Homeschool Crew Review: The 101 Series

As our Homeschool Crew Reviews were coming to an end for this year, I was super excited to see The 101 Series as our last vendor.  I had heard such wonderful things about this series and was anxious to have an opportunity to check it out.  Over the last several weeks we have had an opportunity to use and review Biology 101.  Westfield Studios was founded in 2004 when Tammy Olson was looking for a biology curriculum to help her teenage sons and could not find what she was looking for,  Her husband, Wes, with a love of science and 15 years of film experience decided to make what she was looking for, and Biology 101 was made, followed by  Chemistry 101, and Physics 101.  General Science 101 will be the next course in the series.  The goal of the 101 Series is to provide understandable, easy to use, visual, high school level curriculum.  
Biology 101 is a high school level, creation based biology course.  It was designed for ages 15 and up but is appropriate for all ages to watch.  The course  teaches biology by following the days of creation.  There are 4 discs which contain the video segments ( 4 hours and 37 minutes total)to watch and you will also find on disc four PDF's of a guidebook and accreditation booklet.   
Disc 1: Introduction: Defining Life and Life Classification               Plants
Disc 2: Aquatic Creatures              Avian Creatures
Disc 3: Land Animals Part 1              Land Animals Part 2              Mankind Part 1              Mankind Part 2
Disc 4: Genetics: A Brief History of Biology, Cells, and Genetics              Guidebook and Accreditation Booklet (PDFs)              
The Accreditation Booklet  is a 12 page PDF explaining how to turn the DVDs into a high school credit by completing a variety of activities including:  watching the DVDs, using the guidebook, making a notebook to record your work, research and lab reports, discussion questions, labs, field trips, and reading additional books of choice.  A chart is included with the suggested activities and the approximate amount of time that should be spent completing them.  The Biology 101 Course Accreditation takes around 135 hours to complete plus 20 hours of lab work.  If you complete one segment per week, it will take around 7 months to complete the course working approximately 5 hours per week.

The Guidebook is a 118 page PDF.  This book is a companion to the DVD that your student can read through.  It contains information form the film, interesting trivia, stories and commentary, footnotes, and quizzes.

I have been through one homeschool high school biology course with my oldest daughter.  It was very challenging and we did not enjoy it.  It was a struggle to get through the course.  I really wanted to find something different to use with my son who just entered 9th grade.  I was thrilled to have a chance to review Biology 101 because I thought the visual aspect (watching the DVDs) would make the study of biology more interesting.  I decided we would watch the DVDs this year and then have Nick complete the Accreditation Course for his biology credit next year. We have been watching one portion of the DVD per week. The DVDs are stunning!  The graphics are beautiful.  The information is presented in an interesting and understandable way.  I love that the study follows the days of creation.  Even though it is geared for high school ages, the DVD can be viewed by the entire family. All of my children ages 5 and up have watched and enjoyed the DVDs.  
What I didn't know until we received the product was how much I would like the course as a whole. The activities to turn this into a high school credit are fantastic!  I love the combination of watching the DVDs, hands on activities, research activities, reading, writing, and field trips.  Students are encouraged to read 3-5 juvenile books on each subject from the library.  You do not have to buy or find specific books, just anything on the subject that they find interesting that they want to read more about.  The lab work is not just dissection, instead there are a variety of activities.  I was VERY excited about that.  There is one lab assignment to catch a fish and as you prepare it identify the parts but there is also an option to buy a goldfish, observe it and identify it's outer parts.  I love the field trip suggestions.  Some of the field trips include: visiting a pond, lake, or ocean and observe and identify creatures, visit a local nursery and identify plants, go out to eat and classify items at the table, visit a park, aviary or bird sanctuary, visit a pet store, and visit a lab to look at a blood cell.  I love the inclusion of the Bible activities as well.
I am so impressed with Biology 101!  High School level science courses can be so difficult for the student and the teacher.  Biology 101 is interesting, easy to understand, and easy on the teacher. The course is also affordable.  There is no special or expensive equipment or add on items needed.  I am definitely planning on purchasing Chemistry 101 and Physics 101!
Members of The Crew reviewed all three of the DVDs in The 101 Series.  To see what my Crew Mates had to say, stop by the Crew Blog!    

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Homeschool Crew Review: Chara Games

Chara is the Biblical Greek word for unshakeable joy.  Chara Games was founded in 2014 to design and publish  Christian games that will create joy by building relationships with God and people.  We recently had an opportunity to use and review Commissioned from Chara Games.  Commissioned is a cooperative board game for two to six players ages 14 and older.  Younger children can play with help.  The game takes approximately one hour to play.  The game is based on the spread of the early church.  Players are the early Apostles and need to work together to grow their faith deck, grow the church, collect the books of the New Testament and overcome trials and persecution.  
The game includes:
1 Double Sided Game Board 5 Double Sided Scenario Cards 6 Player Boards 96 Faith Cards 27 Trial Cards 4 Missionary Meeples 75 Church Member Cubes 1 Elder Staff 6 Player Pawns 30 Double Sided Stop Tokens 5 Double Sided Extinguished Tokens 1 Converted City Leaders Token 1 Roman Legion Token 1 8 sided die Rule Book Theme Appendix
There are 6 apostles in the game: Andrew, Paul, Barnabas, James, John, and Peter.  Each player chooses an apostle and takes the matching player board, faith cards, and player pawn.  There are 5 different scenario cards that tell you which side of the double sided board to play on and how to set up your pieces.  Each round of play has 3 phases.  In the Arm Phases, players draw cards to add to their Faith Deck.  In the Live Phase, players face trial, pray, share, move, and grow.  In the Mature Phase, players use the cards left in their hands to purchase new Faith Cards.  The game continues until the victory conditions are met (conditions are listed on each scenario card), 5 churches are extinguished, or the last trial card is drawn.  
One of the first thing I noticed was that all of the game pieces are high quality.  Even the box is sturdier then many of your typical board game boxes.  There are a lot of pieces to the game.  Some of them came in small zipped baggies and I put all of the cards and tokens into a ziplock bag so they would not get lost.  All of these fit neatly back into the box.

When the game arrived, I read through all of the instructions and tried to set up the game.  The children were eager to go ahead and start playing.  But after reading the instructions I was very confused.  I went to the  Chara Games website and watched the video they have posted.  I set up the game board and played the game as they did it on the video and it made much more sense.  You really need to watch the video to understand how to set up and play the game.  It is around 25 minutes long. 

I like the overall theme of the game.  I think Commissioned helps people to understand early church history and the great difficulties the early church endured.  It is different then most board games, because rather then trying to compete against the other players, you are playing cooperatively towards a common goal.  I think the suggested age range on the game of 14 and up is a good one.  My 13 and 14 year year could play and understand the game quite well once we got past the initial set up.  My other younger children wanted to play and could with help but really did not completely understand and the game was a bit long and repetitive for them. 
In addition to Commissioned, Chara Games has a brand new game, 3 Seeds , that is currently in production.  It is a 2-5 player card game in which players use seed cards to complete crops, employ special event cards to gain bonuses, and uncover hidden harvest cards to gain points. 
To see what my Crew Mates had to say, stop by the Crew Blog!

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Homeschool Crew Review: The Critical Thinking Co.™

The Critical Thinking Co.™ has a variety of products to teach children critical thinking skills for higher test scores, better grades, and improved life skills.  They do not teach through drill or memorization but instead empower the mind. We recently had an opportunity to use and review Sentence Diagramming: Beginning. Sentence Diagramming: Beginning is a 72 page paper back book for students in grades 3-12.  The book teaches students to diagram sentences to gain a better understanding of the English language and apply this knowledge to their own writing.  Sentence diagramming gives students visual and logical grammar lessons.  The book begins with simple subject-verb sentences and continues through more complex sentences.  There are 12 lessons including:
Lesson 1: Simple Subject and Main Verb Lesson 2: Direct Object Lesson 3: Adjectives Lesson 4: Adverbs Modifying Verbs Lesson 5: Predicate Adjectives Lesson 6: Predicate Nouns Lesson 7: Prepositional Phrases (Adjectival) Lesson 8: Prepositional Phrases (Adverbial) Lesson 9: Compound Subjects Lesson 10: Compound Predicates Lesson 11: Compound Direct Objects Lesson 12: Compound Predicate Adjectives and Nouns
Each lesson has a short lesson explaining the part of speech that is being focused on and and example of how to diagram it.  Section 1 shows a sentence diagrammed incorrectly and the student must diagram it correctly.  Section 2 gives the sentences ans students diagram them.  In section 3 student write their own sentences and diagram them. 
At the end of the book is a review section with 25 sentences for students to diagram.  An answer key for each lesson is located in the back of the book.
Sample Pages can be viewed here.
You can purchase Sentence Diagramming: Beginning for $12.99 here. 
I have been using Sentence Diagramming: Beginning with my 9th grade son.  This review opportunity came at just the right time for us. He was struggling with the grammar curriculum that we were using and I was looking for something else to fill in that slot.  I have been having him complete one lesson per week in the book.

The lessons are laid out very well.  They start out very simple and increase in complexity.  Each lesson follows the same pattern.  Breaking down each sentence into it's basic building blocks and diagramming them helps make sense of the parts of speech.  Students will then be able to use what they have learned to improve their own writing.  That is the goal for us.  I do not want them to learn for the sake of learning but instead be able to apply it to their own lives.  My son has a very logical, mathematical mind and Sentence Diagramming: Beginning has made a lot of sense to him. 
As I mentioned above, The Critical Thinking Co.™ . has a variety of products for ages 3 and up.  They have several products in the Reading ,Writing, and Arithmetic Before Kindergarten Bundle to help get children ready to start school.  Members of The Crew had an opportunity to review software from this bundle as well as Sentence Diagramming: Beginning and Language Smarts Level E.  To see what my Crew Mates had to say, visit the Crew Blog!

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Homeschool Review Crew: Online Christian Filmmakers Academy

Over the last several weeks we have had an opportunity to use and review Online Christian Filmmakers Academy from Family Gravity Media, a division of Families For Christ Ministries, Inc. Ken and Zack Lawrence, a father/son team with filmmaking, producing, acting, and directing experience have been operating the Rocky Mountain Christian Filmmakers Camp since 2007, a week long camp to give those interested in filmmaking hands on training.  In 2012 they started offering their online component, Online Christian Filmmakers Academy to their camp students and recently have made the course available to the public. There are 5 different modules in the course: The Camera- This module has 6 lessons: Introduction to the Camera, DSLR's and Lenses Part 1, DSLR's and Lenses Part 2, Frame Rate, ISO and Shutter Speed, Tripods and Camera Support,  Cinematography- There are 15 lessons in this module covering items such as: color temp and balance, hard vs. soft light, types of light, lighting accessories, using light, painting with light, framing, outdoor lighting, depth of field, jibs an dollies, green screen, and setting up an interview. Sound- There are 6 lessons in this module covering topics such as: sound equipment, microphone, field recorders, location recording, ADR and Foley. Pre-Production- This module had 5 lessons: Introduction to Pre-Production, The Story, Writing the Screenplay, Pre-production paperwork, and Assemble the Team. Production- The 5 lessons in Module 5 include: The Crew, Set Hierarchy, Set Etiquette, Directing, The Slate, and Filming Step by Step. Each of the lessons has a video ranging anywhere from around 5-30 minutes in length.  There are also downloads for some of the lessons.  At the end of each module you will find a module quiz.  More content will be added throughout the year. 
The Online Christian Filmmakers Academy cost is $299 for a 12 month subscription.  The subscription covers anyone living in your household.  From now until November 30th, 2016, you can use the coupon code FALLCREW16 to receive $100 off.  
Earlier this year my boys learned how to make StopMotion movies.  They have had a lot of fun with this media and I thought that they would enjoy this filmmaking course.  We have been very impressed!  The Online Christian Filmmakers course is packed full of information.  It doesn't assume you have any previous knowledge so it is perfect for a beginner, but it is so well paced it would also be good for those that have some knowledge and want to learn more. The video segments are not very long.  You can move through the course at your own pace, watching as many or as few segments in one sitting as you choose.  They show examples of everything they are talking about in the lessons.  You do not have to have  special  equipment to take the course.  Of course the reason for the course is to  put what you have learned into practice and they give plenty of suggestions and options for basic and advanced equipment.  They even include extras such as downloadable plans to make your own PVC Shoulder Rig after viewing Module 1 Lesson 6.  
Quizzes are included after each module.  The program does not store your grade.  There is so much information given in each lesson, I wish they would add review questions to the end of each lesson or maybe every couple of lessons to help better retain everything that is taught.  The program does track your progress through the lessons (a little check mark appears beside each lesson you have viewed) and you do have the ability to watch the lessons multiple times.
To see what my Crew Mates had to say, click here.

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Homeschool Review Crew: MyFreezEasy

* this post contains affiliate links
My hardest part of the day is when it is time to cook supper.  It has already been a long and busy day and more then likely there are evening activities we still need to get to.  Figuring out what to feed everyone is stressful. After tossing a quick meal on the table and running out the door, I get to return home to piles of dishes in the sink. I was very excited  to make some changes to our supper routine with MyFreezEasy.  We have had an opportunity to review the MyFreezEasy.com Freezer Meal Plan Membership.   Our review was for the Premium Annual Membership

MyFreezEasy is a subscription service that you can choose to pay for monthly or annually.  There are two different plans to choose from.  The basic plan costs $7 a month or $77 dollars a year.  The premium costs $10 a month or $95 a year.  Both plans give you access to 8 meal plans a month, traditional assembly video, and highlights videos for all plans.  The premium plan also gives you the ability to adjust serving sizes, create you own meal plan, customize existing meal plans, and store your favorite recipes in "your favorites" section.

MyFreezEasy allows you to put 10 meals in your freezer in about an hour.  At the beginning of the month, the new recipes for the month are added.  Every month has all new recipes. Each meal plan gives you the recipes, shopping lists, assembly details, labels, gluten and dairy free options, and videos. Each meal is doubled so most of the meal plans have you preparing 5 different meals with the exception of the 20 meal plan which has you preparing 10 different meals. You  have access to 8 different meal plans:

Traditional-mix of  different types of meals

Gluten Free Plan- completely gluten free meals including sides

Slow Cooker Plan-all slow cooker meals

Clean Eats Plan-all clean ingredients

20 Meals Plan-mix of different types of meals

All Chicken Plan- all meals use chicken

All Ground Beef Plan-all meals use ground beef

All Pork Chop Plan-all meals use pork chops or pork tenderloin

I tried to do once a month cooking many years ago because I loved the idea of having a freezer full of meals, but I found the process exhausting and was not that impressed with the meals that I made.  I was very interested in trying the MyFreezEasy plan.  The first thing I loved about this plan was the ability to customize my own meal plan.  I have some dietary sensitivities and some of the children are picky eaters.  I have tried meal plan subscriptions before but ended up not being able to eat many of the meals.  I was so thankful to be able to choose my own recipes.  And there was a lot to choose from!

I decided I was going to to make 2 different customized meal plans.  One had 5 different slow cooker recipes for a total of 10 meals.  The other had a variety of 5 different recipes for 10 more meals. Customizing the meal plans was really easy.  I had to drop and drag the recipes to a box and download the meal plan and the labels.  

When you download and print off the meal plan it includes:

Each recipes with the ingredients and cooking directions for a single meal and assembly prep for 2 meals and cooking instructions for cooking the meal from the freezer.

Complete shopping list by recipe

Complete shopping list by store section

Freezer meal prep day shopping list by recipe

Freezer meal prep day shopping list by store section

Meal assembly instructions and precook and chop instructions

Assembly by recipe instructions

The labels are also printable and include the name of each recipe, thawing and cooking instructions, and a slot to record the date that you prepared the meal.

I used the complete shopping list by store section so that I would have everything I needed for each recipe including the suggested sides.  I also took along the shopping list by recipe page. When I arrived at the store, there were not any roasts that were a good price, so I eliminated the ingredients for the recipe that used roasts.

I decided to go ahead and make everything as soon as I got home from shopping.  I chose to do one recipe at a time following the instructions on the recipe page for 2 meals for each recipe.  In about 2 1/2 hours I had made 18 meals, 2 of each of the following:

Apple BBQ Pork Chops 

Chicken Taco Bake

Lazy Lasagna Bake

Meatball Sliders

Triple Cheddar Macaroni and Cheese

Slow Cooker Beef Stroganoff

Slow Cooker Chicken Tortilla Soup

Slow Cooker Dr. Pepper Pulled Pork

Slow Cooker Italian Chicken and Potatoes

I ended up putting 17 meals in the freezer and we ate one of the Apple BBQ Pork Chop meals for supper that night.  Of those 17 meals I still have 5 left.  We liked all of the recipes except for one. A few of the recipes we enjoyed but I would tweak just a little because of personal preference such as adding more sauce to the Lazy Lasagna Bake.  I found the process to be very easy.  I think a lot of thought went in to the MyFreezEasy program.  I love all of the meal option and the ability to customize your plan and your serving size (2,4,6,or 8 servings) with the premium membership.  I love that the recipes are straight forward with easy to find ingredients.  The instructions are clear and easy to follow.  The recipes are not complicated to make. I like that the meal plans have the different lists so you can choose which way you like to shop and decide whether or not you want to buy just the freezer ingredients or the supplies for the whole meal.  I love that the labels clearly tell you what meal it is and the cooking instructions.

One thing that I have to get used to is remembering to take the meal out of the freezer to thaw.  I still am working on that!  There are lots of tips and tricks on the website for those that have never done freezer cooking to help make the process easier.  Even some quick thaw tips in case you forget to take your meal out of the freezer.

I am planning on doing another freezer cooking session.  I have all of my recipes picked out and downloaded waiting for our next shopping day.  I love the convenience of just being able to pull a meal out of the freezer and not having to think about what is for supper every night!

To see what my Crew Mates had to say, click here.

* this post contains affiliate links.  I only form affiliate relationships with companies whose products I actually use and can recommend!

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Homeschool Review Crew: Everyday Education, LLC

Janice Campbell from Everyday Education, LLC has written a variety of books and resources for homeschoolers with an emphasis on writing, literature, and homeschooling high school and beyond. She has written a series of Literature courses for 8-12th grades called Excellence in Literature.  I recently had an opportunity to use and review Excellence in Literature Handbook for Writers.

The Excellence in Literature Handbook for Writers is not just a compliment to the Excellence in Literature series, but a Handbook for all students in middle school and beyond. In order to communicate effectively, there first needs to be an understanding of the basic principles of grammar, style, and usage and to use them correctly and consistently.  Janice Campbell used two handbooks by Ian Johnston, a retired college professor, updated them and added some things to create the Handbook for Writers, a 420 page resource that contains information about how to write essays, how to construct a logical argument, how to thoughtfully read all types of literature, how to use inductive and deductive reasoning, and also contains information on grammar punctuation, style, and usage.   This handbook was designed not only for English classes but also for writing papers in other courses, and help in debate classes.  It also contains information for teachers on how to evaluate papers.
The book is split up into two main sections.  The first section contains instructions and samples for writing essays and constructing arguments.  In it you will find topics such as:
Simple Principles of Arguments Setting up the Argument Defining Key Terms Deduction and Induction Organizing the Main Body of an Argument Paragraph Structure Paragraph Functions Writing Arguments About Literary Works Sample Outlines for Essays and Research Papers Critical Approaches to Shakespeare Criteria for Making Literary Observations

Section two contains information about usage and style.  Part Two sections include:
Phrases, Clauses, Sentences Words Basic Punctuation Pronouns Parallelism or Parallel Structure Modifiers, Gerunds, Infinitives Clarity, Logic, Structure References and Bibliographies Basic Format Keyhole Essay Graphic Rubric for Writing Evaluation
Each section of the Table of Contents is broken down into smaller topics.  This is incredibly helpful because of the size and scope of this book.  The Table of Contents is very thorough, and makes it very easy for you to find exactly what you are looking for. You can find the entire Table Of Contents here.

You can purchase The Handbook for Writers in an ebook version for $29, a print version for $39, or you can buy the ebook and print bundle for $49.  The bundle is a great option for those who like to have a hard copy but may also need a copy on the go, or for students and teachers to each have their own copy.
This was not my first opportunity to review for Everyday Education, LLC.  Several years ago I had the opportunity to review Excellence in Literature I Introduction to Literature and I also have used American Literature.  I was greatly impressed with these products from Everyday Education and was excited to have an opportunity to review the Handbook for Writers.  I was not disappointed.  I have been going through the handbook myself reading through different sections in order to teach them to my children. This is an amazing resource to use with your middle school and up children.  It says that no handbook can cover absolutely everything, but I have to say that this one sure does come close.  It covers a huge variety of topics necessary to improve your student's ability to construct an argument and their general writing skills.  The handbook is written in a very conversational user friendly tone and many examples are shown throughout the book.  I also found the Rubic for Writing Evaluation very helpful in evaluating papers.
The book is very large at 420 pages.  Usually I like to use ebooks on my tablet, but this is something that I think would be better in print format. The print version is only $10 more then the ebook version and I think it would definitely be worth the extra $10 to purchase it as a print version.  

To see what my Crew Mates had to say, click here.

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Homeschool Review Crew: The Cat of Bubastes

We have had an opportunity to review several audio dramas from Heirloom Audio Productions over the last few years.  Heirloom Audio Productions is passionate about bringing history to life.  Their fast paced audio dramas use music and sound effects to draw the listener into the story and transport them back in time.  I was excited to have a chance to review their latest release, The Cat of Bubastes.



The Cat of Bubastes is based on the story The Cat of Bubastes by G.A. Henty.  In this story, Prince Amuba and Jethro are captured as slaves and sent to the city of Thebes.  Amuba and Jethro end up in the household of Ameres.  Amuba becomes the companion of Chebron.  One night the boys stumble upon some men plotting a murder.  Shortly after this Ameres's older son is found dead.  Then the death of a cat could have disastrous consequences for both of the boys and the entire household. Their character and loyalty will be tested as will their faith in the one true God.

The Cat of Bubastes is recommended for ages 6 and up and contains a little over 2 hours of listening adventure.  There are some intense moments in the story, but it is not bloody or gory and some children under the age of 6 may enjoy it.  It is narrated by Brian Blessed (Star Wars, Tarzan, Robin Hood) and also stars  Anthony Daniels (Star Wars), Sylvester McCoy (Dr. Who, The Hobbit), Elizabeth Counsel (The Chronicles of Narnia), Russel Boulter (Ben Hur), and John Rhys-Davies (The Lord of the Rings, Indiana Jones.)
There are many different options for purchase.  The MP3 version is $19.97 and includes a 47 page downloadable study guide and a downloadable print of the verse found in 1 Chronicles 17:20.  The 2 CD set can be purchased for $29.97 and includes the downloadable study guide, the printable verse, and the soundtrack MP3 download.  Or you can purchase the Family Four Pack for $99.97 which includes 4 2 CD sets, downloadable study guide, printable verse, MP3 soundtrack, access to Live the Adventure newsletter, The Cat of Bubastes ebook, and behind the scenes documentary.
The downloadable estudy guide is a wonderful way to expand on what you have learned while listening to the audio adventure.  There are 3 different sections in the guide for each track on the CD:
Listening Well: This section contains questions about what you have heard on the CD.
Thinking Further: These questions are a little deeper then basic comprehension questions. You may have to look something up, draw conclusions, or speculate about what the characters may have been thinking.
Defining Words: This section gives her child an opportunity to enhance your child's understanding of the story by defining words that were used.
There are also expand your learning sections that contain further information about the Egyptian culture such as mummification, hieroglyphics, crocodiles, diet, and more.  The guide also contains information about G.A. Henty, Moses, and the background on the Cat of Bubastes,  There are also three different Bible studies: God Meant if for Good, The Knowledge of God, and Idolatry and Tyranny.  You will also find a list of book suggestions for more on Ancient Egypt.
The Cat of Bubastes will keep you on the edge of your seat from beginning to end.  It is a very interesting story brought to life by the music and sound effects, making the listener feel as though they are part of the story.  Brian Blessed is an amazing narrator.  I just love to listen to his voice.  The other actors are wonderful as well. The Cat of Bubastes would be a great addition to any curriculum about Ancient Egypt.  It also is a great story for any family to listen to together interested in listening to a story full of action and adventure with virtuous characters.
To see what my Crew Mates had to say, stop by the Crew Blog!

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Homeschool Review Crew: Ultimate Phonics Reading Program

Spencer Learning gave us an opportunity to use and review the Ultimate Phonics Reading Program 



The Ultimate Phonics Reading Program is a software that you download to your computer.  It is compatible with Windows XP, Vista, 7, 8, and 10, and Macintosh OSX 10.5 and higher.  The software purchase gives you access to the program forever with free updates.   Ultimate Phonics Reading program is for users of all ages.  The program can be used as a stand alone phonics program for new readers, a supplement to any phonics program you are using,  a supplement to help struggling readers of any age, or as a teaching tool for ESL.

The software contains 262 lessons containing 4,474 different words and 2,130 sentences.  113 Sight Words such as the, where, and says are included in the lessons. Each of the lessons focus on a specific letter sound or pattern, starting with very basic sounds and gradually becoming more advanced.  Each of the lessons build on the one before it.  Lesson 1 is a basic introduction and after that all of the lessons are patterned the same way with four different parts.  The first part tells you what the lesson will be about.  The second part is the lists of words using the sound pattern shown on the first page.  After the word list page, the words are shown one at a time, broken down by their sounds.  The last part is the sentence pages which give the students sentences to read using the word pattern learned in the lesson. 

  

If students need help, they can press the speaker button and the sentence will be read to them.  They can click on words to hear them read and click on the boxes with the separate sounds to hear each individual sound.  Words that have more then one syllable have red bars above the words on the word pages that  students can click on to hear each syllable.
Each lesson is short, taking only 10-15 minutes to complete.  You can work systematically through each lesson, or if you are using the program as a supplement, you can use the "find" feature to search for word patterns or words that you need to work on.
My son Anthony is a struggling reader.  He has come a very long way but needs a lot of review and reinforcement.  We have been completing one lesson per day.
I really like that the program is a one time purchase, not a subscription that you have to continue to pay for.  The download did take me quite awhile as my internet is incredibly slow.  The software is very easy to use.  All you need to do to navigate through the lessons is use the arrow keys.  
The Ultimate Phonics Reading Program is very straight forward.  There are no bells, whistles, or distractions. I like that there are no distractions but students that are used to more game like teaching will find it boring.   Lessons are short and easy to navigate and students can use the program independently.  The ability to have the sentences read to the student and words sounded it out is a good feature, but the voice is very monotone and sounds almost robotic.  This was very hard for us to listen to. 
The Ultimate Phonics Reading Program offers a free trial.  To try the program for yourself, click here.
To see what my Crew Mates had to say, stop by the Crew Blog!

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Homeschool Review Crew: KidsEmail.org

Over the last several weeks, we have had an opportunity to review the Annual Subscription to KidsEmail.org. KidsEmail.org allows your children to be in contact with friends and family using their own email address while keeping them protected from spam, viruses, and ads.  Parents can set up a variety of safety settings including: only allowing children to send and receive emails from contacts on their list, sending copies of incoming and outgoing messages to parent email, blocking images in the emails, not allowing attachments in the emails, and blocking foul language.  The parent also has the ability to set time restrictions, ground children from using the email, and block senders.  Parents can easily monitor all of their children from their dashboard. The parent chooses the email for each child.  Younger children's email ends in "@kidsemail.org." You have the option to modify accounts for older children and have their email end in "@kmail.org" You can personalize the look of each child's email dashboard.  There are several different choices for your children to choose from such as princess, puppy, race car, kitten, unicorn, horses, flowers, wolves, colors, and many more.  Other features include a drawing board, and a read to me icon that reads the email to the child. KidsEmail.org can be accessed on any computer.  They also have apps to use on mobile devices such as iPods, iPads, or Kindles.   I set up email accounts for all 6 f my children.  I thought that my mom and dad would enjoy getting emails from the children and our homeschool curriculum has some letter writing exercises coming up.  I almost never buy stamps and thought that the children could practice their letter writing using their new email accounts.   I have never allowed the children to have their own emails because I was worried about the safety issues.  I did not want them to receive spam emails or have strangers be able to contact them.  KidsEmail.org takes away all the parent worry.  I love the safety features.  My children cannot email or receive email from anyone that is not listed in their contacts.  They do not have the ability to change their contacts, only I can do that.  I like the option to be able to keep the settings the same for all children or to make changes to each individual child if you need to. I thought that the dashboard options were really cute!  My girls love the princess and the boys liked the race car and dog.  I like that there are older looking options as well so that the older children don't think it looks "babyish."  I also think the read to me option is great for younger children though it does sound a bit robotic. We have used KidsEmail,org on my laptop and we have also used the app on my iPhone and the children's Kindles.  We like the drawing feature that is on the app.   I wish that app allowed an individual log in so I could have each child be able to log in on their own device.  The way it's set up, it uses the parent log in.  Then you can access each of the children by clicking on their icon.  I wanted to be able to log in just one child and give them the ability to see if they have new mail from the homepage on their Kindles.  ETA The company contacted me to tell me there is a way for the children to use the app on their individual Kindles without having all the other children showing.  I am excited about that and going to try it out! To see what my Crew Mates had to say, stop by the Crew Blog!

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Homeschool Review Crew: The Pray-ers / Book 1 Troubles

My latest review,  The Pray-ers / Book 1 Troubles written by Mark S. Mizra and published by CTM Publishing Atlanta, is the first book a brand new Christian historical fiction series.

The author of the book, Mark S Mizra is the founder of Common Thread Ministries which focuses on helping people, churches, and ministries develop their prayer lives.  He teaches that the Word of God should be our focus on why we pray what we pray.

The Pray-ers Book 1 Troubles, is a 372 page paperback book.  It is also available as an ebook. The story focuses on the lives of three main prayer heroes in three different periods of time in history.  In the first century we have Thales who is the nephew of Epraphus.  In the 19th Century we meet Alexander Rich, an itinerant preacher and  friend of D.L. Moody, and in the present time we have Dr. Dale Riley, a track coach and men's prayer ministry leader.  The story shows different struggles in each of the three heroes lives and the loves of some surrounding characters.  The story models how each of the heroes pray and how those prayers affect their lives and the lives of those around them.

In addition to these characters, there are also several characters from the spiritual world.  Hael is a guardian angel who has been assigned to Dr. Dale and instructed to make contact with him.  He also guarded Alexander Rich and Thales.  Tephillah is another guardian angel in the story.  There are also demons in the story named djaod, haodtie, joln, and katepa.  Throughout the book you read about the demons attempts to deceive or cast doubts in the lives of the heroes and how they use people around them to cause troubles. We also see how the prayers of the heroes affect both the demons and the angels.


I have been reviewing this book myself.  I thought that it may be of interest to my older boys, but after reading it decided this book is really for adults, and maybe older teens (think college aged) as it deals with mature issues (abortion, and an alleged rape) and does not have much subject matter that younger teens would be able to relate to.  I thought the book started out pretty slow and it took me awhile to get into it.  I think that part of that was the transition through the different time periods. Just when I felt like it was getting interesting for one of the heroes, it would switch time periods and move on to someone else's story.  Also, within each time period the story often switches from the main characters to the characters from the spiritual world and back again, and that is rather hard to follow unless you are reading very carefully. The author chose not to captitalize the names of the demons in the story.  He talks about why he did this in the preface but it is hard to get used to reading it that way. About half way through the book it really started getting interesting and I couldn't wait to see how it would end.  But, nothing was resolved in this book, you have to wait for Book 2 to find out what happens next.

The Pray-ers does have a lot to say about prayer and teaching how we should pray.  Several times during the course of my reading the book, I had to stop and think about my life and how to improve my own prayer life.  Scripture references are included throughout the book so you are able to look up the referenced verses as you are reading and read for yourself what the Bible has to say. I am very interested in reading the next book to see how everything ends up!

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

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Schoolhouse Crew Review: Grapevine Studies

One of the ways we simplify homeschooling in our house is to do as many subjects together as we can.  We start our day with a Bible lesson.  It can be very challenging to find a study that I can use with a wide variety of ages.  I was thankful to have an opportunity to review the following from Grapevine Studies:
Old Testament 1: Level 1 Creation to Jacob and Old Testament 1: Traceable Old Testament 1: Level 2 Creation to Jacob Old Testament 1: Level 3 Creation to Jacob Old Testament 1: Level 4 Creation to Jacob Grapevine Studies teaches God's Word by hearing the Bible, stick figuring through the Bible, answering questions, and memorizing Scripture.  As the students get older lessons also include basic Bible geography and using Bible tools such as a concordance, topical Bible, and Bible dictionary. The studies can be used in a home, co-op, or church setting.  A variety of ages can study the same topic with the more advances Bible verses, questions, and using Bible tools making the study more challenging for the older students. Old Testament 1 covers:
Creation Adam and Eve The Fall Noah and the Fall Tower of Babel Job Abraham Isaac Jacob
Each lesson starts with a timeline review page.  Then there are lesson pages with 2 drawings per page for the traceable and Level One and 4 drawings per age for levels 2 and up.  Next there is a student drawing page that allows students to draw their favorite part of the lesson and write their memory verse.  Review questions are included.  Level 4 also has a quest page with exercises using the concordance, dictionary, and topical Bible.
The Teacher's Guide gives instructions to the teacher.  Level 1 and 2 are combined and levels 3 and 4 are combined.  Lesson goals and key points are listed for each lesson along with the Bible verses to be read, drawing instructions, pictures of all of the stick drawing, and answers to the review questions.
In addition to the study and the Bible tools for level 4, your student will need crayons or colored pencils to draw and color with, and index cards to make character and event cards.  Teachers will need a dry erase board and markers.
More Information About the Levels How to Choose? Where to Start? Samples
In my house, I have children who range in age from 4-13.  We had been doing a study of the Old Testament and it wasn't working as well as I wanted it to, so that is why I chose The Old Testament 1 from Grapevine Studies.  I have my 4-6 year olds using the Traceable, my 8 year old using Level 1, my 10 year old using Level 2, my 11 year old using Level 3, and my 13 year old using Level 4.

Level 3 Timeline Review

We received downloadable PDF's which have a family license.  This means that you can make as many copies as you need for all the members of your family!  That for me is a huge plus because I have multiple children using the different levels.  Another huge plus is that we all can work on the study together. The pages are in black and white making them fairly cheap to print.  I print one lesson a week for each of the children and we use it for our morning Bible time 4 days a week.  The older boys use colored pencils and the younger children use crayons.  I have a small dry erase board that I draw the figures on for them.

Level 4 Lesson Pages

I really like the stick figuring part.  The drawings are easy enough for even me to do (which is saying a lot!)  The children really like drawing them and it does help them remember what we talked about. The traceables are wonderful!  The pictures are lightly drawn for them and all they have to do is trace.  This makes it so much easier to include the little ones in our Bible time. They love tracing the pictures!

Traceable Lesson Page

Level 2 Lesson Page

The teacher's guide is easy to follow along with. It tells you what verses to read and shows good drawings for you to follow.  There is constant review built into the lessons.  A timeline review starts each lesson, Bible verses are reviewed, and comprehension questions are gone over.  

Level 4 Quest Page

The only thing that has been a bit of a challenge is the quest pages in Level 4.  The answers for these are not in the teacher's guide due to copyright restrictions.  The page numbers that the answers can be found on in their suggested materials are listed.  But we have a different concordance, topical Bible, and Bible dictionary and are not always able to find the answers we have needed.  

Level One Student Drawing Page

We have been pleased with Grapevine Studies and are planing on continuing on with this study.
To see what my Crew Mates had to say stop by the Crew Blog!

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