ABeCeDarian- A New Take on Learning to Read

My daughter recently had the chance to review Interactive A Workbook from ABeCeDarian Company. This program goes up to 6th grade and the level we reviewed is geared towards the emerging reader, approximately age 4 to mid 1st grade level. Olivia, my soon to be 5 year old was the one who tried this program out. She is actually familiar with all the letters of the alphabet, knows how most sound and can write a majority of them already.

Patriotic Penmanship Review

It's been 8 years since I had a kindergartner, and in that time I've been introduced to so much new curricula that I didn't have with my older children. I don't think my older children had curriculum specifically for handwriting so we were excited to try out Patriotic Penmanship Kindergarten (manuscript) from Laurelwood Books.

Notebooking-Creative Homeschool Journaling (review)

Often while homeschooling, my children learn things outside of traditional textbooks. While I can have them do reports on places we visited or things we did, there is an even better way to record what they learned using NotebookingPages.com. We recently were given a subscription to Notebooking Pages Lifetime Membership.

Keeping Organized with My School Year (Homeschool Record Keeping)

Part of homeschooling involves record keeping and planning. Recently, I had the chance to review My School Year (Homeschool Record Keeping) from MySchoolYear.com.

Math Tutor Help with LearnBop

LearnBop has come up with a new way to practice math using their LearnBop for Families subscription. For the past several weeks, 2 of my children have had a chance to review grade 7 and Algebra I.

Analytical Grammar

As my children have approached middle school and now with 2 of them starting high school this coming school year, we've had to work on expanding their writing skills and learning to write longer reports. We have tried several different programs over the years but have been keeping our eyes open for something new to use. Analytical Grammar recently came out with a new curriculum called Beyond the Book Report.

What is it?

Beyond the Book Report (BBR) is a DVD based middle school and early high school language arts curriculum. This program can be used over 2-3 years starting in 6th/7th grade or used as little as 1 year for a high schooler. The curriculum comes with a schedule detailing how to make that happen. BBR is divided up into 3 seasons. Each season comes with a teachers packet that has a schedule of what to teach when as well as examples of each activity the student will be learning in that season. Also included is a DVD that has the video lectures, PDF files to print out and activities to complete. 

• Season 1 covers a basic book report (which includes learning how to paraphrase a paragraph & summarize a book), a pamphlet book report and a journalism book report. 
• Season 2 covers poetry book report (where the student writes 4 different kinds of poems based on a book they read) and drama book report (which also includes going over Shakespeare's A  Midsummer Night's Dream). 
• Season 3 covers essays (including how to write an SAT essay), oral reports (which includes public speaking with a powerpoint slide presentation) and research papers (as well as how to write an argumentative research paper). This season could also be used without the first two seasons as a way to prep an early high schooler for later high school/college writing.

The teachers guide really makes implementing this curriculum an easy process. It outlines what to cover each day such as watching a video on the DVD (it also states how long the video is) and the activities the student should complete. In the back of the teachers packet is completed examples of what the students work should look like (great help for the teacher!) as well as a glossary of terms that they may come across. Also included with each type of report the student writes is a rubric for not only them to use as a guideline when writing but for the teacher to use when grading the reports!

How did we use this?

When we received the curriculum, I took all three seasons of teachers packets (that came already hole punched) and put them into a small binder so the pages wouldn't get lost. I printed out the lecture slides for my 14 year old so she could take notes while watching the videos. I watched the first video with her in case she had any questions. The DVD was easy to use as the videos & printouts are clearly labeled so you know exactly which file to watch or print. The lectures are taught by the authors, a mother-daughter team who have many years of experience teaching grammar and language arts in the classroom. They were easy to listen to and taught their points in a straightforward way (no frills or flashy videos). 

She used BBR about 3 days a week during the review. How fast you go through each season is dependant on which schedule you choose to follow (taking 2-3 years for all the seasons). After starting this review, I realized how much we liked it and decided that we are going to use this for 3 of my children this coming school year following the 2 year teaching schedule. Because this is a DVD based program with PDF files, you can use this curriculum with more than one child which in my opinion makes this a great curriculum for families with multiple children!

My daughter choose Night of the Twisters by Amy Ruckman to do her book report on. As she read through the book, she kept her eye out for a paragraph to paraphrase and took notes on key points so she could write a summary when she was done. She also had a lit worksheet she had to complete as she read the book which included jotting a few sentences down on the conflict, point of view, protagonist, antagonist and the climax/turning point. The teachers guide also suggested having the student write down study questions as they read the book or to make up a crossword puzzle with things from the book (she choose to make a crossword puzzle and gave it to her sister to fill out as she also read the same book recently!)

While you can use Beyond the Book Report alone, the authors suggest pairing it up with Analytical Grammar for a well rounded language arts program (which I also just purchased to use for one of my children this coming school year).
Each season of Beyond the Book Report is available for $24.95 or purchase all 3 seasons as a bundle for $69.95. Connect with Analytical Grammar on: Facebook Twitter

HomeSchoolPiano

I have been playing piano since I was 10 years old and it is something some of my children have expressed interest in learning. We finally got a piano several years ago so I have been teaching them some things here and there but they have needed something more consistent. The problem is, piano lessons get expensive especially when you have more than one child taking them. Imagine my surprise when I heard about HomeSchoolPiano that offers online piano lessons! We were recently given a lifetime subscription to HomeSchoolPiano- Complete Set of Books to review.

What is HomeSchoolPiano?

HSP is a lifetime subscription to online piano lessons taught by Willie Myette, a graduate of Berklee College of Music. He focuses on a 6 step cycle laying a solid foundation to help the student master and enjoy playing the piano.

       
• Technique
• Rhythm
• Ear Training
• Reading Music
• Song
• Improvisation

These piano lessons are for any ages, from a beginner all the way through intermediate. All you need is at minimum a 49 key keyboard/piano, an internet connection and some sort of device to watch the lessons on such as a computer, smartphone or tablet.

What all is included?

HSP includes all the video lessons as well as 3 PDF download lesson books you can print out if you desire. Each book has 6 units in it in which those units then are broken down into lessons. Also included is CorePiano which is video lessons going over the very basics of piano which is good for someone brand new or needing a refresher on the core fundamentals of piano. Each of the units also include 6 songs for a total of 18 for this whole curriculum. There is also Jam Tracks for each book & CorePiano that you can download and play along with.

How does this work?

Accessing the piano lessons simply requires a login and password. From there, you can manage your students by setting them up with their own account. The great thing about HSP is that you are given lifetime memberships for up to 5 students! Once each child has their own login, they are ready to start their lesson. They can start wherever you feel they would best fit. Each lesson is approximately 10 minutes long. You will see Willie himself in the bottom lefthand corner. Above him is a view looking straight down on the keyboard so you can see him as he plays. The view above this is a virtual keyboard that highlights and names the notes as he plays. After the student is done with the lesson, they are sometimes given assignments or even quizzes to take.

click on photo to enlarge

The wonderful thing about having the video lessons is that you can watch it as many times as needed, skip things you are already proficient at or pause mid-video to try out a technique. How fast or slow you go through the lessons is completely up to you. The next time you log back on HSP, it automatically takes you to where you last left off. You also have the ability to download each lesson if you wanted to. The PDF books that come with HSP can be viewed on any device or you can have them printed out (which makes it easier for reviewing and playing at the piano).

How did we use this?

After I got my children each logged in (ages 14, 14 & 13), they chose to use the iPad to view their lessons while sitting right at our piano. Even though they can read music and have had some instruction in the past, they decided to start off with CorePiano to make sure they weren't missing anything. They did occasionally skip something they felt they knew pretty well. CorePiano covers things such as hand placement, how to read the notes, how to sit at the piano, the pedals, sharps and flats, 5 finger scale, rhythms and many other things that a beginner would need to learn.

One of my girls then moved onto Book 1 that taught further how to read music, improvise and create your own music and also included 6 pieces of music as well. We had our book printed out double sided. I let her decide how fast she wanted to move through each lesson. On average, she completed about 2-3 lessons a week during the review but practiced what she learned on the days in between. My daughter sometimes replayed some of the video while she practiced along. Even though I am pretty proficient at playing, I admit I jumped into the sections that covered ear training and improvisation mainly because I was never taught that when I took lessons and I was wanting to learn! I loved how he took the song he was presenting in the lesson, showed the chords and explained how you could then become creative in not only how you played the notes but in the rhythm you played it in.

Another thing to note was that at any time I could log on and view just where each of my children were at in their lessons and how much of it they completed as well as the date they started & completed the lesson and the score they received on their quiz. I also have the ability to print this out which is a great thing to put in their portfolio.

What did we think?

We thoroughly enjoyed the way Willie taught the different techniques. He was easy to listen to and made practicing piano fun! I love the fact that we have a lifetime subscription for 5 children. That makes this extremely affordable not to mention we save gas & time traveling to a music teachers house. He also highly encourages the student to have fun with the music and to write their own compositions which is something one of my daughters is currently working on.

Check out the free lesson to see if HomeSchoolPiano would be a good fit for your family!

HomeSchoolPiano- Complete Set of Books is for all ages from beginner to intermediate. The Lifetime Subscription is $299 or 3 monthly payments of $99.97.

Connect with HSP on:
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Favorite Books for Middle Schoolers

With it being summer, there are many reading programs out there for kids of all ages to participate in. My younger children often read anything I picked up for them at the library but as they got older, they started being more specific in what they wanted to read. I am joining up with the Schoolhouse Review Crew to share some of what my older children have read and enjoyed.

• The Hunger Games Trilogy Out of the 3 books in this series, my girls said their favorite was the first one, The Hunger Games.
• Anne of Green Gables Series Ahh this is one of my favorite childhood series! (I also liked the movies as well!)
• The Cay
• One of the Survivors
• Gifted Hands; The Ben Carson Story
• The Cage
• Any books by Janette Oke (she is another one of my favorites!)

What do YOUR middle school children enjoy reading??

Trident Kindle Fire Case Review

Being able to use technology in our homeschool is great. But as you can imagine, all those "smart" devices can take a beating. I recently had the chance to review a Kraken A.M.S. Case for the Amazon Kindle Fire HDX 7 from Trident Case. I had just gotten a Kindle Fire a few months ago and rarely let my children use it as I didn't want something happening to it.

Trident Case makes cases for iPads, iPhones, Samsung Galaxy phones and Kindle Fire. These cases are made in the USA and are stated to be military grade and able to withstand quite a beating. They are made from bio-enhanced plastic that is recyclable, degradable and compostable. The cases come in a variety of colors you can pick from. I typically stick with black but decided to try something different and went with pink so it would be easy to find when it was inside my purse or diaper bag.

The case came in a see through packaging with a little direction book inside the case (probably would've been better outside the case as I didn't know how to open the case and was afraid I would break it trying to pry it open to get to the directions). I took the case apart and noted it was made up of 3 pieces; an inner-silicone shock absorbing layer that was flexible and the 2 hardened polycarbonate pieces, one for the back and one for the front which also had a built in screen protector.

When I opened the direction book to see how to assemble the case around my kindle, I saw there wasn't any directions for how to put the case together but rather how to use the various attachments you can purchase to use along with the case. I tried several ways and finally after becoming quite frustrated, I researched online and found Youtube videos on how to assemble it. First you take the inner silicone and wrap it around your device. Then you snap the front of the cover on and finally snap the back piece in place. It was easy to do but sure would've been nice to see that specifically on the directions with the case. Also just to note, there is a place on the back where you can attach a stand for the kindle but it does not come with that part. It has to be bought separately.

Once my kindle was in the case, you could tell the kindle was secure and not sliding around in any way. All the external ports (such as the earphone jack and charging port) had rubber pieces that covered the holes when not in use. The screen protector covered the entire front of the screen except for where the camera was. The thickness of the case provided extra grip and making it less likely to slip from your hands.

Not that it was intentional but my kindle did get dropped off my night stand during the review and it was fine. I have no doubt any device in a Kraken A.M.S. case would be well protected from a drop. I admit I wondered about their claim that it can withstand 7.9"/hour of rain with 40 mph winds for 1 hour because it wasn't a fully enclosed case with a hole around the camera, the speaker holes as well as the piece of plastic in the center back wasn't tightly sealed. I certainly didn't set out to try and test this claim but unfortunately it happened. My kindle was in a tote bag with some other odds-n-ends, one of them being a capped water bottle. In the 10 minutes it was in there together, my water bottle leaked getting some water on the case. As I started wiping it off, I noticed there was water that somehow got inside the case. I immediately took off the case to wipe the kindle and noticed it wasn't working right. All I can figure out is that with as tight of a seal the case made around the kindle, it drew the water into the device rather than it just pooling on the outside. Sadly, after sitting in rice for several days, my kindle no longer works. 

Overall, this is a sturdy case that can be used by anyone of any age and I had no problems letting my children use my kindle while in it. The Kraken A.M.S. Case for Kindle Fire HDX 7 can be purchased in a variety of colors for $59.95

Golden Prairie Press- Heros and Heroines of the Past

We've been studying American history this year so when we had the opportunity to review Digital Heros & Heroines of the Past: American History Curriculum from Golden Prairie Press, we jumped at the chance. I thought it would be a nice change to dive deeper into the people who have helped shape America.

What's included:

• Heroes and Heroines of the Past: American History Part 1
• Heroes and Heroines of the Past: American History Part 2
• Additional Materials Download
• Historical Skits ebook
• Sing Some History CD
• Listen to Some U.S. History MP3 CD

What it is:

Heroes and Heroines of the Past is an American history curriculum that makes history come alive through many creative activities & resources. This curriculum is intended for grades 1st-6th grade though older students can use it as well. We received PDF's and downloads of this curriculum though the ebooks can be purchased already printed out (the photos will be in black and white whereas the PDF has many beautiful colored photos).

American History Part 1 has 380 pages and American History Part 2 has about 400 pages. Between both books, there are a total of 30 units with 5 lessons in each unit. While the books list the history chronologically, you could pick and choose what unit to work on if you wanted to study a certain time period. The first part of each lesson is geared for the 1st-2nd grader with larger font and a simple, shorter version of the lesson that comes after that which is for the 3rd-6th grader. The second "edition" of the lesson is longer and uses larger vocabulary. Each unit also has a Bible verse you could use for memorization if you wish.

At the end of each lesson, there are other suggested activities to accompany what was just read. They vary by lesson but some of the extras are things such as:

• games to play
• recipes to make
• questions to answer
• crafts
• experiments
• writing topics
• maps
• timelines
• examining historical art
• suggested additional literature books
• act out historical skits
• sing some history (songs)
• listen to some history 

How we used this:

We did a lesson each day for about 4-5 days a week. Even though it's for 1st thru 6th grade, my 7th & 8th graders also participated. We each took turns reading aloud the text from the computer and then passing it around to view the varying pictures that was in the lesson. They took turns answering the questions orally that were at the end of the lesson. For the older ones, sometimes they would do the writing topic that was suggested. I had also printed out the blank timeline that was in the "Additional Materials Download" for each of them to fill in when indicated.

They enjoyed listening to the "Listen to Some History" audio files such as The Declaration of Independence and the Midnight Ride of Paul Revere. We also listened to some of the songs from the "Sing Some Songs" section and followed along with the music that was in the lesson. Occasionally one of my children would even use the music to play it on the piano.

We used our own map to locate the different places when it suggested to in the lesson because scanning back in the PDF to go to the map that was in a different lesson took too much time. (This is where a printed version would be handy as all you would have to do is page back). I wonder if including the PDF page number would've made it easier since you can just type the page number in at the top?

We loved looking at the historical art that was included and finding what they were asking us to locate. We didn't do many of the crafts as my children thought they were geared toward younger kids using this curriculum. I did scan through the lessons we haven't yet covered and saw a neat experiment making invisible ink we plan to try!

My children had fun acting out the skits that went along with some of the lessons. I would print a copy for each child then highlight the characters line they were going to read. Sometimes we just read the skit, other times they got into really acting by following the prompts listed and changing their voices! We thought that including the skits was a great idea to help make history relatable! There were also some games scattered throughout the lessons and 2 of them that my kids thought were fun was the "Thimble" game & "Stir the Pot".

Overall, we really enjoyed this curriculum and the many ways it brought history to life. I personally would've liked to have had this printed out, and I still may do that and take it somewhere to bind but you can purchase it already printed out for the same price as the PDF version. I loved all the extras that came with this curriculum but would possibly have liked to have seen the lesson number listed with the file to make finding them a bit easier.

Heroes and Heroines of the Past: American History Curriculum is available for $98.99.

Connect with Golden Prairie Press on Facebook

Spelling You See

It isn't very often we get to try out a product that is new and hadn't even hit the homeschool market until now! Enter Spelling You See that we had the privilege of reviewing from the Demme Learning company which is local to me in Lititz PA. This is also the same company who published the popular Math-U-See curriculum! We've had recent success with Math-U-See so we were excited to try out their brand new spelling curriculum! Hannah happened to be the lucky one who received Level E-American Spirit.

Spelling You See has a unique approach in how they teach spelling. This is not a boring, memorize a list of words then test, curriculum! This curriculum was founded by Dr. Karen Holinga, who has 30 years experience as a reading specialist. This spelling curriculum is not divided by grade but by levels and designed to go at the pace of a student. This philosophy follows 5 developmental stages of spelling:

-Preliterate

-Phonetic

-Skill Development

-Word Extensions

-Derivational Constancy

How this works:

To figure out what level to place your elementary student, you can follow this placement guide. Following this, it showed me that Hannah would be placed in their top level that is currently available, American Spirit. There are 5 levels available with 2 more in the works:

A- Listen and Write

B- Jack and Jill

C-Wild Tales

D-Americana

E-American Spirit

Coming Soon:

F: Ancient Achievements

G: Modern Milestones

This curriculum is divided into 36 weekly lessons spread out through 2 student workbooks consisting of 5 lessons a week. Each lesson takes no more than 10-15 minutes. The key to this curriculum is that the parent sits with the child to do each lesson. At the beginning of the week, you read the passage to your child then help them "chunk" the vowels and consonant pairs using colored pencils (meaning you color the pairs such as ea, ee, ie, ch, ph th, etc).  They also practice writing the passage daily. This helps the student visualize sound patterns, making them recognizable. You will do this for the first 3 lessons of the week. The last 2 lessons of the week involve you dictating the passage to your child for them to write down what you read to them. On day 4 you will help them with punctuation and spelling but the 5th day is sort of a "test" day in letting your child write the dictation completely on their own. What makes this curriculums approach unique is that they bring together a visual, audio & physical learning experience in helping to learn spelling. And not only is spelling taught but handwriting is also practiced as is reading skills honed since they read the passage along with their parent! This also helps by writing daily the same passage to implant the words and their meanings. 

How we used it: I read over the instructor's handbook before starting to learn how to really use this curriculum to the fullest potential. While you could possibly use this curriculum with just the student books, there is a lot of great info in the handbook as well as a special code to access online videos & content. So I would recommend purchasing the handbook to make sure you know how to best use this curriculum to the max!  Each day, I sat down with Hannah and followed the guided schedule. She is a pretty good reader so we would read the passage together rather than the guidelines of me reading it to her. Then she used the colored pencils that came with the curriculum to chunk the vowel & consonant blends. After that, she would do the writing that was required for each day. Each days lessons were contained in a 2 page layout, one on the left & right, so no page flipping was needed.

We enjoyed the fact that the daily readings were tied into factual American history (which is what she has been studying this year for history). So not only was she learning spelling, she was also learning tidbits of history, practicing handwriting and reading all in just 10-15 minutes a day!
Each level contains 2 student books with the option of purchasing an instructor's handbook. Level E- American Spirit, which we reviewed is available for purchase at $30 for the student workbooks & $14 for the instructor's handbook. While there is no exact age or grade levels, this curriculum is for elementary ages or to be used as remedial work for older students who need to work on their spelling skills.

Homeschool Mom's Bible

Many of the things we get to review are for my kids (which they love!) So I was excited when I was recently given the chance to review something just for ME!! I have had the same Bible since I was about 8 years old. I've often wanted to get a new one but was never sure which one to get. I had actually never heard of the Homeschool Mom's Bible from Zondervan until it came up for review so I was thrilled with the chance to get my own copy!

The Homeschool Mom's Bible comes in either the NIV or KJV version. I chose the NIV as the Bible I already had was KJV and I wanted something a bit easier to understand. This Bible has a hardcover with a slipcover on top. The pages are your typical thin, smooth pages that many Bibles have.

In the front of the Bible, there is a list of the books of the Bible listed in order as well as alphabetical order. After that, there is a foreward written by Vicky Farris who is the wife of Dr Michael Farris, the founder of HSLDA. She shares how she knows what it's like at this time of a busy, homeschooling moms life and encourages us to let the laundry wait & get into God's word. 

Following her foreward is information about Alpha Omega publishing as well info about the author of the devotionals, Janet Tatman, who is a veteran homeschool mom. She worked for Alpha Omega publishing writing devotions for the Daily Focus which is where the devotions for this Bible came from.

My favorite part of this Bible is the 365 daily devotions spread throughout all the books of the Bible. Each devotions lists the date, a verse of scripture that ties into the subject of the devotion, then it has an easy to read devotional that is a page or less followed by a prayer at the end tying everything together that you just read. The devotions are written specifically for a homeschool mom and deals with many of the things we may face on a daily basis. I loved how down to earth and relatable the devotions were. I found myself nodding my head and encouraged as I read through each devotion.

I typically chose the morning to have my quiet time & used the devotions from this Bible following the dates that were given. If you are reading through the whole Bible, you could just read each devotion as it comes up. Some of the topics Janet touches on in the devotions are:

-facing new challenges in homeschooling

-trusting God & giving him control in our homeschool endeavors

-choosing wisely when it comes to curriculum

In the back of the Bible, there is a topical index that lists many topics with scripture to look up. I always appreciate the aspect of having this to reference as I like to find specific verses to relate to a specific situation or feeling.

Overall, I think this is a great Bible for homeschool moms and I look forward to reading through more of the devotions in the coming weeks and months.

The Homeschool Mom's Bible is available for $34.99.

Dig-It Games- Mayan Mysteries

We were recently given the opportunity to review Mayan Mysteries from Dig-It Games on our iPad. My kids love being able to play games on there and I especially love when those games are also educational! It's a win-win in my book.

The basis of this game is to solve the mystery of figuring out who the thief is that is stealing artifacts from the Maya archeological sites. As you go through this game, you learn accurate historical facts about Mayan culture & customs,  the Mayan calendar, visit different cities and learn facts about them, learn Mayan math, etc.  This is done through comprehension questions, mapping, digging out of artifacts (and having to choose the correct tool to do this). Points are gained for correct answers as well as when you collect the different artifacts. Points are lost if you get answers wrong or break an artifact while trying to dig it out. At different times during the game, you are given different quizzes which if you fail it you are given another chance to try again.

There is a lot of reading in this game, probably more so than your typical iPad game. If you are worried about a struggling reader or have an auditory learner, there is a button you can press and the game will read it to you!!! My son appreciated that as he would rather listen to something than read it himself.

Like any iPad app, this was easy to download. When we started it, we had to kind of figure our way around the game to get started. I admit it took me a little bit to figure out how to use the archaeological tools, not so much using them but realizing I had to swipe my finger in the middle of the screen (we had been touching the tool in the upper left hand corner as it made motions when we did that). A few more descriptions on how to specifically do things throughout the game would've been helpful. One thing to note, this game can only be played by a single player. It can be reset to allow someone else to play. At times my kids played one at a time, other times they gathered together to work at it as a group. They were thankful that the game saves their progress and allowed them to pick back up where they left off. It should be noted once you reach the end of this game, you won't capture the thief as the game tells you there is a Mayan Mysteries 2 coming out. That was a little disappointing for the kids after all the work this game required. Especially for being an educational game I felt there should be some sort of reward for all they did to reach the end.

Overall, it was a good game chock full of facts and engaging graphics. You can check out the demo to see if this a fit for you. If you don't have an iPad, they also have this available to purchase as an online game. This app is geared for children ages 11+ and can be purchased in iTunes for $9.99.