Update on Past Reviews- Our Favorites

Do you ever wonder what happens with all of these review items after the review is over?  Some things, like books are obviously a “read it and it’s over” type of review item, unless of course you like to re read or put it on the shelf for younger children to enjoy in the future.  DVDs, reference books,  and software (l are wonderful tools that you can pick up and use when you need them.  Or others, like Time For Writing, lasts only for a specific period of time (8 weeks) and you complete the course.  More often though, we have the opportunity to review curriculum that is ongoing.  So I thought I would update you on some of our favorite items that we have continued to use after the review period has ended.  I will link back to my reviews for each item. 

Family Time Fitness- I loved the idea of a PE program made for the homeschool that would allow all of us to exercise together.  We still use this program every morning to get our school day started.  I downloaded the PDF files to our iPad and read the lessons (and watch the videos when necessary) from there. 
Apologia’s Who Am I Series- We have been so blessed to have the opportunity to review the first three books in this series.  Who Is God, Who Am I, Who Is My Neighbor.  We have completed all three of those books and are looking forward to the release of the 4th book sometime this year.
God’s Great Covenant- This was one of those items that I really, really liked, but at the time we reviewed it we had so many other reviews going on that we did set it aside after the review period.  But, after finishing Who Is My Neighbor, we picked up where we left off and will be finishing it up in the next couple of weeks.
Reading Kingdom-I will confess that online subscriptions are one of the hardest things for me to continue with.  We do have the opportunity to review A Lot of different types of online subscriptions.  We only use the computer for a short period of time during the day, so even though we may like a program while we are reviewing it, we do not usually continue with them after the subscription is over because we will have a new one to review.  It has to be a very good program that meets a specific need for us to continue with it.  Reading Kingdom is one of those programs.  Anthony is still using it daily and loves it.  More importantly he is learning while he is “playing” on the computer. 
All About Reading-  I reviewed AAR Level One last year.  We did complete the entire program.  I have continued into Level 2 with Alex and am really, really hoping that Level 3 will be ready when we are ready for it!  I cannot say enough good things about AAS/AAR!  It is a wonderful program!
PAL-  I am still using PAL with Christian.  He LOVES it!  It takes us two days to get through one lesson so we are moving pretty slow through the program, but I would much rather do that and have him enjoy learning then to try to push him through it quickly and have him be miserable and not absorb as much.
Latin Alive-  We reviewed this in 2011.  We got the product mid year so Chelsea worked on it for a few months, took a break, and started back up with it.  She completed all of Level One and we purchased Level 2 and she is working through that now.
Lightning Literature-  We reviewed this over the summer.  After the review period we set it aside so Chelsea could focus on Time for Writing.  After that ended she went back and picked up where she left off.  She will be completing the course in a couple of weeks. 
Crossbow Education – These colored reading rulers have been very helpful to Alex.  It makes the words on the page clearer to him, helps him focus on the words he is trying to read and block out the distraction of the rest of the lines on the page.

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