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.