A New Year with TOS Crew Reviews!!

A new year is about to start - check this out for more info about upcoming reviews!!

TOS Review: Yesterday's Classics

You may have tangible wealth untold;
Caskets of jewels and coffers of gold.
Richer than I you can never be—
I had a mother who read to me.                             —Strickland Gillilan

I believe that homeschoolers can never have too many books and there will always be a list of books you wish you had had the time to read with your children.  Just looking through the list of the 225 ebooks from Yesterday's Classics has given me a long list of books that I wish I had known about when my children were young.  

To read more, click here.

TOS Review: Nutrition 101

If you know me or have read my blog for very long, you know that I am very into healthy eating and living.  Over the past 10 years, I have tried to move my family towards eating whole foods, eliminating refined sugar and cooking from scratch.   I also make all of my own cleaning products and many of my health and beauty products, including soap and shampoo bars.  To read more, click here.

VocabAhead Review

Since we are getting very near to those dreaded SAT/ACT testing times, I was pleased to receive VocabAhead's SAT Vocabulary:  Cartoons, Videos & MP3s to review.   Read more here.

The Math Tutor Review

To read more about an interesting and helpful Pre-Algebra and Texas Instruments Calculator DVD Tutor, click here.

My Access! Home Edition by Vantage Learning Review

To learn about an incredible online writing program, click here to read my review!

TOS Travel Kits Review

 
I have once again joined the TOS Crew to review homeschool curriculum and related items for The Old Schoolhouse Magazine.  I was given a free copy of the ebook The Old Schoolhouse Travel Kits for the purpose of this review and found that it is a delightful book with great ideas to get you inspired to help others by putting together creative and fun Travel Kits for your friends and their children.  It is 93 pages filled with ideas and motivation for a very nominal cost of $12.45.

At first when I received this ebook,  I was a little puzzled as to the purpose of such a book.  However, after spending time reading through the ideas and looking at the beautiful photos, I began to get inspired!  If this book was just about making Travel Kits for your kids to keep them occupied during a trip, it would fall a little short in my esteem.  However, the fact that it REALLY inspires you to think of opportunities where you can bless someone else with such a myriad of ideas is really phenomenal!  Reading through this ebook made me want to think of people I could bless by making them a fun and really useful Travel Kit.  It even gives you great ideas on where to find items for very little money to include to make your Travel Kit exciting for the recipient.  They encourage you to wrap each item so that it is a continual surprise to look forward to throughout the trip, thus increasing the child's (and adult's) anticipation of the next "gift".

So what is a Travel Kit?  Well, it is a bag, or box, or basket, or whatever filled with individually wrapped "presents" for the recipient to open along their journey.  These "presents" can be anything from snacks to toys to games to books to whatever item you can think of that the recipient would enjoy.   The possibilities are practically endless!  But the inspiration to begin is the blessing of this ebook!

This made me think of all the family trips we have taken and how much quicker the time could have passed if I had made Travel Kits like these for my kids.  You can make Travel Kits that fit into any budget, any length or type of trip, any age range of recipient and any theme you would like to come up with.  I believe the strongest aspect of this ebook is that it is the spark that starts a flame of inspiration and creativity in your mind so that you can come up with all kinds of ideas and ways to bless others with this project.  You can get your kids involved in blessing others in a very fun and creative way, too.  No matter how young or old your children are, they will really get into the spirit of blessing others when you enlist their help in planning, shopping, and assembling these wonderful Travel Kits. And think of the joy of giving they will learn along the way!

I know that some of you are thinking, "I am creative.  Why would I need this book when I could come up with my own ideas?"  Yes, that is what I was thinking....until I read through this book!  I don't know if I can adequately express the blossoming inspiration that flowed through my mind as I read this book.  I thought of people I would love to bless this way and ideas of items I could include in different Travel Kits for different folks.  It made my heart brim so full of wanting to bless others with these kits!  It really inspires you to think of ways to be a blessing to others.  THAT is what makes the price of this ebook such a great bargain.  For only $12.45 (and since it is an ebook, you don't have to wait for it to arrive in the mail) you, too, can be inspired to bless your friends and family in so many different ways that they will be remembering and talking about for a very long time.

Generations of Virtue

I was very excited to receive products from Generations of Virtue since I have been looking at and hearing about their products for some time. I had plans to purchase some of their products for my children and was thrilled to be able to review Beautifully Made!

Beautifully Made! is a 3 book set and is such a great help for moms and their daughters who are just coming into womanhood. Book 1 is Approaching Womanhood and is written for you to give to or read with your daughter who is nearing the time for her first period. This book is so gently and beautifully written to explain many things to your daughter about what is happening in her body, both physically and emotionally. I don't know about you, but beginning my menses was never viewed as something to celebrate. If you are like me, then you need to have your heart reprogrammed so that you can help your daughter realize what a gift and blessing it is to be the bearer of children and what God intended for women. I really appreciate this book for its gentle manner. It focuses on the positives only and helps to ease a girl's anxiety as she approaches this passage from girlhood to womanhood.

The second book, Celebrating Womanhood, is for you to give to your daughter when she begins her first period. It has more details about what to expect, what products to use and about PMS. It also still focuses on the positive and celebrates this passage for your daughter in to womanhood. Again, it is very gently written and positive in focus.

The third book is written for you, Mom, and is entitled Wisdom from a Woman - Mother's Guide. This book contains ideas on how to celebrate this momentous occasion with your daughter and help her walk through this potentially difficult time. This biblically-focused book can help every mother explain some of the intricacies of womanhood to her precious girl.

The entire 3 book series Beautifully Made! is only $18.99 and is worth every cent to help a mom and her daughter walk through this passage from girlhood to womanhood with a positive and celebratory attitude.

You will want to take some time to check out many of their other products. They have purity rings and jewelry, books for boys, girls and parents, gift ideas and much more! Their goal is to "equip parents to empower their kids for purity in our world today." With my kids entering their teen years, you can be sure I will be turning to Generations of Virtue for more help along the way. They also have Technology Tools to help make the Internet and movies/dvds, etc. safe for your children.

Write Shop Storybuilders

If you have any trouble getting your kids to write because they can't think of what to write about, this is an excellent tool! WriteShop Storybuilders are a fantastic aid to help kids with topics to write about. It comes as an instantly available download which is a set of cards that become the starting point for creative writing projects. Your students (or you) can choose cards for the character, character traits, setting and plot. Then your student just uses their imagination to create a story based on these cards. It can be fun and silly or serious and intense, depending on how you and your children choose to use these Storybuilders. They are appropriate for all ages and can be used again and again, making them a great tool to keep handy anytime your young writers encounter "writer's block."

There are several different series of these Storybuilders, including World of People, World of Sports, World of Animals and a special mini set for Christmas. The full sets run just $7.95 and the mini set $3.95, so they are very reasonably priced and with the ebooks, you can get them right away! We received the World of People and the Christmas mini set and my kids were very interested in creating stories using these cards. Try them out with your kids to give their creative writing a boost.

Heads Up! Vision Aids

I have to be honest that when I first opened up this package I received, I had no idea what these were. It took me some time to look through the catalog and understand that Heads Up! produces and sells many different products to aid those with learning challenges and special needs. This company is a FANTASTIC resource for families with struggling learners. They have products "to accommodate various learning styles and strengths to help each child feel successful."

The Vision Aids that I received are to help with reading and are very reasonably priced (just $1.00). These frames help readers "keep their place" along a line of text, graphics, or charts.
Heads Up! Top of the Line has a blue or yellow highlighted strip along the top. And Heads Up! Double Time highlights an area large enough fo the reader to view two lines of most texts. Both of these are great for readers who are easily distracted or have difficulty maintaining their attention on what they are reading.

Heads Up! Frames come in two sizes - 4" x 4 1/2" or 4" x 9". You can use them to direct attention and focus by placing the frames over workbook pages or other written materials to be examined. They come in a variety of colors: yellow, pink, blue, red, green and orange.

Heads Up! Reader has a highlighted strip of color between two strips of grey. This helps with visual tracking and the color helps maintain attention to the printed text. These also come in a variety of colors: yellow, green, red, blue, orange, pink or clear.

Although my children have no need of these now, I sure can see how this could have helped my children when they were beginning to learn to read. My son has an astigmatism and I believe these aids could have been a great benefit to him that would have helped him to focus on the line he was reading and not be confused by the other words around it. They also often had trouble tracking from the end of one line to the beginning of the next, and these creative frames could have aided with that until their eyes became more familiar with following from one line to the next.

I encourage you that if your children have any challenges at all with learning to read, you check into these great and inexpensive tools and aids to assist you and your children. Especially if you are just teaching your little ones to read, you will be amazed at how these tools can help you and your child with focus and tracking. Go to their website and check out the many different types of products that they have to help you and your children along the learning path.

Cadron Creek

A few years ago, my children and I discovered the joy of literature-based unit studies, beginning with Further Up & Further In from Cadron Creek. This unit study is based on the Chronicles of Narnia series by C.S. Lewis and geared for 4 - 8 grades. Now we are hooked and have used literature-based unit studies ever since!

Further Up & Further In is laid out in a very simple fashion that makes it easy to use and provides great helps for teacher preparation for each section. You read a chapter of a book each day, and then there are MANY activities to choose from for each and every subject, including Bible, Crafts, Health, History, Literature and Language Arts, and Science. The only things I supplemented was Math, Spelling and Foreign Language. Otherwise, you have a very complete curriculum.

At the beginning of each unit (book), they give you an overview of what to expect during this unit, and then a weekly planning guide where they give you suggested resources to gather in advance, supplies you will need for crafts, experiments and other hands-on activities, suggested field trips, and suggested videos. They also give you worksheets that are used in that week's work. In the back of the book is an Appendix with many more resources provided that might be difficult to find on your own, or more worksheet type pages to use with the unit study.

This curriculum was so much fun for us! Reading through the Chronicles of Narnia aloud together was, in and of itself, an incredible experience for us. But to be able to use it for all of our homeschooling was just a blessing and made our year the best one ever!

Then I had the opportunity to review The Prairie Primer, another unit study by Cadron Creek based on the "Little House" series by Laura Ingalls Wilder. Wow! Another fantastic literature-based unit study from a great author! This unit study is set up in much the same way as Further Up & Further In, but targeted to a little younger age group (Grades 3 - 6). This unit study covers U.S. History in the 1800's, U.S. geography, science, language, practical living, health and safety, nutrition, music and art. It also emphasizes studying the Word of God with daily Bible readings that include character and word studies.

They give you so many resources and help along the way, that I believe these unit studies are the best and easiest way to delve into the world of unit studies. If you have never tried a unit study before, I highly recommend the products from Cadron Creek as the way to "get your feet wet." They have done so much prep work for you, that you can ease into the exciting world of unit studies and have a great time doing it! And their products are so reasonably priced at just $50 for a full year of curriculum for the Prairie Primer and $56 for Further Up & Further In!!

All About Homophones

There are several things that make teaching the English language so difficult. One is that there are so many words that break the rules. Another is that we have many homophones, that is words that sound the same but are spelled differently, and of course have different meanings. Alot of spelling can be taught by learning rules, but homophones are one of those things that just have to be memorized. Well, in our house, we try to avoid tedious memorization and save it for things like Bible passages.

All About Homophones, by the folks who created All About Spelling, is an incredible tool kit to help your students learn and remember their homophones. In a very fun and engaging way, they present homophones through worksheets and activities so that your kids will remember them when they are writing. This is available as either an ebook ($27.95) or a printed book ($29.95). This product contains worksheets for 1st grade through 8th grade, introducing different homophones at the appropriate grade levels. It includes graphic organizers for better visual understanding, 101 homophone worksheets that your student will actually enjoying completing, and they will learn about homophones while playing classic card games like Snap! and Pig, crossword puzzles, riddles, tongue twisters and more.

If homophones are a challenge to your student (and most kids are challenged by these mystifying rule-breakers), consider purchasing either the ebook or the printed book to give your student the edge they will need to fully comprehend homophones. You won't be disappointed!

Science for High School - a novel approach!

I was very excited to receive Science for High School since my kiddos are rapidly approaching those high school years and I hadn't yet determined what science curriculum to use. I first received Bridget Ardoin's Physical Science program and was very intrigued by the fact that it is NOT a textbook approach at all. High School Physical Science in the Home is a guide that the student follows to discover everything he needs to know that encompasses high school physical science.

This curriculum is written by Bridget Ardoin who is a homeschooling mom to 5 children and has over 12 years of experience homeschooling. She also has a degree in microbiology from Louisiana State University. She has spent many years helping homeschooling parents teach biology to their children in their homes. This curriculum is an accumulation of those years of experience where she focused on putting together a quality high school science curriculum with a user-friendly approach for the teacher. She offers Biology and Chemistry, as well as Physical Science.

The Student Manual contains a list of questions for each week of study. The students spends four days researching the answers to these questions, using any resources available including the library, internet and other science books. Then on the fifth day, the student reviews the answers they obtained with the teacher/parent to ensure that they covered the necessary material in their research. There is also a lab for each week in order to give a hands-on experience tied in with the material they have been researching that week.

The Parent Manual contains all the information that the parent needs to help the student, including the information that the student should have discovered in their research. Detailed explanations of the labs are also included, as well as quizzes and end-of-semester exams (and their answers).

You can also purchase the Physical Science Lab Kit which contains the harder to find items in order to make your homeschooling experience more enjoyable.

I really like this approach to science because I am a very untraditional homeschooler and really avoid textbooks. I have been planning to use unit studies for my kids for their highschool years, but you have to supplement the curriculum with science programs as they are encountered in the unit study. I feel that this Science for High School curriculum will work very well and will encourage my children to really dig deep to find the answers and learn all about science in a way they wouldn't if we used another more traditional method. By researching, especially on the internet, they can find many more interesting things than if it is fed to them in a textbook. We find this all the time in our current unit studies and I am excited to find a curriculum that will continue to encourage their curiosity and love of learning!

I have already shared about this curriculum with many of my friends who already have high school students and several have purchased it and are using it already. I have received very good reviews and comments about how their children are responding to the curriculum and learning their own time management skills, as well as how to really research materials on the internet and in the library.

Bridget has sample pages on her website so you can get a feel for the actual layout of the curriculum. The High School Physical Science in Your Home is $79.99 (which includes the Student Manual and Parent Manual) or you can purchase the whole kit which includes items you need for your experiments for $110.00. If you are looking for something different than the traditional textbook approach to High School Science, or want something that your children will really learn and retain as they study Physical Science, I would like to encourage you to take a look at Bridget Ardoin's Science for High School. This may be just what you need to get your child to really dig into their high school science!

Critical Thinking...a Very Important Life Skill

As I was doing some research in order to be able to write this post, I came across the definition of Critical Thinking and one phrase caught my attention: Expressed most generally, critical thinking is “a way of taking up the problems of life.

Wow, what an important thing critical thinking can be to our lives! And very often, this is a neglected area of "study" for our children. As I was perusing "Building Thinking Skills, Level 3 Verbal", from The Critical Thinking Co., I came to realize what a large percentage of standardized testing is really critical thinking. I was an excellent student, but very bored. I am also an incredible test-taker - not because I am so smart and know so much, but because I am a very good critical thinker. I can look at several answers to a question I don't know and eliminate those that could not possibly be the correct answer, thus narrowing down the problem to find the correct answer. And all without knowing the process to find the correct answer!

Critical thinking is also very important for us and our children to be able to encounter all the fallacies in the world and be able to discern what is truth and what is fiction. It includes logic as well as intellect, analyzing options and much, much more. Through The Critical Thinking Co. products, you will be able to provide your children (and yourself) with a fun way to increase their critical thinking skills. These books are so much fun that you don't even have to tell them it is school work! Just give them some pages to try and see if they don't ask for more.

So, back to the actual book that I had the opportunity to use and review for you - Building Thinking Skills, Level 3 Verbal. This book covered many different types of verbal thinking skills, including Verbal Similarities and Differences (like antonyms and synonyms), Verbal Sequences (including following directions, maps, flowcharting), Verbal Classifications (like diagramming, sorting, classes) and Verbal Analogies. I let me daughter try many different types of these worksheets and she had a great time! She is actually younger that this was intended for, but actually did quite well. I also enjoyed them very much and had a hard time putting the book down long enough to write about it. This is the kind of book that you can just leave laying out for your children to use in their free time. They don't have to have it assigned really, they will want to do it. And you can work on these together and discuss the problems presented, which will help broaden their thinking skills even more.

This was my first introduction to this company and their critical thinking skills products. I am hoping to be able to try out more of their products with my children, because I think that critical thinking is absolutely CRITICAL (excuse the pun) to being successful in life! Every profession requires critical thinking skills and in order to be strong in your beliefs, you must have strong critical thinking skills. I believe that if we educate our children to the best of our ability and equip them with strong critical thinking skills, they will be successful in whatever God calls them to do and we will have fulfilled our calling as their educators at home.

This book has 350 pages of worksheets for only $29.99! And they have many other products available for all grade levels. They also have Building Thinking Skills, Figural which would help with math. They have What Would You Do? books that give children the opportunity to apply their moral values to real-life moral dilemmas. What great discussions this could inspire!

There are so many different products at The Critical Thinking Co. that I can't possibly cover them all, but I would greatly encourage you to stop by their website and check it out. There are so many different types of products that you could use to enhance your homeschooling and increase your child's critical thinking skills.

Deeper Roots Bible Curriculum for Middle School

I have recommended and used several different devotionals for short term missions from Deeper Root Publications in the past and knew that they had great products. I have been interested in their homeschool Bible Curriculum for quite a while, but was hesitant to purchase since I didn't know if it would be a good fit for our style of homeschooling. So when presented with the opportunity to review their Middle School Bible Curriculum, I was very excited to receive this and try it out!

First I would like to give you a little information about Deeper Roots Publications. Howard and Bonnie Lisech have spent time on the foreign mission field, as well as much time training and working with short term missions teams. Deeper Roots Publications grew out of their heart to provide material to help those preparing for the mission field, but even more importantly, deal with the issues of returning to their own culture. Having just returned to the U.S. after almost 6 years in Mexico, I can certainly relate to the need they are addressing. Having also homeschooled several of their children, they saw the need for a good, Biblically-based Bible curriculum.

After having the opportunity to use and review "Discovering Who I Am In Christ" which is for 7th - 9th grades, I am very impressed with the quality of this curriculum. And I very much appreciate the missions-mindedness that is incorporated in all of their products. This curriculum is laid out for ease of use for both the teacher and the student. The Middle School curriculum consists of four different volumes/studies in the Discovery Series. They are Discovering Our Amazing God, Discovering Who I Am In Christ, Discovering Christlike Habits, and Discovering a Christlike Character. There is a Teacher's Guide ($28.95) for each, which provides all the instructions, ideas and information that you, as teacher, will need to use this curriculum. The Student Workbook ($19.95) provides the lesson, memory verses, questions with space to write their answers, as well as Reflections pages for the student to write their thoughts and notes. Each section contains information about unreached people groups and prayer focus. It has engaging artwork, maps, photos, etc. which make the pages fun to look at and interesting. If you have a student that is still not comfortable with alot of writing, you can answer the questions orally and work through this together. It is a great foundational Bible study that would benefit every family.

They also have Bible curriculum for younger children called "Firm Foundations: Creation to Christ Children's Edition" which follows a chronological study of the Bible. It includes maps, a timeline and posters to make it more appealling to children.

Their high school Bible curriculum, "Rooted and Grounded (A Guide for Spiritual Growth)", is a one-year senior high course that helps students move from Biblical knowledge to spiritual application of these truths and concepts. The Teacher's Guide is $39.50 and the Student Workbook is $23.95. There is also a Unit Tests and Answers booklet for $3.95.

And if you are planning now or in the future to take a short-term missions trip, please consider using their short-term missions devotionals. They have Pre-Field, On-Field and Reentry resources and devotionals. We have recommended them for our interns when they came and stayed with us and I believe this truly helped them to make the most of their time with us as well as "re-enter" their life in the U.S. with less stress and culture shock.

Deeper Roots Publications offers free samples of their curriculum, so please don't hesitate to try them out and see if their products would meet the need in your homeschool family. If you would like to have a missions emphasis in your home, these products will be a great help with this and provide many opportunities to discuss missions and unreached people groups as you and your children study together.

Technical Sketching for Middle Schoolers

I have to admit that when I received this in the mail from Insight Technical Education, I was a little overwhelmed with the holidays and moving, so I just put it aside for awhile.  My expectations were very vague because I had no idea what this product would entail.  Well, I have to tell you that I am very impressed with the product and the skills that it teaches in a very self-directed environment!

I received Advanced Complete-A-Sketch which teaches technical sketching, introduces drafting concepts, explore orthographic and isometric sketching, includes 3D Models to build and provides independent learning opportunities.  It is a CD Rom, so you can print out whatever you want as many times as you want.  The sketches are a little like advanced dot-to-dot projects where the student can used a straight edge, compass and other simple drafting tools to complete the sketch.  This is very much geared towards boys (helicopters, planes, tanks, etc.), and I believe my son will gain a great deal of ability from these pages.  This program runs $28 and includes a great variety of different projects.  And when they get better, they can do the same project again with more skill that they have acquired.  There is also bonus materials to enhance the learning acquired with the program.  They provide blank graph papers in order for you student to create their own projects, too.

The company is called Insight Technical Education and all their products are self-teaching, self-paced and great for all learning styles.  They have a number of different products including Accounting, Drafting, Introduction to CAD, Technical Sketching and Vision-Dexterity-Focus.  They range in age from Elementary to High School levels.

They also offer package deals, manual drafting kits and CAD software(TurboCAD), which will give the student a good foundation for going on to use other CAD programs.

If you have a child that is leaning more towards the technical end of the spectrum, I believe these products may be exactly the type of art you may be looking for and didn't even know it.   These products were developed to help their own children and now they have made them available for others to benefit from.

Visit their site and you will get an idea of how their program works!  It is a lot of fun to watch your kids complete a sketch that they never thought they were capable of and acquire skills that will aid them in their future.

KidsWealth - Money Management for Kids

When I opened the box with the KidsWealth Money Kit, I was very impressed with all that it includes!  First, let me explain that this is a money management kit for kids ages 4 - 12.  But it is so much fun and attractive to kids!  "The KidsWealth Money Program will help your child learn the value of money, how to manage their money and build smart money habits for a successful future."

The kit contains the Money Kit Case (available in blue or purple), 5 Account Wallets, Kid's Guide, Parents Guide, Kid's Pay Calendar, Pencils, Calculator, Kid's Pay Agreement, Kal & Pals Sticker Sheet, and Kid's Pay Sticker Sheet.  The Account Wallets are for Wealth (savings/investment), Plan (long-term goals), Learn (educational activities), Fun (spending money) and Angel (charity or tithe).

This program is so simple and fun for your kids that they will be excited to take control of their finances.  The Parents Guide explains all you need to know the implement the program and get your kids well on their way to a successful future financially.

I was very impressed with the KidsWealth Money Kit and would highly recommend it to every family!  It is set up similar to the "envelope method" of budgeting and makes it very easy and fun for kids to plan and save.  The cost for all of this is only $39.95!  And it is so colorful that my daughter immediately began begging me to let her have it and start using it right away!  I think you will find that kids will have fun using the KidsWealth Money Kit as they learn to manage their money.

Math Mammoth - Math Help For Everyone!

I am very happy with the math curriculum we have been using this year, so I was hesitant to try another program.  But with Math Mammoth, I have been very impressed with how their worksheets can be a great addition or help to any math program you may be using.  Math Mammoth has several different programs available.  You can purchase just the worksheets you need to help your child in an area where they may be struggling or just need a little more practice.  Math Mammoth has the Light Blue Series which is complete curriculum for grades 1-5, but they also have the Blue Series which is organized by topic, so you can just pick the topic that you need some extra support in and buy that.  These units are very inexpensive, too, ranging from just $2.50 - $6.00 per unit.  The complete package sets are about $27 for each grade.  That is a whole year worth of math for under $30!  

Then Math Mammoth has the Gold Series which are organized by grade level 3  - 8th grade, including Algebra I.  These are priced at about $12.00 per grade level.  But you can also choose by topic by ordering the Green Series books which are organized by topic and are quite inexpensive at just $2.50 - $6.00 each.  With a bargain like this, you almost can't afford not to try them!  These worksheets will give you that extra peace of mind knowing that your child has fully mastered each topic before moving on to the next level.

And to top it all off, all of these worksheets are printable over and over again so if you have several children, you only have to buy these one time and you will have them for each of your children.  And if your child makes a mess of their paper, simply print it out again and let them start clean.  They also have some package deals for around $60 which include all the topics or grade levels in each color series.  Since most math programs are quite pricey, you will be amazed at what you can get for just a small price with Math Mammoth!  And if you are still hesitant to try it, you can get a free "virtual" email course which included 280 free worksheets and sample pages so you can "try before you buy".  You will also get 7 math teaching articles and their Homeschool Math newsletter - all for free!

I encourage you, no matter how much you love your math program, to take a minute to check our Math Mammoth and see if it can be a help to you and your children.  And if you are looking for a math program to love, definitely don't hesitate to explore Math Mammoth!

Learning through PLAY!!

The basic concept of the Puppetools site - that is learning through play - is something I believe in greatly! The founder, Jeffrey Peyton, has spent many years researching and putting together information for educators about the great advantages of learning through play. He quotes many famous philosophers and educators who stressed the importance of play in learning.

The Puppetools website is designed primarily for the classroom teacher who needs inexpensive and creative ways to bring the joy of learning through play into the classroom. He teaches the basics of the "hinge" which is what all of the puppets are built upon. There are many patterns and ideas for use in learning and teaching that could be very helpful to getting you started in using play as a learning tool.

I truly believe in using play for learning and teaching, and when my kids were little we used puppets as part of that play. Now, we lean more towards games, but the concept is the same. Children will learn and retain more when it is presented in the context of play.

And individual subscription is now available for only $20 for a full year. If your co-op or homeschool group is interested in Puppetools, you could purchase a Group Subscription and share among 30 different families for only $99 for a year. That comes out to only a little over $3.00 per family!!

Whatever your method for including play as a learning and teaching tool, please make sure to incorporate it in your daily teaching to enhance your child's ability to learn and retain the material!! And take a moment to check out Puppetools to see if this may be the way to get you started.

ALEKS Math

Ok, I am not a big proponent of online education, but this program may be the exception. ALEKS math is not just an online math program. At the heart of ALEKS is an artificial intelligence engine that assesses each student individually and continuously. It avoids multiple choice questions, thereby being more able to assess the student's abilities and challenges. ALEKS offers K-12 grade learning in all the applicable math subjects.

After taking the assessment, each child is given a pie chart showing what areas they need work and how much. Then the student can choose which area of math to work on until they fill up that section of the pie chart completely. They can move freely from topic to topic, thus keeping them from getting bored with one area of math. Also, if they are struggling in one area, they can switch to something they are more comfortable with for awhile.

My children actually like this program, and I sat with them as they worked and was very impressed with the quality of the material. We had a few technical challenges since we are using MACs, but quickly overcame them so that the kids could both work at the same time on different computers. My son loved the fact that it allowed him to use the calculator for long problems, as long as he understood the process and steps taken to figure out the problem. My daughter enjoyed the Geometry sections since she has not done much of this yet in her regular math program.

Here is some more information that I think will be helpful to you from their website:

"To ensure that topics learned are retained in long term memory, ALEKS periodically reassesses the student, using the results to adjust the student's knowledge of the course. Because students are forced to show mastery through mixed question assessments that cannot be predicted, mastery of the ALEKS course means true mastery of the course."

How is ALEKS different from other online learning programs?

• Uses artificial intelligence to target gaps in student knowledge
  
• Provides a cycle of assessment and learning
  
• Assesses and instructs with standards-based content
  
• Remediates gaps in student preparation
  
• Adapts to student needs with individualized instruction
  
• Presents only topics the student is ready to learn
  
• Provides clear explanations and feedback
  
• Monitors learning progress with automated reports
  
• Allows students to toggle between English and Spanish
  
• Offers unlimited online access from any computer
  
• Requires no minimum purchase -- Buy as few or as many subscriptions as needed!
  
• Allows you to save unused subscriptions

I encourage you to check out ALEKS for yourself and see if this might be a helpful math program for your children. They have a free trial so you can actually see what it is like.

A subscription to ALEKS is $19.95 per student, per month, or only $99.95 every 6 months, or only $179.95 every 12 months.

They also have a family discount program so that you can get discounts for multiple students.