of the topics she covers are: fighting the temptation to give up on marriage, purity, combating shame, guilt, and regret, trusting a man’s leadership, and forgiveness.

Here are some quotes that I particularly liked that give a flavor of the book…

“I believe when a man walks down the aisle and says, “I do,” his every hope and intention is that his marriage will be for life…He was determined to be her hero and lovingly lead her safely through life.”

“How we face and finish our battles will define who we are in Christ. There are a lot of reasons to give up, but there are greater reasons to finish strong.”

“Women are the heartbeat in their relationships, so we truly do affect our sons, our fathers, and our husbands.”

Some things you may gain from reading this book are:

• enhanced understanding of your husband
• hope for reconciliation
• the assurance that, whatever your marital situation, God loves you unconditionally and always will
• ideas for helping your son grow into a godly man

I enjoyed reading this book and gained new insights into how men think I appreciated that the author was open about the family she grew up in, her dating stories, and about her marriage. I found her personal stories and insights helpful. This is a book I will keep and reread.

Disclaimer: I received a free copy of this book from Tyndale House  for review purposes. All opinions are my own.