All About Spelling's new Beehive Reader!

I was first introduced to Marie Rippel and All About Spelling last year.  Our family reviewed All About Spelling, as well as All About Homophones last year.  Now she is designing a new series, All About Reading, which includes readers that work with the All About Spelling curriculum.

The first book available from All About Reading is the Beehive Reader 1.  It's a hardback reader with ten illustrated stories inside.  Each of these stories ONLY includes words that the children can sound out themselves.  (This is a pet peeve of mine ... beginning readers that include words my kids can't read yet.  It frustrates the children!)  If you use the All About Spelling curriculum, the stories are cued to correspond with the All About Spelling Level 1 lessons. 

When the Beehive Reader first arrived, I just flipped through it, enjoying the illustrations.  The illustrations are charming sketches by Donna Goeddaeus and  David LaTulippe.  We love them!

       

    

Beehive Reader 1 recently earned a silver medal in the Moonbeam Children's Book Awards.  It has also earned the approval of my 6 year old son.  He loves sitting down with me to read a story.  When it first arrived, I thought it was going to be too hard for him.  He was so excited about the book, that he wanted to keep trying.  The first story was rough, but with each story he improves in reading skills and in speed.  He brings me the Beehive Reader, and asks me to read with him.

I highly recommend Beehive Reader 1!  Its stories are interesting, easy for early readers to sound out themselves, and the illustrations are wonderful.  The hardcover book is also durable and will be useful for multiple children.  It's an excellent resource, whether your family uses All About Spelling or not.

Beehive Reader 1 is currently available at the All About Spelling website for $19.95.  By the end of this year, there should be four more Beehive Readers and a teacher's manual available.  The new All About Reading website should be available this summer and will include information about the series, as well as free reading tips.

This item was provided free for our review as a member of the TOS Homeschool Crew.  We received no other compensation, and this review is our honest opinion.  Click the TOS Homeschool Crew banner at the top to read more reviews on this product by other Homeschool Crew members.

Trusting In Him,
April

Math Mammoth Golden Series, Worksheets by Grade

click image to visit website

Last year, I reviewed Math Mammoth's Light Blue Series (complete curriculum for elementary ages) as a member of the TOS Homeschool Crew.   We really enjoyed using the Light Blue Series with our elementary students last year, and loved the way the curriculum was arranged by concept and each concept was covered in several ways.  This year, I chose the Golden Series of worksheets by grade to review.   I selected the Grade 7/8 and Algebra 1 worksheets for my oldest two daughters (grade 7 and 9). 

The Golden Series worksheets are grouped together by grade, and each worksheet covers one concept.  Each concept is approached in several different ways on the worksheet to encourage full understanding of the concept.  The Golden Series comes with an answer key, but does not include explanations of the concepts at all.  It is meant to be a supplemental series to use in addition to other curriculum.

I knew these worksheets did not include explanations, but I didn't expect us to struggle with the worksheets.  I guess I should have paid better attention to the note on the website which states that these are best used by teachers or tutors.  Because the concepts are approached in different ways than their regular curriculum, my daughters struggled to understand the pages.  In order to teach the pages to them, I found myself having to study their usual textbook and the worksheet to figure out how to explain it to them.  This made the worksheets less useful than I had hoped for our family.  In our home, math is handled independently for the most part.  These worksheets weren't able to be used that way in our home.

Although these reprintable, reusable worksheets are affordable as downloads at the price of $14.50 for the 7th/8th grade worksheets and answer key, and $13.50 for the Algebra 1 worksheets and answer key, they are not as useful for me as I had hoped.  Although I always received good grades in math, I had to work hard to learn the topics.  I do not think mathematically naturally, and neither do the two students I was trying to use them with.  For a math-minded parent, these may be more useful than they were to me.

Maria Miller has created several affordable Math Mammoth series.  Each series is available as a downloaded e-book, or as a black and white printed hard copy.  

• The Blue series has  topical worksheets for grades 1-5, with explanations and answer keys included.  
  


• The Light Blue Series is a complete curriculum for grades 1-5, with explanations and answer keys. 
  


• The Golden Series includes worksheets grouped together by grade (3-8), no explanation, but answer key included. 
  


• The Green Series are worksheets arranged by topic for grades 3-7, without explanations, but with the answer key. 
  


• Note:  The Golden and Green series both contain warnings that they may best be used by teachers or tutors.
  

There are package deals available to save you even more money!  Maria Miller also provides 280 free worksheet samples and a helpful email newsletter for parents and teachers.

If you're looking for an affordable math curriculum that approaches math concepts in more than one memorized formula, check out Math Mammoth.

This item was provided free for our review as a member of the TOS Homeschool Crew.  We received no other compensation, and this review is our honest opinion.  Click the TOS Homeschool Crew banner at the top to read more reviews on this product by other Homeschool Crew members.

Trusting In Him,
April

Zeezok Publishing: building our children through quality materials

I had never heard of Zeezok publishing when I found out I was selected to review some of their classical composer studies.  This small publishing company was established in 2003, with the goal of "building children rather than repairing men."  They publish quality literature and educational materials for the training of our children.

(pictured set is not the one we received)

We were sent one of the double Great Musicians composer study special offers: 

• Stephen Foster and his Little Dog Tray book
  


• Stephen Foster study guide, 


• Edward MacDowell and his Cabin in the Pines book


• Edward MacDowell study guide


• the companion CD for the two books is included free. 
  

This set sells for $35.80 at the Zeezok website, which saves you $7.95 (the cost of the companion CD).

 
The two softcover books ($12.95 each) that we received  are both written by Opal Wheeler and Sybil Deucher in the early 1940s.  They include pen and ink illustrations by Mary Greenwalt, and are intended for elementary students.   The books are interspersed with sheet music of some of the composers' more famous works, and the companion CD includes printable sheet music.  The companion CD also includes audio files of the music, and coloring pages for each chapter. 

While I enjoyed the stories of these composers' childhood and adult life, I did wish that they were written with shorter chapters.  Each book has only 4 or 5 chapters for 144-172 pages.  This made the chapters quite long for my younger students to sit through.  My 6 and 8 year old sons began to dread the story reading, although my 10 year old daughter looked forward to them.  I would recommend the parent pre-read the chapters and find stopping points within each chapter to break it up into shorter lessons.   You could also have an older student read it to themselves and then join you for discussion of each chapter.

The study guides by Judy Wilcox ($4.95 each)  include maps, timelines of the composers' lives, points of interest to expand upon the story, reading comprehension questions, and character qualities to discuss with your children.  It does not provide laid-out lesson plans, but it does give you information to continue the discussion.  The Edward MacDowell study guide also included 3 fun puzzles for the kids.  Each of the softcover study guides are about 30 pages long.

Overall, I enjoyed the two Great Musicians composer studies that we reviewed.  They are a fun way to study a composer and his music, for the classical or Charlotte Mason homeschool.  The stories help bring the composer to life as a person, not just a historical figure.  They are reusable, resalable, and non-consumable -- which makes them a good value.  You can use them with multiple children, homeschool co-ops, or sell them when you are done to recover some of your expense.

In my opinion, there are only two negative things about these composer studies:

• I think they will be enjoyed more by girls than boys.


• I think that the chapters need to be broken into smaller sections for reading aloud. 

If you're looking for composer studies to add to your music curriculum, be sure to check out Zeezok Publishing's Great Musicians series.

This item was provided free for our review as a member of the TOS Homeschool Crew.  We received no other compensation, and this review is our honest opinion.  Click the TOS Homeschool Crew banner at the top to read more reviews on this product by other Homeschool Crew members.

Trusting In Him,
April

What is my 3 year old learning these days?

She's learning to sing lots of songs from her older sisters' personal music tastes.

She's learning to quote commercials, like the popcorn tea party one that keeps replaying during the Olympics.

She's learning not to hold a fork above your face, because you might drop it and have it land in your eye.

She's learning that it hurts when things land in your eye.

She's learning that when you want a chocolate chip cookie, it helps to specify "one with chocolate chips in it, Mom."

She's learning that when you are handed a chocolate chip cookie, the first thing you do is flip it over to count the chocolate chips.

She's learning how to draw family portraits.

She's learning (again) that we do NOT color on the walls.

She's learning how to be too cute for her own good.

She's learning how to make the whole family laugh with her "too smart for her age" personality.

She's learning how to apologize when she knows she's done something wrong.

She's learning how to match her clothing ... and what just doesn't work.

She's learning how to give the best hugs.

Trusting In Him,
April

Apologia: Ultimate Guide to Homeschooling by Debra Bell

Apologia is under new ownership, and they're expanding their company's vision.  They are well-known for publishing quality Christian science curriculums.  Now they are also publishing other books to encourage Christian families, especially homeschoolers.  One book they have re-published is an updated version of Debra Bell's Ultimate Guide to Homeschooling.  This was one of the first books I bought in 1999-2000 when we first began to homeschool our oldest daughter in preschool.  It was an excellent resource for a new homeschooler, and it helped me find my direction as I was venturing into new territory with little outside support.

Somewhere along the way, I decided I didn't need it any longer.  I passed it on to someone else.  When I received a copy to review as part of the TOS Homeschool Crew, I thought I'd re-read it and pass it on to someone else again.  But then I discovered all the wonderful information for homeschooling the upper grade levels.  What was I thinking when I got rid of my original copy?  Obviously, I didn't have a high schooler at the time!

The Ultimate Guide To Homeschooling has been divided into 10 parts.  The first 9 parts contain 34 chapters, and the tenth part is a resource guide.   The book is divided into the following parts:

1. Homeschooling:  Is it for you?  (7 chapters)
   


2. Choosing a Curriculum  (5 chapters)


3. Organization and Planning (2 chapters)


4. Preventing Burnout  (5 chapters)


5. What to Teach -- When and How  (2 chapters)


6. Homeschooling Teens  (4 chapters)


7. Computers in the Homeschool   (3 chapters)


8. Creative Solutions  (3 chapters)


9. Measuring Your Success  (3 chapters)


10. Resource Guide

It's a huge book, with 509 pages, but thankfully it has a detailed table of contents and an index to help you locate the information you're seeking.  Many of the chapters close with additional resources on that topic, so your reading list can just keep growing.  The chapters are well-planned and easily read, with a comfortable font size to read and nice margins for note-taking. 

Debra Bell walks you through the process of deciding if you should homeschool, choosing your curriculum and defining your child's learning styles.  She lays out guidelines for what to teach in each subject in different grades, how to plan a high school course of study, and navigating college admissions.  She shares tips for motivating the reluctant learner, assessing your student's progress, and preparing your child to do well on standardized tests.  That's only a small amount of the information provided in the book.   

I have to admit that I was a bit surprised by its bright orange cover.  (Although it used to be a rather bright shade of yellow, too.)  I do prefer the new cover with the cute artwork.  My children were quick to spot that the word homeschooling is spelled out by children forming the letters with their bodies.  They quickly sought to do the same themselves and we have been treated to several performances by the 8 and 10 year olds!

One word of caution is that Debra Bell does write with a bias against traditional textbooks and packaged curriculum.  Although she does present the benefits of such curriculum and when it is beneficial to use them, she also presents a viewpoint that it can suck the life out of a subject.  Just be aware of this bias, and recognize that different family situations and teacher preferences are always going to affect choice of curriculum.  Just as different family situations will affect how your homeschool functions, whether you join a co-op or not, and what you can afford to spend on curriculum.  I have to smile at her checklist for deciding if you should homeschool or not ... because many of us would not be homeschooling if we took that list literally.

The Ultimate Guide to Homeschooling (softcover book) can be bought for $20.00, which is an excellent price for a resource that can take you from kindergarten through graduation in your homeschool.   I definitely recommend this book for anyone who is considering homeschooling, planning to homeschool, or already homeschooling their children!

This item was provided free for our review as a member of the TOS Homeschool Crew.  We received no other compensation, and this review is our honest opinion.  Click the TOS Homeschool Crew banner at the top to read more reviews on this product by other Homeschool Crew members.

Trusting In Him,
April

How do I homeschool with multiple ages, especially little ones?

This is a question I've been asked before.  I've posted about how I homeschool multiple ages in the past, so today I'll focus on how I homeschool with a baby or toddler.

The true key to homeschooling with a baby or toddler is simply to be flexible.  There is no simple answer that will solve the difficulties in each homeschool.  Every family and every baby is unique.  What works in one home, and with one baby, may not work for others.   In our home, every day is going to look a little different.  We don't schedule our babies, and we practice attachment parenting, so having the baby in arms, and part of our school time is just a fact of life. 

In the earliest months, this is simple.  We place the baby's bassinet in the living room.  He can nap nearby while we do our schoolwork.  He's small and easy to hold while walking a student through a math problem.  He's easy to nurse while reading aloud to the other children.  Unless he is colicky, you just work around him.  You especially work quickly whenever he naps.

When they reach 2 -3 months old, they usually have a routine of their own.  You know what to expect as far as naps (even if it's only 15 minute naps every 2 hours), and can wait for those times to do complicated school projects.  We have a bouncy seat that we rely on during this time for some hands-free time.  The baby usually isn't content to be left alone very long, so you still need to work quickly.  

As the baby gets a little older (4-6 months), we start to use an exersaucer in the living room.  We alternate the baby between being in our arms, in the exersaucer, napping, or lying on the floor.  When he becomes bored with one situation, we just try another one for awhile.  This time can be more difficult to read aloud with the baby on your lap.  They might start slapping at the book.  Working during nap times is still a favorite plan.  A baby sling can make it easier to stand and help students with math, with the baby on one hip.

Then the baby starts to crawl, pull up, and cruise along the furniture around 6-9 months.  This begins the time when they are more content, because they can go places, reach things, and explore.  BUT the messes multiply.  It's a busy time, but a good one.   It can help to have an older child take a few minutes to read a board book to the baby.  Nap times are still your best friend!  But you need to figure out what time of day your baby is most content, and schedule your more difficult subjects at that time.

Some of my children have started walking at 10 months; others not until 12 months.  But this becomes the most challenging time.  Toddlers become very opinionated, and active!  They're still making messes, climbing up on things, exploring everything ... but they also tend to get upset when their plans are thwarted.  Distraction and redirection become key at this point.  When they are into something they shouldn't get into, you need to redirect them to something appropriate. 

My 1 year old likes to color, look at books, do simple peg puzzles, and play with toy cars.  I also admit that we don't mind having him watch a short movie like Baby Faith, Praise Baby, or even Baby Einstein.  It can calm him down or keep his attention when we need to finish a project.  When he makes a mess, like emptying all the peg puzzles onto the floor, taking books off the shelf, or anything else ... it's important to involve him in picking up the mess. 

Homeschooling with babies and toddlers isn't  easy.   You need to learn to juggle the needs of the baby and the older children.  Teaching the older children to work on their own as much as possible, and trying to help the baby learn to play on his own helps.  Likewise, it is important to teach the older children that each baby is a blessing, and to be patient with the baby.

There is an article by Diane Hopkins of Love To Learn store, that I like to read.  It's a reminder that the most important lessons aren't always the academic ones.  The Baby Is the Lesson is an encouragement to anyone trying to homeschool with a baby or toddler underfoot.

Hang in there!  Keep experimenting, and don't give up!  Soon enough your baby or toddler will be a preschooler, eager to join in the lessons.

To read more Blog Cruise posts by other TOS Homeschool Crew members on this topic, click on the Blog Cruise image at the top of the page.

Trusting In Him,
April

Eclectic Education Series by Dollar Homeschool

I was excited when I received the Eclectic Education Series from Dollar Homeschool to review.  I wanted to see how the students from an earlier day were taught in the one room schoolhouses.  I also hoped it would save me money, if I could incorporate this into my own homeschool.

Dollar Homeschool has collected together  the complete Eclectic Education Series that was used in schoolrooms around America from 1865 - 1915.   This series includes the still popular Ray's Arithmetic and McGuffey's Readers.  It also includes science, history, logic and grammar textbooks.  I counted over 100 books in the Eclectic Education Series.

Dollar Homeschool has scanned the old textbooks into the computer, and collected them all into PDF files, with an easily-navigated directory.  They are available on CD-rom, for your use at home.  You can view them on the computer, print them, and teach all your children from these traditional textbooks.  All that you will need is a PDF reader like Adobe.    This CD-rom is available for $159, which is $56 less than if you bought the books individually.

What did we think about the Eclectic Education Series?

Well, there are several Cons to this program for our family:

• This just isn't our style of education. 
  


• Reading the older books, in black and white, loses my kids' interest. 
  


• The scans of the books aren't always clear.  I was using the McGuffey Readers with my 6 year old.  On one page the C had a couple dots that confused him -- he thought it was an E instead. 
  


• The pictures in the McGuffey Readers did not scan well, and you can't tell what many of them are.  Since the text is connected to the pictures, this is disappointing.  


• These are black and white PDF documents, and the questions sometimes refer to colors.


• It would be time consuming for me to use this method of education with all my different children.


• Grammar rules have changed in the last century, and scientific discoveries have also advanced since these textbooks were written.


• Unless you plan to sit your family down at the computer, printing these books can become costly.

However, there are some pros to the curriculum as well.

• Provides classic textbooks for all grade levels.


• Includes the complete Ray's Arithmetic, and also White's Arithmetic.


• They are already gathered into one place, which saves you time over searching them out individually.


• You can re-use it within your own family, though not re-sell it or share it.


• You could supplement your curriculum with these textbooks, or use them as your main curriculum. 
  


• It includes teacher's manuals that tell you how the books were intended to be used in the classroom. 


• Includes over 100 books, at a cost of about $1.50 per book. 
  

Would I use these myself?   No not really.  Even though my son enjoyed using the McGuffey Readers, I have other readers that I prefer using.  We prefer using more modern and colorful textbooks and living books in our homeschool.  I can see using them as a resource in my homeschool, but not my main curriculum.

Would I recommend them?  If I had a friend looking for the classic textbooks to use in her homeschool, I'd certainly tell her about Dollar Homeschool.  I'd also be sure to point out to her the sometimes unclear images so she wouldn't be surprised if she bought it. 

This item was provided free for our review as a member of the TOS Homeschool Crew.  We received no other compensation, and this review is our honest opinion.  Click the TOS Homeschool Crew banner at the top to read more reviews on this product by other Homeschool Crew members.

Trusting In Him,
April

Homeschool Library Builder is helping Haiti in February!

I've got a serious book addiction, and I love shopping for new educational books for our homeschool.   Even more than shopping for books, I love saving money on books.  Homeschool Library Builder helps you save money on books all the time, but this month they're saving you even more money, and donating to Haiti relief, as well.

10% of all Homeschool Library Builder's profits in February will go to help Haiti.  In addition, all their books are 20% off in February!  So you save money, and they donate to Haiti!!  

There is even more savings in store for you on Superbowl Sunday if you make a donation to Heartline Ministries.   Go to the Heartline Ministries website and donate (by midnight CST on Feb. 6th).  Then email HSLB to let them know you donated.  They'll give you a coupon to save an additional 15% (totaling 35% off)  which is valid on Sunday, February 7, 2010 only!  Simple as that!

But who is Homeschool Library Builder?  

Homeschool Library Builder is a website created by two women, both homeschool moms of four children (ages 8-20).  They love great books, and want to help us find the books we need at a savings!  They stock new and used, hardcover and softcover books.  Their books are rated by condition, and priced accordingly.  Some books are as low as 92% off. 

Some of the things I like about their website include:

• They have great membership benefits which include a points system for earning discounts on future purchases. 


• You can search their inventory by subject, age, geographic region, or by the curriculum it's used in.  I love the curriculum search feature, since we've used both Five In A Row, and Tapestry of Grace. 


• They have a clearance section.


• They are helping others with their Helping Hands category, and HSLB Marketplace.


• They will try to locate a book you need, if they don't have it in stock.


• Their Spotlight on the Season feature previews websites with activities and lessons for each holiday and season.


• 30 day satisfaction guarantee policy.


• All books are shipped with complimentary delivery confirmation, via USPS media mail or priority mail.

 

Add Homeschool Library Builder to your bookmarks, so you can start your book shopping there.   Save yourself some money, and help Haiti relief in the month of February at Homeschool Library Builder! 

This review was assigned to us as a member of the TOS Homeschool Crew.  We received no compensation for this review.  Click the TOS Homeschool Crew banner at the top to read more reviews on this company by other Homeschool Crew members.


Trusting In Him,
April

FactsFirst by Saxon-Harcourt

Math is not a favorite subject in our home.  Despite the fact that my husband was a math major in college, most of our kids don't really care for math.  Once upon a time, early in our homeschool career, my second daughter often proclaimed that math was her favorite subject, but that ended several years ago.  My kids push through their math lessons, and then they are done.   They don't want to do flash cards, or memorize their times tables.  They need that type of practice, but they resist it.   I'm sure mine aren't the only ones like that.  We may have discovered a solution to that problem in our home.

As members of TOS Homeschool Crew, we were able to review a product I'd never heard of before.  FactsFirst is a Saxon-Harcourt product, created by Skills Tutor, that allows children to practice their math facts in a fun way.  Math drills in addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division help your children develop fluency in their math facts so they will be able to focus on learning more complicated math functions.  Students are scored based on their speed and their accuracy.

The first thing your child does when he logs into FactsFirst is develop his self-portrait. 

This self-portrait will be displayed as he moves through the lessons. 

Once he completes a unit of lessons, he is rewarded with five minutes of arcade game time.

Parents can view the Math Fact Matrix to see how each of their children is progressing through the units and lessons, what level of mastery they've accomplished, and what subjects they have or haven't covered.

Each household subscription to FactsFirst is for one year, contains 4 student accounts, and is sold for $49.99.  This allows your elementary aged students (and older students needing remedial work) to master their math facts in a fun way, for only $12.50 per student  per year (if you have four or more kids).   We had our Kindergartener, 3rd grader, 5th grader, and 7th grader using FactsFirst.  The 7th grader needed to develop fluency in her multiplication and division facts, so we had her work through those two areas.

This is the second most affordable online math product that we've had a chance to review or use on the TOS Homeschool Crew.  It is not a full curriculum, but does provide supplemental math practice for kids that will help them move through their regular math curriculum more quickly.  However, it is an online subscription.  Which means that though it can be accessed from any computer with internet access, at home or away from home ... it isn't a reusable product.  If you wish to continue using it for more than a year, you do have to renew your subscription.

My elementary school children enjoyed using FactsFirst, although it didn't appeal to my 7th grader.  Its colorful images kept their interest and the goal of playing arcade games kept bringing them back.  I liked that it had a definite time limit.  Complete a unit, earn an arcade game.  When the 5 minutes in the arcades was up, it just turned the game off.  They could then return to their math facts, or be done for the day.

Some quotes from my kids:

"I like it when we go on a field trip to the lemonade stand or the gymnasium, and all the problems are about that place."  8 year old boy, 3rd grade

"I like the arcade best, and then the lessons."  6 year old boy, Kindergarten

"It's fun.  I like designing my person and that the lessons change places."  10 year old girl, 5th grade

To learn more about FactsFirst, visit the website.  Don't forget to read what other Crew members think about FactsFirst.

This item was provided free for our review as a member of the TOS Homeschool Crew.  We received no other compensation, and this review is our honest opinion.  Click the TOS Homeschool Crew banner at the top to read more reviews on this product by other Homeschool Crew members.

Trusting In Him,
April