Schoolhouse Review Crew: Clued In Kids

What parent would turn down the chance to keep a whole group of kids happily and easily engaged and occupied for a half hour? You know you wouldn't - and neither did I! I was glad to have the chance to review Clued in Kids for the Schoolhouse Review Crew.

I was given two hunts to try out - Playdate Treasure Hunt Pad was the first one we did. To be honest, life has been pretty hectic here lately so I held it for a while and didn't do anything with it because I didn't feel like I would have time to set it up and give it a fair shake. How wrong I was!!

Schoolhouse Review Crew: A Life in Balance

I was recently given the chance to read and review the book A Life in Balance by Frank Belgau and his son, Eric Belgau, and distributed by the Learning Breakthrough Program. As a homeschooling mom, I can't help but keep watch over my children and asking: what have they missed; how could I be doing this subject better; is there something about his learning style that doesn't fit what I'm doing? And in truth, it can be a bit of an emotional roller coaster ride.

Here's the thing - our oldest learned to read with about the "normal" struggles and challenges. Our second and third took much longer to get into reading, and one still struggles a bit with longer words and books. And their spelling in the beginning was poor enough that even they can't tell what they were trying to write. And it was frustrating for them. I considered vision and tracking problems, ADD, ADHD, and so much more. What I discovered, well after they had worked out for themselves how to get around their difficulties, is that they both have pretty serious dyslexia. 

Schoolhouse Review Crew: Home School Adventure Company

It will likely be no surprise that we have around 2,000+ books in our home. Every room has a bookcase filled to overflowing (and often two or three bookcases!) in addition to the full library room and storage-turned-school room! The library has a fairly comprehensive, though not complete, set of C.S. Lewis' books, which led me to request the opportunity to review Home School Adventure Co.'s Mere Christianity Journal.

I enjoy Lewis' fictional works and gain a great deal from them as spiritual allegory, but must confess that when it comes to his more "scholarly" texts, short though they are, I struggle. So I requested this review as much for 14-year-old Maestro, and 12-year-old Chef, as I did for my own edification. I also thought that working through the book (which we own, of course) together could provide some good discussion moments between the boys and the White Knight and I. The White Knight has read the book many times, so he served as a guide to our discussions within the confines of the Home School Adventure Journal.

Schoolhouse Review Crew: Science 4 Us Online

It is a heavy "review" kind of week! So today I am reviewing the Science4Us.com online subscription for the Schoolhouse Review Crew. The Square-in-the-Middles (Bruiser and Buttercup mainly) have really gotten a lot out of kids shows that are geared towards teaching science. I don't have a simple science program for them to work on so really appreciated having the chance to review Science4Us when it came around! This program is geared towards kids in Kindergarten through second grade, and can also be used as an early science review by kids in third through fifth. We used it with Buttercup (K/1) and Bruiser (3rd). The older kids didn't look at it; Mr. Magoo (2 years old) looked on while they worked. And they love this program!!

Homeschool Review Crew: KinderBach Review

So! My first homeschool review post of the year - KinderBach Online Piano Lesson Membership and Teacher Corner. My hope in applying to review this program was that I would be able to temporarily "replace" the fantastic piano teacher we had when we lived in Baltimore. 

I know that no program will likely ever replace a good live instructor, but I wanted to get something in place to keep them from losing the skills they gained while with Mrs. Diane. In Baltimore we had only an electric keyboard for the kids to practice on; once we moved to Virginia, we had space and ability to get a decent wall piano off of Craigslist… and then had no teacher.

Schoolhouse Review Crew: French Essentials

I mentioned in my last review that we are working on French this year and next as The White Knight nears retirement. We have tried workbooks, Rosetta Stone, websites, YouTube videos and other such means to get the kids involved. While a few words stick here or there, nothing of substance stays around for long. Schoolhouse Review Crew offered the chance to look at the online program French Essentials, and I was happy to get the chance to try it out - especially because I can use it with each of the older children and for the entire year. 

Schoolhouse Review Crew: VocabularySpellingCity

I have two children with (undiagnosed) dyslexia - and pretty extreme cases. Apparently one of the big indicators of dyslexia is a profound inability to spell well because of an inability to hear the individual sounds - called "Phonemic Awareness". While I wish I had known that years ago before I tried to teach them to read, it is good to be aware of it now - and to look for tools that might help with that. 

In this case, we are using the online program VocabularySpellingCity to see if it will help increase their spelling ability, as well as to test out where Maestro is at with his spelling abilities, and to get Buttercup started on her journey to good spelling as well. In short: this Schoolhouse Review Crew program offers things to cover the entire family!

Schoolhouse Review Crew: Bridgeway Academy - Easy Essay Writing (High School Level)

I have mentioned my struggle with getting certain children to write in the past, and have tried several writing programs - all of them off-line up to now. I've tried co-op classes, in-home books, younger grade levels, older grade levels, and one in-house as part of a junior-high-level-boys-only group (which was a wonderful experience, but I have not seen where he is doing another right now.) On top of that, said now-teenager has expressed interest in going to a brick-and-mortar school for years, so I thought perhaps an online course might be a way for him to try out a classroom situation, while still being home and getting some writing instruction in. Enter the Schoolhouse Review Crew's offer to try out Easy Essay Writing with Mrs. Kimberly Kulp offered by Bridgeway Academy, an online homeschooling group.  

This program is designed for students in grades 9-12, so Maestro is the only one to fit the bill, age-wise. To be honest I wasn't sure whether he would be ready to take on the responsibilities of an online class. I've been looking at the possibility for most of this year, though and thought this would be a good opportunity to find out how he'd do. Find that part out at the end of the review. Read on to find out how our experience with online learning went!

Schoolhouse Review Crew: The Presidential Game

Chef loves board games with strategy games being the all-time favorite. When Schoolhouse Review Crew came out with a chance to review a new board game - The Presidential Game - I thought it could be a fun one to try, especially since Chef often has trouble finding people to play some of his strategy games with (Risk, etc.) Though I didn't know much about the game just from the website, it also looked like it could be a fun way to help the kids understand so much of the political goings-on when elections come up. 

Schoolhouse Review Crew: PeopleKeys Personality Style Binder

There are so many personality tests and quizzes out there that it can be hard to know which ones will work to give you information that you can really use. When The Old Schoolhouse folks put up a review opportunity for StudentKeys Binders, I thought it might be a good one to try. Maestro will be 14 in November and one of the things we are working on with him this year is taking control of his own education - helping keep track, set his own goals, etc. And PeopleKeys offered the opportunity to strengthen his knowledge of himself through their StudentKeys Personality Binder.

Maestro is a little bit younger than the stated age range for the binder - the binder is advertised for high school students, and while technically he will be 14 this year, his birthday is so late that we are having him make sure that all of his "8th grade" knowledge is sound before throwing him into the high school melting-pot of educational ability. Regardless, his reading and other skills are such that I felt it would be a good experience and help him to find his direction in doing such a course. 

Schoolhouse Review Crew: Greene bark Press: Look Left, Look Right, Look Left Again

With an absolutely fearless two-year-old in the house, it is important to re-enforce certain safety concepts as early as possible. The wonderfully illustrated, perfect-for-the-youngest-kids book Look Left, Look Right, Look Left Again, distributed by Greene Bark Press, fell into my lap for a review just as said Mr. Magoo had figured out how to open the storm doors and make his daring escape up the street!

Schoolhouse Review Crew: Doorposts Bible Study Review - Because You Are Strong

I am always on the lookout for Bible study materials that might work within Orthodox Christian Theology without my having to do a lot of adjustment work. A recent review opportunity came across my path and I took it as a chance to look at another curriculum that might fill the bill. Introducing: Doorpost's Because You are Stong: A Study of Godly Strength for Young Men.

Homeschool Review Crew: Notgrass Co. - America the Beautiful

When I saw the big, thick, heavy (all such negative words when it comes to textbooks) books for this review come in the mail, I must admit my first thought was, This is going to be so hard to get the kids on board - what in the world have I gotten myself into?? But as it turns out, we can throw out the negative words above because, although the America the Beautiful Curriculum by the Notgrass Company are big books, the program includes lessons that are engaging, pretty hands on, and enough to keep a range of ages (at least 8 - 13) occupied on various levels, while incorporating several study topics in together. 

What came in the box... The three books in the back are
full sized textbooks

But I'm getting ahead of myself and my review! I'll give warning now, this review might seem a little longer because I liked it so much, and included pictures, but if you're in a hurry scroll towards the bottom to where it talks about "The Good, The Bad, and the Not-Too-Ugly" to get the TLDR and skip my personal experience with it (*ahem*)... 

Schoolhouse Review Crew: Legacy Documentaries - Almanzo Wilder: Life Before Laura DVD

The kids have been lucky lately - and it's summer time to boot - because we managed to get back-to-back video reviews! As it happened when the Review Staff put out the word about the Almanzo Wilder, Life Before Laura video by Legacy Documentaries, I had just finished reading the book Farmer Boy, by Laura Ingalls Wilder, and had already decided it would be an excellent read-aloud, so the video dovetailed nicely.

The book is Laura's retelling of her husband's childhood experiences on the family farm, and the video gives more detail on the man himself. In the book, Almanzo is 8 years old, and a farmer at heart. I loved that the video provided readings from the book, was hosted by Dean Butler, the actor who played Almanzo's character on the Little House on the Prairie TV show (how I loved that show growing up!), and gave interviews by historians who specialize in Mrs. Wilder's work. As an aside, Mr. Butler is also involved with Legacy Documentaries in other ways according to their website.

Homeschool Review Crew: Brainfood Learning, Fascinating World of Mammals

Like so many other brick-and-mortar raised schoolchildren, I have fond memories of entering the classroom to see the old movie projector set up, to get to sit back in my seat in a dark classroom and hear the soft whir of tape moving through the big metal machine as the screen lit up in front of me... Movie days in class were special - and changed as I got older, of course - by high school, we watched the increasingly rare images move across a television screen instead of one that pulled down; the whirring tape was replaced by the clicks and hums of a VCR machine. The experience remained an enjoyable one. 

When I saw that I could provide a similar experience for my homeschooled kids, I had no thought of turning it down! Our first video was provided by Brainfood Learning, and was the title The Fascinating World of Mammals, which retails for $14.99. 

Kids being kids, they settled in eagerly for some screen time (not as rare in our house lately as it should be perhaps, but they are eager even when it's educational at least), and requested pop corn or a snack to go with it. (Hmmm... I don't recall popcorn being part of my own childhood movie day experiences... but I digress.) The Fascinating World of Mammals is not a full-on documentary, but is a series of ten shorter clips. The video was split into ten animals: beaver, kangaroo, moose, dolphin, lion, giraffe, elephant, bat, chimpanzee, and bear. 

Homeschool Review Crew: TeenCoder Java Homeschool Programming

Maestro has been talking for a long time about learning to write his own code and build a website for his magic business. When Homeschool Programming was offered as one of the options for review, I was pleased to find that I was one of those picked to check out the course. There are four courses available through Homeschool Programming, and Maestro and Chef were able to try out the TeenCoder Java Course, geared towards 9th - 12th grades. I know Chef is not quite there yet, but thought I'd let him give it a go anyway, just to see how he would do.

 Java Programming is a one-year course consisting of the Programming portion in the first semester, and the Android portion in semester two. When combined with the extra reference materials a student should be able to take the AP Computer Science test at the end of the program. As far as technical specifications go, we run Macintosh computers only by this point and the Java program was compatible with a Mac running OS 10.5.8 or above. Mine runs on 10.7.5 - so not the newest version out there, but new enough to stand on its own.

Homeschool Review Crew: Classical Conversations Handwriting

Homeschooled children are frequently thought (known?) to be the exception to many of the plagues that come through modern-day schooling, but good handwriting seems to frequently get overlooked in both worlds. Try passing poor handwriting off to a Papa who does beautiful calligraphy work, though, and you'll find yourself doing some serious writing practice! Because my handwriting is legible, and decent, but not necessarily what old-school folks would call "great", I was pleased to have the chance to review the Classical Conversations PreScripts program.

We received the paper-book form (as opposed to the online/"e-" edition) that covered cursive handwriting and art lessons. The book is not supposed to be copied for use with multiple children but is supposed to be used once and then a new book should be ordered for each child. The books cost $12.99, and so aren't too expensive if you're only purchasing one or two.

Schoolhouse Review Crew: Progeny Press - The Hobbit

We don't do as many read-alouds as we did when the kids were younger (and fewer in number), but I have been trying to increase how often we read classic literature with them. Even the youngest kids can benefit from hearing longer books read, if only because they're learning how to quietly do their own thing while others in the room are listening, and eventually they get into the stories too. We had recently finished The Hobbit again when The Old Schoolhouse put out the chance to review Progeny Press' Hobbit interactive study guide. It was a chance I jumped on right away!

Progeny Press bills itself as creating "Study guides for literature from a Christian Perspective." They have study guides for a wide range of literature that covers all the grade levels, K - 12. I will get into my opinion of the guide I received in a minute, but wanted to point out a rare thing in Homeschooling curriculum publishers - they give permission for teachers to print/use multiple copies within the same home or classroom. That is not always - or even usually - the case. But it makes me glad that I can reuse the same curriculum with my younger children, as they reach the appropriate skill levels, without having to be concerned over breaking copyright laws (however inadvertent.) 

The guide for The Hobbit is a pdf download that allows the user to fill in the blanks virtually. It does not include the Hobbit book, only the study guide. The download is $18.99, and can be purchased as a CD, an instant download or for $21.99, as a printed book. The Hobbit Study Guide is aimed at the high school level. Maestro's reading skill level is easily at high school range so I kept an eye on what he was doing but did not feel like I had to sit side-by-side with him for every step of the way. Even better was that he enjoyed most of the study guide enough that I didn't have to!

I was very impressed with how thorough the study guide was. It started out covering JRR Tolkein's life, and included a wide range of subjects and skills: map reading, nature and science, music, literature (of course!), language arts (grammar, etc), biblical studies, dictionary use, vocabulary, historical perspective, etc. 

I did stay close at hand for any discussion of the intent and meaning in various Bible verses. Being Orthodox, we do use the Bible, but sometimes our understanding of certain verses does not mirror that of the rest of the Protestant world-view. Because of that I used the various sections relating to the Bible as a means of opening discussion. The questions relating to the Bible were open-ended though and did not "push" a particular interpretation on the student.

The guide breaks the book up into sections, with the student advised to finish one section each week; the sections are then broken down so the student is doing a page each day, so the student is not overwhelmed by the work involved.

I liked the Progeny press study guide and plan to buy more - not all are the same price, but the price is certainly worth it!

Schoolhouse Review Crew: Math Rider

For Maestro and Chef, the decision on which math program to use in their earliest years came easily. We used a program that fit in with how I wanted them to learn their facts. Bruiser has struggled a little bit more with the same program and I've been looking around for ways to help him reinforce the basics. 

It seems I am not the only parent out there who felt like her child needed a fun way to get the facts down cold - enter Math Rider, a computer-based math facts game that covers addition, subtraction, multiplication and division through a series of "Quests."

Homeschool Review: Essentials in Writing - Grade 7

Writing... an essential skill frequently overlooked in homeschooling circles. Just as Jeff and I were reviewing the skills we might need to revisit with the Gang, the chance to review the Essentials in Writing course popped up, so I jumped at it.

Some of our children write eagerly and often, while others have been more reluctant. I thought we had mastered the basics quite some time back  - and while we covered many of the technical aspects, there were some I seem to have missed. One of the blessings of teaching ones own children is sometimes getting a do-over!

Essentials in Writing is a program that comes with four DVDs. Three are instructional and one has all of the worksheets to print off for practice with the lessons of the day. As a money-saving feature, the fourth DVD, with the worksheets, will be sent as a downloadable PDF in the future, or for $20 you can purchase the sheets already printed out to save ink and time. There are courses for every grade level from K-12. We used the grade-7 course, I had both 13-year-old Maestro (avid, early reader, reluctant writer) and 11-year-old Chef (later to read, writes constantly) work on the course together.

Each video clip was about 15 minutes long and very simple - the lessons took one piece of the writing puzzle and covered it in detail. The worksheets usually included a one-page overview of the lesson that day and two or three pages of practice exercises of about 20 - 25 problems each. The amount of writing increased, of course, as the boys went further into the class, but the early exercises alternated between the underline/circle-the-answer variety and the write-out-the-sentence variety.

The boys liked the program well enough but felt like the instructor talked as he would to a younger audience - like a Mr. Rogers clip perhaps, asking a question then waiting for a "response." That irritated them a bit; I assumed he was teaching in front of an actual class even while filming, and it didn't bother me in the same way, but I could see Maestro's point.

What I noticed was that they were getting it: a few days ago, I was reviewing a story Chef is working on and mentioned something about the sentence being incomplete and I used the wrong term and called it an independent clause or something. Chef was able to tell me the correct term and how it should be used and the finer points of the lesson it came from.

What all that says to me is, irritating (to the kids) or no, the lessons are successful and worth turning the TV (or computer) on for - so though we are not yet finished with the course, the lessons are here to stay - and at $40, it's a good deal!

Click on this link to see what other Schoolhouse Review Crew bloggers had to say about Essentials in Writing!