Memoria Press

We were given the honor of being able to try out some great items from the Memoria Press company. When I first recieved the box and saw the Famous Men of Rome book, I was very excited. We are not classical educators but my son had asked for more history this year and while we had done some I knew this would be right up his alley.

We have not been disappointed. It definitely has a classical approach but we have enjoyed it very much. The Famous Men of Rome is very thorough and vocabulary rich. It is intended for students in grades 3 and up. I have one thrid grader and two fourth graders so this was perfect for us. The student book has excellent study and comprehenstion questions along with the vocabulary study. We read the reading section together as a group and then have great discussions that follow. There are activity suggestions that include things such as making a timeline, drawing, memorization and more. There is also an appendix that contains teaching aids such as timelines, maps and worksheets.

We were also given the opportunity to try the Latina I Set. This set is an introduction to Christian Latin also intended for grades 3-8. Thinking about teaching my kids Latin seemed overwhelming but this set is very easy to use and I highly recommend using the instructional DVD's. When you think about it, our language is very Latin based. More than half of our language is latin based. Learning Latin can be very valuable for language skills and is a great way to learn grammar. Memoria Press did a great job of making Latin simple to teach.

Memoria Press has many classical educational items to offer including many great supplements. Take a look at Memoria Press for more information.

Lampstand - Tapestry of Grace (Year 2 Unit 1)

Tapestry of Grace from Lampstand Press is different than any other curriculum I have looked at. It is in depth and thorough to say the least. Daunting even at first. The curriculum is a unit study course designed to have students cycle completely through history in 4 years. It is not a boxed curriculum meant to cover all subjects. What is covered, however, is history, church history, literature, writing and composition, fine arts, geography, government and philosophy. I was impressed with the volume and quality of information covered in this particular curriculum.

The download process was a bit confusing at first and I had some problems. However, it has been simplified since and is much easier to do now. I am for sure a "book in my hands" kind of person but the download version works also and after getting familiar with it can be very eneficial to have a DE (download edition).

We were given the Year 2, Unit 1, Midde Ages Unit to look at. Topics covered in the Middle Ages Unit is Western Roman Empire, the Byzantine Empire, the Vikings, etc.

After you get used to using the TOG downloads, it is pretty easy. When you open your DE (download edition) all of the unit numbers are there. You click on the unit you are working on and the Lock Lizard will give you access to the appropriate information you will need including the weekly overview, weekly assignments, writing assignments, student activities including worksheets, teachers notes and answer keys. There is even more than I have listed here. As with many curriculums there is a plethora of activities given and you can choose what you have time for. You can do a little or a lot based on the skill level of your students and how in depth you would like to study right now.

This curriculum is a quality one for learning history. It does take some getting used to and a good amount of time to learn how to use it. I would suggest you spend some time on the website looking at samples and learning more about it. Go to Lampstand Press for more info and to check it out for yourself.

Schleich

Schleich is a company that makes quality figurines for creative play for children. We were sent a box with a few animals to try out. My four year old little guy was more than excited. He is in love with Noah's Ark so getting more animals to play with was right up his alley. I was completely surprised by how different these animals were. Plastic is not a good way to describe them. Plastic gives the impression of being lightweight or flmisy. These toys are nothing like that.

The boar above is one of the animals that we recieved. They are more realistic looking aminals that others I have seen. We have had our fair share of play animals around here and the Schleich products are superior. They are heavier than I would have expected. They are holding up to hours of play on the floor and in the bathtub.

Their prices are also very reasonable with the elephant above retailing for only $5. You would be able to get a group of wildlife, farm, forest animals and so many more. They can be found at different toy retailers including Toys R' Us. It's so nice to see a company still out there that makes quality toys that will last.

One 2 Believe

One2Believe has done it again. You may remember that I reviewed the nativity set by the same company a few months ago. We loved that but I think that this "Tales of Glory Noah's Ark set" takes the cake. We opened the box and my 4 and 6 year olds asked if we could get it all out. They could not wait to get their hands on the set.

There are animals two by two as well as Noah himself. Everything you see in the picture above fits inside the ark for easy storage including the ramp. My youngest son has now decided that Noah is his favorite Bible character and he can't wait to go to heaven to meet him.

I love how this and the other set that we recieved from One2Believe have fostered discussions about the different characters they hear about in Sunday school and at home. This set has become even more of a favorite because it works very well in the bathtub. How cool is that for a Noah set? It even floats in the right amount of water with most of the animals inside. It is so great for the younger ones to learn through play and this is a great set for that.

The set is good quality and at $29.95 I believe it is a great value for a large set like this. One2Believe is known for encouraging learning through play and we are not disappointed with this set. I know that it will have many, many more hours of play in it's future.

SpellQuizzer

If you are struggling to have spelling be a part of your routine or would like a new way to facilitate spelling practice then this program may be for you. Spellquizzer is an online program where you create your own spelling lists and make a sound recording of each word as you enter it in. The software corrects the misspelled words and also offers to retest the student the words on the ones they missed.

This program is a fun way to give spelling tests each week and can be an entertaining way to do spelling. It also frees up the parent to work with another child while the computer gives the list to your student.

This program is simple to execute and easy for the kids to use. You are able to choose different sound effects when your child gets a word wrong which can be a fun way to keeps things exciting and different. I also love that I can use the program tailored to what we are doing. Our spelling lists can be custom made to what we are studying right now such as science lessons or a book we are reading. That provides great reinforement for the comprehension of the material.

The program is available for $29.95 but Dan Hite has a try before you buy program. You can try it out for a 30 day trial and if it works for your family you can then purchase the software, which is downloadable.

Heads Up!

I love, love, love this company called Heads Up! and I would like to tell you about them. If you have a special needs kiddo with any need be it ADD, sensory processing, getting distracted easily, staying focused etc, this company may be for you. They have many learning tools to make learning an easier, more enjoyable experience for your child.

I received an envelope from them and in it was the reading frames that you see pictured above. I was a little confused about what they were for so I read the information that was sent along with them. They are great! I have two kids who get a little overwhelmed by too many things on one page and they spend time trying to find where they left off. These frames are perfect for them. You place the colored frame over the area you are working on and as you do your work you never lose your place. The frames are available in many colors. I was interested to find out the reason for all of the colors is that each person will see differently through various colors. I tried this out and it's true! I much rather would use the blue frame over the other colors.

Also in the envelope were these reading strips that you see below. They are also available in several colors as well as clear. I do believe that I love these the best. When I got them I wanted my son to try them out. It was then that he told me for the first time that reading has not been so enjoyable to him because he is always skipping lines and losing his place. He then has to start the passage over again. These readers are the perfect solution to that problem.

The last thing we received was this reader strip you see below. It is a color in the middle with two strips of grey, one on top and one below. This strip makes it very easy to keep your place while reading and works double time as a bookmark between reading sessions. At $1 each for the frames and reading strips they are all affordable and a great value.

Heads Up! has so many learning tools and their catalog is on my shelf as one of my favorites. Whatever learning challenges you may have, click no the link and see if Heads Up! might have something to help you overcome those challenges.

Critical Thinking

Have you noticed that in the times we live in today common sense seems to be disappearing? I attribute some of the loss to the amount of media we spend our time in front of. When things are fed to us we don't exercise the part of the brain that reasons and figures our for ourselves.

We were blessed to receive 2 different levels of books from The Critical Thinking Company. I have looked at their books for some time now but I had not made the investment yet. I am going to be very open and honest here. Two of my kids, our oldest twins, were born in Africa and an issue they have at times is critical thinking. This didn't come from huge amounts of media time for them. It more had to do with environment and malnurishment.

We were given Level 1 for grades 2-3 and Level 2 for grades 4-6. I am beyond impressed. The exercises on each page are short and easy to follow. They can read the instructions themselves and know what to do with very little help from me. Often times when I am not quite ready to start school yet, the twins have gone out to the school room and retrieved their critical thinking books to get started. At $29.99 they were a little on the high on the price side but when I actually got the books in my own hands I changed my tune. The books are very thick and will last my kids quite awhile making this a worthwhile investment.

I think they secretly like doing the activities and I am enjoying the increase in reasoning skills. The Critical Thinking Company has a large amount of activities, puzzles etc. I love looking at all they have to offer and after trying out these workbooks I will be investing in more of what they have to offer. Click on the links in this post to check them out for yourself.

Bible Songs

We have great memories of bible song CD's when we had 5 kiddos 6 years old and younger. We would play them in the car and then listen to them sing them over and over while playing. Very cute. As they are getting older the requests to listen to them has almost disappeared. Music is still very important in our home and we always have a radio or CD going in the car.

We were sent a new Bible Song CD from Bible Songs to try out. There are six double-length albums to choose from and we recieved The Bible CD. I put the CD on and immediately my 4, 6 and 8 year olds were drawn to the living room to listen. Plus it has been requested several times since. I love hearing the little tunes here and there during the day while they do different activities. Music is a great way to help with memorization and listening to this kind of a CD is a great way to hide the Word in their little hearts.

The songs are cute and fairly short making them easy to memorize, though lyrics are included. The CD is $9.99. I found the price very reasonable as the CD has 32 songs totalling close to an hour of listening. There are many other items available for purchase as well through Bible Songs. Check them out!

Knowledge Quest - Homeschooling ABC's

This is my first full year homeschooling all of my children. When given the opportunity to try out the Homeschooling ABC's class from Knowledge Quest starting last fall I was thrilled. The timing could not have been more perfect. It can be overwhelming when you first get started. What curriculum do I choose? How much is enough? How much is too little? Am I teaching everything that I should be? Where do I even start? All of these questions are normal and ones worth asking.

Terri Johnson at Knowledge Quest has created an online course called Homeschooling ABC's and it has 26 lessons. You receive an email once per week with a link to your lesson for the week for 6 months. At $10 per month you are only paying $2.30 per lesson. What a great deal! Really this has been a blessing to me as I try to figure out how schooling at home will look for us. It is really a step by step process, going through the basics of what you need to get started. There is even a lesson about what to do with your perschool and Kindergarten age children. This was very helpful to me as I have a busy 4 year old that I need to school around.

If you are person who is thinking about home educating, someone who has just begun or even someone who would like to get back to basics then this class is for you. I loved that I could take these lesson upstairs on my laptop and read them when my kids were in bed. Transitioning kids from public school to home educating can be difficult. They are used to a certain way of doing things and Terri walks you through helping you transition with your child. The classes address things such as buying and selling curriculum, discovering your child's learning style, staying organized, teaching multiple ages and much more.

I appreciated the advice and information that Terri provides in these lessons. There are very few things more important than your child's education. These lessons are a great way to set you and your children up for a successful homeschooling experience.

Write Shop StoryBuilders

Getting creative juices flowing where writing is concerned isn't always easy. Trying to get a learning child going and you can be looking at a struggle. We were given the opportunity to try out two different storybuilders from Write Shop, World of Sport and World of Animals.

At first I wasn't sure about the concept. They are e-books and so printing is required but after the initial figuring it out period, I am impressed. These are meant to be used as a warming up activity before a writing exercise. They originally had a program geared towards teens and parents but have recently introduced a program geared towards grades 1-3. This was perfect for us. There is nothing more important that learning how to write well. Most college courses require well written papers and I have been wanting to focus more on writing this year. This is a great icebreaker activity. It is also an activity that the student can do on their own while I am working with another one.

The storybuilder sets are available immediately by download. They are card decks meant to printed out and then used as a launching pad for writing projects. The process is meant to be fun and at $7.95 per set they are very affordable. With each deck comes instructions and ideas for how to use the cards. The card decks are split into four categories: characters, traits, setting and plot. You can combine sets if you wish or leave them seperate and give to more than one child at a time. There are so many ideas in each set, with almost 200 cards in each one, you will not be wanting for more choices.

I am loving this for my kids, particularly for my 6 year old. She is a beginning reader and emerging writer. She can choose a card from each category and write a story about what is on the cards. For instance her character would be a butterfly, the trait kindhearted, the setting behind a waterfall and the plot is learns to fly. This sets up the bones of a story that the child can now fill in with details. It is a great way to gently introduce your child to creative writing. I have a couple of older students that this works great for. Imaginative thinking is more of a challenge for them and little nudge goes a long way in getting them started.

Take a look at Write Shop to look at the sets available. I like this product very much and give it an A+ for content and value.

All About Homophones from All About Spelling

All About Spelling has done it again and I so impressed. The All About Homophones is a book available as either an e-book or a softcover version for those of you like me who like to have the book in your hands.

Homophones are those pesky words in the English language that sound alike, are spelled differently and mean very different things. Words like to, two and too or hey and hay. Teaching them also can be a bit tedious and the ordinary worksheet approach isn't always the most engaging. They are important to teach, however, and here is Marie Rippel to the rescue.

The book is 240 pages long and intended to creatively teach students grades 1-8. Wow! 240 pages. I do like that when I am ready for the next section I can just go to my computer and print out the pages I need. I also found the worksheets to be interesting but without too much fluff that would overwhelm a couple of my students. The book also includes crossword puzzles using the learned homophones. I particlurly like this feature as I have a few kids that love crossword puzzles.

The softcover book is $29.95 and the e-book is $27.95. Right now until next Monday, Feb 2, use the code FUN in the customer checkout to get $10 off. That would make the All About Homophones e-book just $17.95 or the softcover for $19.95. I think it's worth it and a great way to teach an important concept for a very good price. Check out the book at All About Homophones for more information.

ee Publishing and Nana Star

I have one four year old little boy who was pretty excited when we recently opened a box from ee Publishing. Elizabeth Sills and Elena Patrice are two sisters who developed the Nana Star world including a picture book series and huggable plushies to go with them. The based the series and characters on ones dreamed up by their grandmother. The stories are intended to build up children's faith and and modeling virtues such as compassion, kindness and generosity.

We were sent the book Nana Star and the Moonman ($15.95) to read. My little guy immediately wanted to get that Moonman plushie ($19.95) out of the box to hold while we read the story. The Moonman is adorable. He glows and plays a short lullaby when you hug him making him fun to snuggle over and over. The story a very sweet story about Nana Star trying to get Moonman home. The illustrations were beautiful as well making this is a very fun bedtime read. I was drawn in by the story as was my little listener. Included in the book is a CD of the story being read. A nice feature after mommy has read the book several times already. We have been reading this one over and over and over and wherever my son goes lately, Moonman is not far behind.

As well as the book series and plushy, the ee publishing company also has other products for you to look at. The company's mission is "to give and believe in compassionate corporate citizenship" and as a result a portion of all Nana Star proceeds go to the Nana Star Foundation helping terminally ill children and under resourced inner city schools. I love knowing that my dollars are being put to good use when I purchase a product. Go to the Nana Star website for more information and product ordering.

Kids Wealth Money Kit

As I am sure everyone knows, times are tough in our economy right now. The pinch is being felt everywhere. We have been talking for the last year with our kids about the way we spend money so when we were sent kits for them to try from Kids Wealth , we were very excited. Now, more than ever, is the time for teaching our kids how to handle money wisely. For too long our generation has been used to getting everything right now when we want it. We own our homes long before our parents did and are driving cars just like they do without the years of working for it first and it has set unrealistic expectations for our children.

What you see above is what comes in the kit. There is a contract for the parents and kids to sign stating how much the parent will be giving the child to manage each month. It is meant for an allowance type of situation but since we don't do allowance we have decided to set it up on money earned for work done at home and money they earn outside of our home as well as any gift money the kids may receive.

The kit is set up with 5 envelopes reminescent of Crown Ministries. I love this because we had just finished a Crown Ministries kids financial curriculum with our kids a few months before. It feels like we are building on what we have already started. The envelopes you see in the picture on the right are tied to character development and teach about a particular area. They are wealth, plan, learn, fun and angel. Wealth is for saving money to put towards things like savings bonds or college accounts. Plan is for long term goals of saving for specific items the kids would like to save for. Learn is meant to be used for items the kids would like to use for school above and beyond the basics that we provide such as an extra chemistry kit or book series. The fun envelope is meant to be used for what it says, something fun they would like to do. The last is the angel envelope which is used for their tithe money.

I love that this kit is very interactive. The Game Tracker and Activity workbooks keep the kids engaged and part of the process. This hands on kit makes learning about money fun which is important in helping them to take ownership of what they are learning. Learning how to handle money is an invaluable skill and one that can make or break a future very early on.

For $39.95, you choose the Blue or Purple kit and the following is included:

Parents Guide: Instructs you on how to get started on the program in 30 minutes.
Kid's Guide: The Kal & Pals characters teach your children what each KidsWealth Account Wallet is for and how to use them.
Account Wallets: The five KidsWealth Account Wallets are color-coded, durable and portable; perfect for young kids getting hands-on experience with real money.
Kid's Pay Calendar with Kid's Pay Stickers: The calendar and stickers allow kids to keep track of their Kid's Pay days, decorated with wonderful scenes of Kal & Pals.
Kid's Pay Agreement: A tool to help you and your kids keep the program running consistently each month.
Five KidsWealth Pencils, a Calculator and decorative Kal & Pals stickers.

The money kit from Kids Wealth is a great resource and tool to build a solid foundation for learning how to manage money. We will be using these kits for quite some time as we continue to help our kids practice this important life skill. Check out Kids Welath for more information.

All About Spelling

I am not sure where to even start. We were sent a large box from All About Spelling and I was very excited. Spelling is something I wanted to focus on this year with my kids and I was trying a little of this a little of that. All About Spelling is a comprehensive spelling program and I couldn't believe all that they had sent me.

We recieved four levels and it was a little bit overwhelming. Each level comes with a teacher's guide along with over 200 cards to cut out, the tiles to cut and apply to the magnets, etc. I spent over 2 hours getting ready and that was just my first level. I still had three to go! I used little index file boxes to store the cards for each level to make it easy to find what we needed for each lesson. The good news is that they are coming out with perforated cards very soon and this will be a big help in getting set up. The other good news is that once you are set up that is it!

The book that comes with is completely scripted and easy to follow. This was particularly important to me as a first year homeschooler. The lesson tells which card to pull and what to have your student do. A magnetic board is needed for the lessons. The book gives a diagram of how to place the letter and letter group magnetic tiles. You can use the curriculum just using the tiles without magnets but I have found that it is much easier to keep the tiles all in one place. We have been using a large cookie sheet.

I found the levels to be very easy to implement and was thrilled every day we would use it and I could see progress being made. I know that spelling can come more naturally for some and I am one of those people. I have some not so natural spellers in my house that and I wasn't sure what to use or where to start other than the typical list handed out on Monday and test on Friday. As a natural speller, even I am learning rules that I did not know but just sort of did. It will make me more of an effective teacher as well as increasing my kids' spelling abilities.

I love that this program incorporates three styles of learning. Auditory, visual and kinesthetic. There is the student hearing what they are to do, seeing it in front of them and then using a tactile method to spell in front of them. This program teaches why a word is spelled the way it is and builds on sounds and blends. The proof is definitely in the pudding on this one. We are seeing results in our house.

I found the program to be a bit on the pricey side at first but honestly, after using the program, I found it to be worth every penny. The levels range in price from $29.95-$39.95 and that includes a teacher's manual and student material guide. You will need a student guide for each child and they range from $12.95-$17.95. The magnets are $5.95 (highly recommend) and the letter tiles are $9.95. A benefit of this program is that everything is used over and over again and only new student material guides will be needed.

I know that we will continue to use All About Spelling in our homeschool for years to come. Head on over to their site to see if it's something that would work for you.

Math Mammoth

Math Mammoth is a math program that is a complete curriculum or a great supplement to any math program. We are a Math-U-See family here and that is hard to compete with in my book but we were given the opportunity to review the Light Blue Series for my first grader. It is very basic and not full of overstimulating information. I want to note that is came as an e-file but there are physical workbooks that are available for purchase. I have talked before about how I prefer workbooks but this really can be a nice feature. It's nice when a child says "I lost that" or I can't find that." I can always re-print and in this busy house that is appreciated.

The Light Blue Series a complete curriculum meant for grades 1-4 and it organized by grade level. It includes both explanations and problems and requires very little teacher involvement. This can be a pro or a con depending on your teaching style and the needs of your student. This series includes all topics in the worktext.

The Blue Series is organized by topics and meant for grades 1-5. It also includes both explanations and problems and requires little teach involvement.

A great thing about Math Mammoth is their customer service. If you aren't sure what your child needs, you can always ask. They are willing to help you figure out what will best fit for your child based on the areas they need to work on.

I found Math Mammoth to be very affordable. A complete curriculum can be found for grades for 1-5 for $27. Supplemental workbooks can be purchased for between $2-$5. Being economical is very important to us and there are many affordable workbooks based on topics depending on the area you would like your child to spend time on. Critical thinking is important to us and there is workbook that works on mental math, for example.

Math-U-See is still a better fit for us as a family but I found Math Mammoth to be a solid program worth taking a look at. Head on over to Math Mammoth to see what they have to offer. There is much more available than I have been able to cover here.

Kinderbach

Interested in your children having music classes or lessons? We have been thinking about it for some time but with five children and a busy family schedule, it hasn't happened so far. We were given the opportunity to try out Kinderbach and were given free access to the Kinderbach Learning Center online.

You log in and watch the videos online when it works for you and this was a very convenient option. No CD's to store or books to find. There are also printable worksheets as you go along in various lessons. The videos are very cute and colorful to watch.

All you need is a computer and an inexpensive keyboard or piano. We were able to pick up a keyboard for $2 at an auction and boy were we excited for that find. I was impressed with the quality of the program and my kids were immediately engaged. It is intended for children ages 2-7 and my ten year olds did feel it was geared too young for them. However, after the first day one of them was asking when they could do it again. So depending on the child it could be used on older ones as well.

The program is intended to introduce children to music including some music theory, rhythym training, reading notes etc. It is not really teaching them to play the piano like a traditional music lesson but it does get started and they are exposed to musical instruction in a fun way.

You can try out two lessons for free to see what you think. For a membership, it is $85.95 which gives you access to the site for one year which includes all 300 sessions. There also is Kinderbach at Home which is a DVD set for $217.75 which included lessons 1-30, audio CD set and a songbook package. Other packages are in the works.

We found this to be a great program for younger kids and it does do the job of introducing children to music in a fun and cute way. Check out Kinderbach for more information.

Aleks

I am very grateful that we were able to review Aleks for The Old Schoolhouse Crew. Aleks is a thorough web based assessment and course math program. It is for grades K-12 and can be used in the classroom or as a tutor for independent learners such as hoemschoolers.

We are very happy with our math program in our house so I was hesitant to throw another math program in. I decided to use my eight year old who is strong in math as the tester for this one. Aleks will set up accounts for each student as well as a master account for the parent to monitor things. The first thing my daughter did was take the assessment. It only took her a few minutes to figure out the fields and how to move through the assessment. She was asked many questions and had the option of choosing I have not learned this yet if a concept was unknown to her. When the assessment was complete we were presented with a pie chart showing which areas she yet needed to master.

The great thing about this pie chart was that she was able to choose what area she would like to work in on any given day. The site would walk her through each section taking her to the next one that she was ready for. The site also continus to review facts known making sure to keep concepts fresh and truly mastered.

My daughter has enjoyed working on her weaker areas on this site and is mastering a few areas that I was not previously aware were weak spots for her. If nothing else I am grateful for the thorough beginning assessment to show us where we are at.

One thing to keep in mind for older students using this program is that there is not a grading system. This could be a negative for those homeschoolers trying to put together a transcript for college. You may be able to put something together from the program but it is something to consider when considering this program.

There are a few payment options for this service starting at $19.95 per month for one student, as well as $99.95 for 6 months or $179.95.

Puppetools

It's no secret that learning through play is an important part of every child's education. There is a company called Puppetools that has this philosophy in mind. This website/service has the goal of teaching parents and teachers how to use puppets to foster learning through play. The service is a cost of $20 per year to individuals and $99 for a school or group.

The service provides templates for many puppets as well as providing training in how to use the puppets. While I think this a good idea in theory, I felt that paying for this service isn't necessary. Children are naturally creative using items around the house to make puppets and dolls. In this day in age where the internet is available many of these ideas can be found for free. The site made me feel like something as simple as puppets was more complicated that just having fun with it. This is something homeschoolers generally avoid.

One benefit I do see is having all of the templates in one place as well as ideas for using those puppets in a learning setting. This could be helpful to teachers and homeschoolers alike if puppets is a part of your curriculum. The templates were easy to print out and the site was fairly easy to use.

If this appeals to you, check out Puppetools and see what they have to offer you.I am giving this one a B- in my book.