Homeschool Crew Review: Memoria Press 6th Grade Literature Guide Set

Memoria Press produces easy to use, classical, Christian materials for home and private schools. Memoria Press products require no previous knowledge of the subjects being taught but are designed with high academic standards.  I have always been very pleased with the products we have received from Memoria Press and was excited to have an opportunity to use and review their Sixth Grade Literature Guide Set.  We started our review with The Door in the Wall Literature Guide.

 The Memoria Press Literature Guides teach students to become active readers.  The guides focus on vocabulary, pronunciation, spelling, comprehension, and composition skills.  Students will learn to identify important content in the stories they read. Their minds will be challenged by quality literature and they will learn to think critically while becoming superior readers.


For our review we received the Student Study Guides and Teacher Guides for:

The Door in the Wall
Adam of the Road
King Arthur and His Knights of the Round Table
The Adventures of Robin Hood

The Student Study Guides are consumable books.  In these guides students will find an introduction to the book and then assignments broken down by chapters.  At times, the assignments will span more than one chapter but that is noted for the student.  Each day assignment starts with Reading Notes with words that may be unfamiliar to the student and names of characters introduced in the chapter.    Assignments include:  
Vocabulary Questions: Students write the definition of the bolded word used in a phrase Comprehension Questions: Students answer the questions from the chapter in complete sentences Quotations: Students identify the person speaking and answer a question about what was said Discussion Questions: Questions to discuss aloud Enrichment Activities: A variety of activities that may include composition, copywork, dictation, research, mapping, drawing, poetry work, literary terms and more that can be completed as time and interest allows     The Teacher Guide contains the entire student guide with the answers for each chapter's assignments included.  In the Teacher's Guide you will also find chapter quizzes that are allowed to be reproduced for classroom use, a final exam and answer keys for discussion questions, quizzes, and exam.  The Teacher's Guide does not include a schedule.  Teachers will need to decide how much they want their students to accomplish in a period of time.  You will also have to have a copy of the books. Memoria Press does offer them for sale, or you can purchase or borrow your own copy.     Inside the Student and Teacher Guides    

We started with The Door in the Wall because we had the book on hand and wanted to get started right away.  I chose the 6th Grade Level for my son who just finished 6th grade because from previous use of Memoria Press Literature Guides I learned that they are advanced compared to some other companies.  Also, the list of books being read in this level were all books that I knew that my son would be interested to read.  
The Door in the Wall is not a long book so the guide is relatively short.  The student book only has 22 pages and the Teacher Guide has 32.  To complete the assignments we went over the reading notes together.  We do a lot of reading aloud in our house so I read the chapter or chapters aloud to him and we went over the discussion questions. Then he completed the vocabulary, comprehension, and quotation questions.  We did not do any of the Enrichment Activities because it is summer and we have had a lot going on but we did read through a lot of the information such as the paragraphs on The Plague and description of the game Duck on a Rock.      Though we only got through one guide during the course of the review period, I did look through the other guides as well.  They all follow the same format with the type of Enrichment Activity varying depending on the book.  For example in The Adventures of Robin Hood there is a section for students to read on feudalism and another assignment has the student make a chart showing the reasons why Robin should be remembered as a villain or a hero.  The King Arthur guide has information for them to read on things like The Holy Grail and Medieval Weapons and Castles and has an assignment for students to draw a castle. Adam of the Road has students do things like draw their own coat of arms and gives them information on Heraldry. The next book we will be tackling is The Adventures of Robin Hood.   The study guides will challenge students minds and teach them to think about what they have read. The program is flexible allowing you to go at your student's pace and include additional activities or not completed all of the activities as you see fit.  The student can work independently with very little guidance needed from the teacher.  The Teacher's Guide makes it easy to check over the student's answer because the entire Student Study Guide is included in the Teacher Guide. The Enrichment Activities are very interesting.  I love the variety of activities offered and look forward to completing those when we do the other guides during the school year.  
We love Memoria Press and look forward to finishing the rest of the guides in this set this year.  Members of The Crew reviewed grades 1-10 Literature Guide Sets.  To see what my Crew mates had to say, stop by the Crew Blog!

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Homeschool Crew Review: Library and Educational Services LLC

Library and Educational Services LLC is a wholesale supplier of  educational books, CDs, DVDS, games, and more. They specialize in materials for children and carefully review all of their materials to make sure they are not contrary to Biblical values.  They offer a 30-70 % discount to wholesale customers including resellers, educators, libraries, churches, and schools. Homeschoolers are considered educators and are able to create a free account and make purchases!  For this review we were given a credit and able to select: one title from the Who Was...? series, one title from the Lifehouse Theater CD series, and $60 worth of titles from the  Reinforced Hardcover Library Binding Nonfiction books.

For our review we chose:


Who Was Mark Twain?
The Misadventures of Tom Sawyer (Lifehouse Theater CD)
What Would You Do? (set of 8 books)
True Life of Pirates (set of 6 books)



This was not the first time I have ordered from Library and Educational Services LLC.  As a reviewer we had an opportunity to review Go Science DVDs from Library and Ed in 2012 and 2014.  I also have ordered a few things on my own.  Setting up an account is very easy and their prices are amazing!  I have never seen the items we have ordered offered at a lower price.  After ordering we receive our items in a few days.


The hardest part of this review was deciding what to choose!  There are over 150 titles to choose from in the Who Was..? series, 7 in the Lifehouse Theater CD series, and 300 in the reinforced hardcover library binding nonfiction books!  One we chose The Misadventures of Tom Sawyer for our CD, that made choosing a book from the Who Was..? series a little easier.  Even though their were many titles I know the children would have enjoyed, I thought Who Was Mark Twain would be the best choice.  I read the book aloud to my 8,10, 12, and 13 year olds in one sitting.  I had no idea he arrived and died with Haley's Comet!  The Misadventures of Tom Sawyer were broke up over several days.  I thought it was a great way to introduce them to Tom Sawyer and they have loved it.  The voices, story, and sound effects are great and it is a wonderful story.


Choosing the reinforced hardcover library binding nonfiction books was more difficult.  There are so many choices and I have quite an age range in my house.  When I was scrolling through and saw the True Life of Pirates I knew that would be a great choice for my boys.  The books in the set include: Black Bart Roberts, Blackbeard, Captain Kidd, Mary Read and Anne Bonny, Redbeard, and Sir Henry Morgan.  They are full of interesting information any child curious about the real story of pirates would want to read. The reinforced binding makes the books extra strong and sturdy so they will be very long lasting.


The other set we chose was What Would You Do?  Books included in this set are: The Boston Tea Party, Discovering a New World, General Washington Crossing the Delaware, The Gold Rush in California, The Great Battle of Gettysburg, Jefferson's Louisiana Purchase, Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation, and The Underground Railroad.  I thought these books would give the girls a fun perspective on history asking the reader What Would You Do? in critical moments in history.  They have some great illustrations and information and as I said above will be extra sturdy and long lasting.

While I was placing this order, I could not help myself.  I had to order Lily a set of books by Susan K. Marlow, her favorite author.  It was the only set we didn't have, Circle C Adventures and the set was $17 less then I have seen it other places!! She was so excited!

Library and Educational Services LLC has quality items at great prices.  I will continue to be a costumer.  I have a list of things I would love to order!

To see what my Crew Mates had to say, stop by the Crew Blog!

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Our Week in Review (July 29th-August 4th)

I can't believe it is August already!  Where did July go?


Monday was an adventure.  We had to take the pig to the vet to get blood tests so she could have papers saying she was healthy enough to show.  It was the first time we have had to load her onto the trailer (the last time I took her to the vet she was small enough to fit in a do crate in the van.)  The only appointment they had available was at 12:30 and we needed to be almost 2 hours in the other direction by 3.  It took 5 of us to get her loaded but thankfully once there we didn't have to unload her, the vet just climbed into the trailer with her.  Blood was drawn we raced back home, unloaded her, changed clothes and headed of to Magnolia Arkansas for Nick to tour SAU.

Nick will be a senior this year and has started thinking about college.  He would really like to go to SAU.  It is a very nice school in the middle of no where (just like he's used to) with a 19-1 student to teacher ratio.  He needs to get his ACT score a little higher to get a bigger scholarship.  We will see what this year brings. 

Wednesday was a day.  We had Liam most of the day (Chelsea had her last dr. appointment.) and then had a ton of running around that had to be done. 

We got our first egg from our chicks!

Thursday we went to a Craft Workshop.  The children made dream catchers, string art, and various crafts out of golf balls.

After the workshop we had a STEM meeting.  We took care of a lot of club business and then tackled the Pringles Ring STEM challenge.  Christian got it!

Friday the girls had music lessons. 


Saturday Art and I went on a date.


We did some school.  We worked on HSITW Ancient Rome and started a study on Music Appreciation from Zeezok.  I have started talking to the children about what they would like to study next year.  Local public schools start back on the 13th.  We will start back some things in August but will not get back to a full schedule until September.

I hope you had a great week!

Happy Homeschooling!

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Homeschool Crew Review: Home School in the Woods Project Passport: Ancient Rome

Home School in the Woods offers a variety of different types of products that help bring history to life.  I have used many of their products over the last 12 years and have been impressed with all of them.  Recently we were offered an opportunity to use and review the newest release in their Project Passport World History Studies ,  Ancient Rome.

 The Project Passport World History series will take your students on an up close journey to different eras of the past.  Geared for grades 3-8, each study has 25 stops in which students will read about the topic, listen to audio tours, make hands on projects, create maps, a timeline, lapbook components, notebook components, postcards, newspapers, and more.  Tips and tricks for completing the studies are included along with a travel itinerary with instructions for making the projects at each stop, and extra resources for further study.  Answer keys for timelines and maps are also included along with photos of what completed projects can look like. Each study should take around 8-12 weeks to complete but the pacing is entirely up to you.  A stop can last one day, or several days.  There are now 5 studies in the Project Passport World History series including: Ancient Egypt, Ancient Greece,   Ancient Rome, The Middle Ages, and Renaissance and Reformation.

I have been using  Project Passport: Ancient Rome with my 8,10, 12, and 14 year olds for the last few weeks.  We have been working 2-3 days a week for about an hour a day, completing one stop per day.  We print out one copy of everything and work on projects together.  Topics covered in this study include:

Laying the Foundation
Out With the Kings, in With the Republic
More Than Just a City
A Mediterranean Power
The Republic Begins to Falter
Julius Caesar and the Fall of the Republic
Everyday Life Part I
Everyday Life Part II
Business, Taxes, and Coins
Law and Philosophy
Education, Oration, and Literature
Science and Medicine
The Arts
Architecture and Transportation
Religion
Warfare
Augustus and the Empire
The Julio Claudian Emperors
The Year of the Four Emperors and the Flavians
The Five Good Emperors
Too Many Emperors to Count
From Constantine to the Barbarian Invasions
Rome and the Bible
And What Happened After?
Final Stop- Packing Up

To complete this study you will need a printer with plenty of ink, colored and white cardstock, colored and white paper, tape, scissors, glue, colored pencils, a 3 ring binder, and folders.  If you choose to complete the hands on projects you will need specific supplies for each of those projects.


We received the product as a download.  It is a rather large file that does need to be unzipped to use.  Once the files are extracted, the easiest way to use it is to click on the start icon which will open a web browser and you can see everything in order.

To get started, you need to read through the Introduction, Travel Tips, Travel Planner, and Additional Resources.  If you have never completed a Project Passport study you will make a luggage folder  and passport.  For these studies you cannot just print out the entire file all at once.  The Travel Itinerary for each stop will give you specific instructions on which files need to be printed on what types of paper.  Everything is clearly labeled as to what type of project it is such as a lapbook project, scrapbook of sights, or 3 D and you can pick and choose the activities you want to complete. I print the necessary papers for 5 stops at a time.

The Guide Book Text is usually 2-3 pages long.  I do not print these out, I just read them aloud to my children from my computer to save paper. The information is presented in a way that holds the interest for a wide range of ages.  Studying ancient civilizations is always so fascinating to us and Rome was such an important civilization.  We have learned many things about Ancient Rome that we have never learned in our studies before. We have learned of the founding, the kings, the republic, the emperors, the wars, the assassinations and so much about every day life. My children were fascinated to find out that you could get take out food in Ancient Rome!

After reading the text we listen to the audio files if the lesson has one.  We love these!  They do a great job with the voices and sound effects to make you feel as though you are a tourist visiting that place.  Then we dive into the activities we have chosen for the lesson.  We always complete the timeline (HSITW has the BEST timeline figures!) and many of the Scrapbook of Sights and lapbook projects. There are so may fun projects and activities for all types of learners that bring history alive!  You do not have to feel pressures to complete all of the activities, you can pick and choose the ones that work best for your family.  When we have done other Project Passport studies, the children wanted to do all of the 3 D projects.  This time around they just wanted to do the readings, audio tours, timeline, maps, and some of the lapbook, scrapbook projects. 

Here are a few of examples of we have done

Timeline

Postcard Rack

Maps

Lapbook projects

It does take some time to get everything printed out and ready and to complete the different projects, but it is time well spent because your family will be learning so much and the finished projects are wonderful.

Home School in the Woods products are suitable for many different learning styles.  You can stop by their blog and read this article on How to Teach Different Learning Styles.

Members of the Crew reviewed several different products from Home School in the Woods.  To see what my Crew Mates had to say, stop by the Crew Blog!

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Our Week in Review (July 22nd-28th)

Nick and Alex headed off this week for their last trip of the summer to 4 H State O' Rama in Fayetteville AR.  You have to place in the top 7 at a District event to qualify for some of the competitions, other contests are state only contests, and some of the competitions are team competitions.  You can also attend and participate in workshops and tours.  Nick placed in the top 7 for BB Shooting at District so he competed in that at State.  Alex placed in the top 7 for Bait Casting at District so he competed in that.  Nick did not place in BB Shooting.  Alex won 4th in Bait Casting.  They also participated in some workshops and got to do some fun things like ice skating at the Jones Center.

The awards for state record book winners are given there as well.  I was able to watch Nick receive his award via live stream.

They both had a great time and were so glad to be able to go.  They have had a great summer.  I am glad they are home for awhile though!!  And I am no longer responsible for feeding and watering the pig!


Our goat baby boys are 12 weeks and the girl is 9 weeks.  We've been moving the mamas out to the pasture during the day so the babies can get some extra feed without their mothers stealing it from them.

The girls went to the last Wild Wednesday Day Camp at Grandview on Wednesday.  They got to do a wagon tour, see a fish being dissected, went canoeing and swimming, and started making baskets.  They had a great time. They baskets did not get finished, they are still sitting on the playroom table. 

Anthony had a birthday on Thursday.  These children are growing up too fast!  Nick and Alex were gone, Chelsea had to work, and Art had to work late so it wasn't a very exciting birthday but Anthony is usually happy with anything so some take out pizza, a new movie, and an ice cream cake made for a great birthday for him.

We worked on some math, several lessons on Ancient Rome, and completed the book Who Was Mark Twain?  We finished Tunnel of Gold and started Canyon of Danger.  Lily worked on Typing Tournament.  Emmie did some work in her Reading Eggs workbook.

The next couple of weeks will be very busy so it was nice for this week to not be so crazy.  The weather was also very nice this week with highs only in the 80's and lows in the 60's.  One morning we went out to feed animals and the girls came running back on for their coats!  That never happens in July in Arkansas.

I hope you had a great week!

Happy Homeschooling!

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Homeschool Crew Review: Apologia Exploring Creation With General Science

Apologia is one of my favorite homeschool curriculum companies.  We have used many different products from Apologia over my 14 years of homeschooling and have been impressed with all of them. I was very excited when I heard that they were releasing Exploring Creation with General Science, 3rd Edition this summer and even more excited when we received an opportunity to review it!

Exploring Creation with General Science, 3rd Edition is designed to be the first course students take in middle school to help transition them from the elementary series to work more independently and help them get ready to tackle the high school level courses.  The course contains 14 modules and if you follow the suggested schedule of working four days per week for 45 minutes to an hour per day should be completed in 33 weeks.

The 14 Modules in the course are:

The History of Science- Search for the Truth
Scientific Inquiry and the Scientific Method
Documenting and Interpreting Experimental Results
Scientific Analysis and History
Earth Science- Astronomy
Earth Science-Geology and Paleontology
Earth Science- Meteorology and Oceanography
General Chemistry
General Physics
Life Science
General Biology
Marine Science
Environmental Science
Science and Creation



The text is written directly to the student, there is no separate teacher manual.  There are 3 main components to the course:

Textbook- The textbook is a hardcover 430 page book.  It has the information for the student to read, colored illustrations, charts, and diagrams. Definitions that students should memorize are in blue.  On Your Own Questions are in dark blue boxes.  Explore More sections to enhance learning are in purple. Experiments are also in the text. The first few modules have a What to Do section breaking down information for students on how to take notes, complete On Your Own questions, experiments,lab reports, and timeline.  Answers to the On Your Questions are at the end of each chapter followed by a Study Guide for each module.  The back of the text has the Lab Supply List and Index.

Inside the text

Student Notebook- This book is spiral bound and 550 pages long.  The front of the book has a note to parents, information about note taking, grading, and experiments. It also has a daily schedule with boxes for students to check off as they complete each day's work.  The notebook has places for students to define vocabulary questions, answer On Your Own questions, take notes, fill out answers to the Study Guide, and write down thoughts about Creation Connections.  In the back of the notebook there is an Introduction to Labs and a place to record each lab from the course and write formal lab reports.  

Inside the Notebook

 What to Do in each section is clearly laid out

Pages to Fill out for each lab

This image has the chart in the text on the left and the chart the student copies in the notebook on the right.

 

Solutions and Test Manual Packet-This packet has two books in it.  The first is a 31 page thin paperback booklet that has just the tests in it.  The second is an 83 page paperback book that has the solutions to the study guide questions, the tests, and solutions to all of the tests.  The tests for the first two modules are designed to be open book tests.  There is no study guide or test for the last module, module 14.




You will also need a variety of easy to obtain supplies to complete the experiments. A list broken down by module is in the back of the text. You can also choose to purchase optional components such as the MP3 Audio CD ,Video Instruction Thumb Drive, and Apologia Online Academy.


This review came at the perfect time for me.  We have been using the Young Explorer series for years from Apologia with my younger 4 children but I really needed something for next year for my 13 year old that would allow him to easily transition from all of us doing science together to him working independently.  He is VERY interested in all things science (his main project for 4 H is STEM) but he is dyslexic and doing a lot of reading and writing can be a bit of a challenge for him.  We followed the suggested schedule in the front of the notebook and Anthony had no trouble reading and completing the assignments.  He worked around 40 minutes per day 4 days a week.


One of the reasons we love Apologia is because it is creation based and gives glory to God.  But that doesn't stop the course from being very scientifically thorough.  The lessons in the text are broken down in very manageable chunks for middle schoolers.  The text is written in a very conversational tone and is written right to the student. I think they did an outstanding job demonstrating in the first few chapters what the expectations of the course are such as note taking and how to complete the experiments.  I love all of the illustrations, photographs, and charts that are included in the text.

The experiments of course are always a fun part of learning about science and I love that the materials for the experiments are easily obtainable.  The only thing I had to purchase so far was a lemon.  Everything else we already had on hand.

A Density Experiment.  Anthony was so happy when it worked!

 In this experiment he had to find some corroded pennies and see what would happen when they were inserted into a lemon.

And then what would happen to the pennies when salt was put on top.

The Explore More sections are not required for the course but add an additional element to what is being covered.  Anthony loved making the mechanical hand.

The Student Notebook is an awesome compliment to the course.  It breaks all of the tasks for each module down for the student.  There is plenty of space for students to answer questions and define their vocabulary words.  I love the charts and graphics that are included for the students to complete. The instructions for the labs are written in a very clear, step by step manner.  We also we very glad for the charts and reports to fill out for the labs. 


I love the improvements that Apologia made in this third edition of Exploring Creation With General Science.  The text is broken down better for the students, it is more colorful, the work is more manageable for the intended age range, and the student notebook is the perfect compliment to the course (they didn't have notebooks back when my oldest used the 2nd Edition of this course.)

I am very impressed with Exploring Creation with General Science, 3rd Edition.  I think that Apologia succeeded in making a course that will help students work more independently after completing the elementary courses and will ready them for the high school courses.  To see what my Crew Mates had to say, stop by the Crew Blog!

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