Advent, launched this morning! I have decided to make this years theme gifts and tools. God has given us all the gifts and tools that we need to excel in life. To illustrate the point I will be using the phrase "you have everything you need", 24 letters. On the 25th the grand finale will be GO!, go use the gifts and tools you have been given and impact the world around you.
I wrote one letter per ornament which will be discovered each morning by a different kid, once found the ornaments with the letters are strung on a ribbon, eventually spelling out the phrase. Additionally, I have wrapped a large gift box and written down fruits of the spirit, each day will bring a new focus and call to action. Today we began with peace, go be a peace maker, record it on the gift box.
The stockings have been hung by the chimney with care and from time to time I will put a treat in them to carry out the theme, albeit loosely at times. Today they found vanilla milk, white, when you hold up a white flag you are surrendering and looking for peace.
As a bonus my husbands gifts are all in this large box, he will be thrilled with what the kids record on the box. Probably, he won't pay much attention to it until I give it to him on Christmas, I know he will really like seeing what the kids have done with their gifts.
Wednesday, December 1, 2010
RE: The Master Ruler
Recently I received The Master Ruler, an unusual tool used for teaching measurement. I must say this is a very clever and useful device. The Master Ruler, English, is 12 inches long, just over an inch wide, with 5 layers of light plexi glass attached to a set of blue coils enabling them to flip. The Master Ruler Decimal is and 4 layers deep with the same basic design. The genius behind this product is the flipping tabs have colored lines denoting measurements, 1/16, 1/8, 1/4, 1/2, 1, for the decimal system, 1mm, 1cm, and 1dm. The color and the flipping tabs make it very easy to see and teach differing measurements, especially those hard to see 1/16 and 1mms. This is a difficult ruler to paint a picture of, a glance at the website, http://www.themasterruler.com/, will give you a much better idea of what the ruler looks like and how it functions.
Along with the rulers came a measuring activity book that containing activities for both rulers. The activities cover basic measurements, mixed numbers, equivalent fractions, area, decimal conversions and other measuring functions. There is a good mix of activities for kids of a wide age range to engage in. I found with my kids that The Master Ruler lends itself to discovery learning, give the kids the rulers, and the activity book and let them go. It is a nice alternative to rulers in print and the traditional ones used in the home, the kids really to grasp the break down of the ruler.
This product is a great resource to have around the house, and is a really clever way to teach measurement. It is very versatility and can be used for simple measurements with younger kids and more complex measurements and conversions with the older ones. This is a very hands on approach to learning and should appeal to most learning styles, the methodology is straight forward and easy to understand. The rulers run $9.95 and the workbook $15.95. Additionally they offer a package deal of the whole shi-bang for $41.25. Also, note that other products available from this vendor are: Master Clock, Master Fractions and Master Angles. This ruler is such a great tool I think the other offerings are worth looking into.
Members of the TOS Crew received free items for review purposes.
Along with the rulers came a measuring activity book that containing activities for both rulers. The activities cover basic measurements, mixed numbers, equivalent fractions, area, decimal conversions and other measuring functions. There is a good mix of activities for kids of a wide age range to engage in. I found with my kids that The Master Ruler lends itself to discovery learning, give the kids the rulers, and the activity book and let them go. It is a nice alternative to rulers in print and the traditional ones used in the home, the kids really to grasp the break down of the ruler.
This product is a great resource to have around the house, and is a really clever way to teach measurement. It is very versatility and can be used for simple measurements with younger kids and more complex measurements and conversions with the older ones. This is a very hands on approach to learning and should appeal to most learning styles, the methodology is straight forward and easy to understand. The rulers run $9.95 and the workbook $15.95. Additionally they offer a package deal of the whole shi-bang for $41.25. Also, note that other products available from this vendor are: Master Clock, Master Fractions and Master Angles. This ruler is such a great tool I think the other offerings are worth looking into.
Members of the TOS Crew received free items for review purposes.
Friday, November 5, 2010
RE: Collectorz.com
If you are interested in cataloging books for a fee of $19.95-$49.95 which will net you a down loadable app then you may want to Collectorz.com a go. The program seems very simple to use, but for whatever reason this program did not run well on my computer. This has left me a touch sketchy on some of the ins and outs of it. I spent some time trying to get the bugs out, but it was to no avail.
Basically, you can put the name of a book in the search engine and they book compete with author and ISBN number will show up in your collection. From there you can sort and rate books. This seems similar to the visual bookshelf I use on Facebook for free. As I only have an interest in discussing books I am currently reading this is a more reasonable option for me.
Collectorz offers a variety of other products: Movie Collector, Comic Book Collector, Photo Collector, Music Collector, MP 3, and Game Collector. I imagine some very detailed techy person, who wanted a detailed catalog of all the books they owned might garner some benefit from this product.
Members of the TOS Crew received free download for review purposes
http://www.collectorz.com/shop/
Basically, you can put the name of a book in the search engine and they book compete with author and ISBN number will show up in your collection. From there you can sort and rate books. This seems similar to the visual bookshelf I use on Facebook for free. As I only have an interest in discussing books I am currently reading this is a more reasonable option for me.
Collectorz offers a variety of other products: Movie Collector, Comic Book Collector, Photo Collector, Music Collector, MP 3, and Game Collector. I imagine some very detailed techy person, who wanted a detailed catalog of all the books they owned might garner some benefit from this product.
Members of the TOS Crew received free download for review purposes
http://www.collectorz.com/shop/
Friday, October 29, 2010
RE: Buckets-O-Fun
Of all the products we have pulled out of the mailbox this fall to review Buckets-O-Fun has been far and away the clear winner. I like everything about this and so did the kids, it provided days of enjoyment and fascination. We received three products, all of which you hydrate with water to develop in to distinctly different and moist products.
Chunky Yuck: It arrives the size of rock salt, add water wait 24 hours and you will have chunks the size of small ice cubes. What is fun about this is over the 24 hours you check it and note the gradual changes in the size taking place. One pound will run $16, and net you 35-60 gallons of chunks.
Sticky Yuck: This is a powder that turns into sticky goo, similar to slime but way sticker. Sticky Yuck can be difficult to get off your hands. One pound of this will make 5-10 gallons for $20, and you can purchase up to 50lbs.
Snowy Yuck: This starts out about the size of sugar and ends up feeling cool and dry like snow. I could not help but think it would make a great center piece for my Christmas table, but alas it will not make it that long, too much handling. This is a bargain at $20 for one pound that will produce 25-50 gallons.
All of these products are fantastic, I will be purchasing more.
Members of the TOS Crew received free Yuck for review purposes
http://www.buckets-o-fun.com/
Chunky Yuck: It arrives the size of rock salt, add water wait 24 hours and you will have chunks the size of small ice cubes. What is fun about this is over the 24 hours you check it and note the gradual changes in the size taking place. One pound will run $16, and net you 35-60 gallons of chunks.
Sticky Yuck: This is a powder that turns into sticky goo, similar to slime but way sticker. Sticky Yuck can be difficult to get off your hands. One pound of this will make 5-10 gallons for $20, and you can purchase up to 50lbs.
Snowy Yuck: This starts out about the size of sugar and ends up feeling cool and dry like snow. I could not help but think it would make a great center piece for my Christmas table, but alas it will not make it that long, too much handling. This is a bargain at $20 for one pound that will produce 25-50 gallons.
All of these products are fantastic, I will be purchasing more.
Members of the TOS Crew received free Yuck for review purposes
http://www.buckets-o-fun.com/
Wednesday, October 27, 2010
RE: PG SafeKeY
Several weeks ago I was given a PG SafeKeY,which is an Internet filtering system. This is a dandy little device looks like a flash drive, but installs software to keep your kids safe on line. The product provides on line protection with website blocking and filters. Attempts to access blocked materials or phrases are emailed, or texted to the administrator, which is a really great aspect of this product. The installation is a snap and the set up is fairly easy, picking phrases and words that you want blocked can be a little cumbersome, but does provide a very tailored result.
What is nice about the PG SafeKeY, or not so nice, depending on your perspective is that a PG protected user can not access the Internet with out the PG SafeKey in the port. I like this feature on the one hand, and dislike the hassle of trying to keep track of it on the other.
One can certainly see the benefit of using this product as it is very user friendly and affordable. At $49.99 and $8.95 shipping it is a bargain relative to other programs and monthly fee monitoring systems. It can be purchased at a variety on online stores or the vendors web site: http://www.pgkey.com/WhyPGKey.aspx
Members of the TOS Crew received a free PG SafeKeY for review purposes
What is nice about the PG SafeKeY, or not so nice, depending on your perspective is that a PG protected user can not access the Internet with out the PG SafeKey in the port. I like this feature on the one hand, and dislike the hassle of trying to keep track of it on the other.
One can certainly see the benefit of using this product as it is very user friendly and affordable. At $49.99 and $8.95 shipping it is a bargain relative to other programs and monthly fee monitoring systems. It can be purchased at a variety on online stores or the vendors web site: http://www.pgkey.com/WhyPGKey.aspx
Members of the TOS Crew received a free PG SafeKeY for review purposes
Friday, October 8, 2010
RE: Digital Frog
Recently arriving in my mailbox was a DVD from the Digital Frog. This is a really fun alternative for gaining information about echo systems without traveling to one, reading a textbook, or watching it on television. The DVD takes the user on three digital field trips: the wetlands, the rain forest and the dessert. Each one is packed with an amount of information that is difficult to describe.
Every field trip is laid out with four prompts to investigate each of the systems. The prompts are study, which contains general information about the system, followed by types, for instance temperate vs. tropical rainforest's, next, mechanisms which covers things likes water, rocks, minerals, soil etc, finally human impact.
Within the prompts are layers and layers of additional information about topics,subtopics, more topics and more subtopics. Sound complicated? It really isn't and is an easy system to navigate. I would say that the amount of information contained in each of these ecosystems can be a bit overwhelming. One could easily devote hours to surfing within just one ecosystem. I would not consider this to be a curriculam, but a fantastic, well laid out multi medai tool for research and exploration.
It is evident that this field trip series has taken hours of thought and a tremendous amount of work. The quality of the information, graphics, sound effects must have taken years to produce. One of the most helpful features of the Digital Frog is that you can click on any word and get a definition which really brings the understandability level up, great feature if you are delving into this topic for the first time.
The field trip portion was the clear favorite of my kids. One begins with a map and numbers. Click on the number and you are taken to a close up screen shot of the area. Adjacent to that are field notes with details about that particular area, a journal if you will.
Next year my daughter will be in third grade and I am all ready to go with My Fathers World Exploring Countries and Cultures, the science has an ecosystem focus. I see it tying in nicely to that program and her being able to glean quite a good deal from this product.
The Digital Frog can be purchased at http://digitalfrog.com/ for $199.
Members of the TOS Crew received a free DVD for review purposes
Every field trip is laid out with four prompts to investigate each of the systems. The prompts are study, which contains general information about the system, followed by types, for instance temperate vs. tropical rainforest's, next, mechanisms which covers things likes water, rocks, minerals, soil etc, finally human impact.
Within the prompts are layers and layers of additional information about topics,subtopics, more topics and more subtopics. Sound complicated? It really isn't and is an easy system to navigate. I would say that the amount of information contained in each of these ecosystems can be a bit overwhelming. One could easily devote hours to surfing within just one ecosystem. I would not consider this to be a curriculam, but a fantastic, well laid out multi medai tool for research and exploration.
It is evident that this field trip series has taken hours of thought and a tremendous amount of work. The quality of the information, graphics, sound effects must have taken years to produce. One of the most helpful features of the Digital Frog is that you can click on any word and get a definition which really brings the understandability level up, great feature if you are delving into this topic for the first time.
The field trip portion was the clear favorite of my kids. One begins with a map and numbers. Click on the number and you are taken to a close up screen shot of the area. Adjacent to that are field notes with details about that particular area, a journal if you will.
Next year my daughter will be in third grade and I am all ready to go with My Fathers World Exploring Countries and Cultures, the science has an ecosystem focus. I see it tying in nicely to that program and her being able to glean quite a good deal from this product.
The Digital Frog can be purchased at http://digitalfrog.com/ for $199.
Members of the TOS Crew received a free DVD for review purposes
Monday, October 4, 2010
RE: The Foundlings
The latest book I have had the opportunity to review is Foundlings by Matthew Christian Harding. It is $11.95 and available from the web site http://www.matthewchristianharding.com, as well as Amazon and Barnes and Noble.
Foundlings is book one of The Peleg Chronicles. The novel is set in the post flood era after the Tower of Babel and is a mix of fantasy and historical fiction. The reader will follow McDougal, the Lord and his servant Fergus as they face giants, swords, mysterious inventions such as wet-fire, dragons, lords, castles and the like. The books is wholesome and presents Godly character, as well as providing suspense and dangerous adventures for the reader.
With so much fantasy available on the market that one might not prefer their kids reading this presents an alternative with a Biblical worldview. If you have a reader who enjoys fantasy this may be worth a go. Unfortunately, we are not a family who prefers this type of reading so it was not a hit with my kids. That said, I certainly appreciate what the author is trying to accomplish with this series.
Members of the TOS Crew received a free book for review purposes.
Foundlings is book one of The Peleg Chronicles. The novel is set in the post flood era after the Tower of Babel and is a mix of fantasy and historical fiction. The reader will follow McDougal, the Lord and his servant Fergus as they face giants, swords, mysterious inventions such as wet-fire, dragons, lords, castles and the like. The books is wholesome and presents Godly character, as well as providing suspense and dangerous adventures for the reader.
With so much fantasy available on the market that one might not prefer their kids reading this presents an alternative with a Biblical worldview. If you have a reader who enjoys fantasy this may be worth a go. Unfortunately, we are not a family who prefers this type of reading so it was not a hit with my kids. That said, I certainly appreciate what the author is trying to accomplish with this series.
Members of the TOS Crew received a free book for review purposes.
Friday, September 17, 2010
Vocabulary Cartoons by New Monic Books
It is a rare kid that show any interest in studying vocabulary at all, let alone one that will pick up a book and study vocabulary.......well if you can call it studying. When I received my copy of Vocabulary Cartoons I went through it and left it out hap hazardly about the house. I nearly always find it laying open to the last page my kids have been looking at. This book is great because just like the title says it reads like a cartoon, and has reasonably high entertainment value in an other wise dull topic of study.
One of the really nice features of this book is that there are no writing or copying of definitions, in fact there are no assignments at all. The logic behind the design of this book is word associations, and pictures. For instance, in the word catapult you are given the word on the top of the page with the phonetic pronunciation and the definition. Below that is the word "cat", the association word, followed by the cartoon. The caption to the cartoon is the word association in the case of catapult: "Testing the first cat in the catapult." The cartoon shows the dog catapulting a cat. Rounding out the page is the word being used in three differing sentences.
I really like learning outside the traditional box, and when kids will pick up a book and read vocabulary words, it is a good thing.
This reasonably priced book can be purchased from their web site for $12.95. http://www.vocabularycartoons.com/home/
Members of the TOS Crew received a free book for review purposes.
One of the really nice features of this book is that there are no writing or copying of definitions, in fact there are no assignments at all. The logic behind the design of this book is word associations, and pictures. For instance, in the word catapult you are given the word on the top of the page with the phonetic pronunciation and the definition. Below that is the word "cat", the association word, followed by the cartoon. The caption to the cartoon is the word association in the case of catapult: "Testing the first cat in the catapult." The cartoon shows the dog catapulting a cat. Rounding out the page is the word being used in three differing sentences.
I really like learning outside the traditional box, and when kids will pick up a book and read vocabulary words, it is a good thing.
This reasonably priced book can be purchased from their web site for $12.95. http://www.vocabularycartoons.com/home/
Members of the TOS Crew received a free book for review purposes.
Wednesday, September 8, 2010
RE: MathTutorDVD.com
The latest product I have had the opportunity to review is the Math Tutor Pre-Algebra and The Texas Instruments TI-83 and TI-84 Calculator produced by MathTutorDVD.com. These are by no means comprehensive curriculum's, however, are an excellent resources to reinforce concepts being taught in your math curriculum.
On the Pre Algebra DVD the instructor uses a white board to solve problems and explain concepts. His teaching style is very straight forward. You may not find him exciting, but you will find his explanations clear and easy to understand. There are nine sections, absolute value, powers, exponents, order of operations are some of the topics covered.
The Texas Instruments TI-83 and TI-84 Calculator DVD is set up with the calculator on screen, and voice instructions. The instructor gives the viewer a blow by blow of how to perform each the function. Just plug in the DVD and see how to execute sin, cos, tan, graphing, logarithms, mortgage rates, statistical functions, graphing and a host of other mathematical functions. To my mind it is much easier to go through these simple and clear explanations than follow instructions in a textbook. We are not quite there yet, but I envision getting a great deal of mileage out of this DVD.
In terms of grade level math curriculum's tend to very wildly, and I would think the concepts presented in the Pre Algebra could be easily understood by younger students to reinforce some of the more basic concepts such as, real numbers, greater than, less than, the number line etc. The bulk of the Texas Instruments TI-83 and TI-84 Calculator DVD is more advanced math.
These DVD's are housed in cases with excellent indexes of where to find everything contained. This gives the user great topical flexibility and they are very easy to navigate. If you have a child who is particularly drawn to media based learning these reasonably priced DVD tutors should work well.
MathTutorDVD can be purchased at http://www.mathtutordvd.com/public/main.cfm for 26.99 each.
Members of the TOS Crew received a free DVD's for review purposes.
On the Pre Algebra DVD the instructor uses a white board to solve problems and explain concepts. His teaching style is very straight forward. You may not find him exciting, but you will find his explanations clear and easy to understand. There are nine sections, absolute value, powers, exponents, order of operations are some of the topics covered.
The Texas Instruments TI-83 and TI-84 Calculator DVD is set up with the calculator on screen, and voice instructions. The instructor gives the viewer a blow by blow of how to perform each the function. Just plug in the DVD and see how to execute sin, cos, tan, graphing, logarithms, mortgage rates, statistical functions, graphing and a host of other mathematical functions. To my mind it is much easier to go through these simple and clear explanations than follow instructions in a textbook. We are not quite there yet, but I envision getting a great deal of mileage out of this DVD.
In terms of grade level math curriculum's tend to very wildly, and I would think the concepts presented in the Pre Algebra could be easily understood by younger students to reinforce some of the more basic concepts such as, real numbers, greater than, less than, the number line etc. The bulk of the Texas Instruments TI-83 and TI-84 Calculator DVD is more advanced math.
These DVD's are housed in cases with excellent indexes of where to find everything contained. This gives the user great topical flexibility and they are very easy to navigate. If you have a child who is particularly drawn to media based learning these reasonably priced DVD tutors should work well.
MathTutorDVD can be purchased at http://www.mathtutordvd.com/public/main.cfm for 26.99 each.
Members of the TOS Crew received a free DVD's for review purposes.
Monday, July 19, 2010
RE: Travel The World
This year I am head-over-heels to have been selected to be on The Old Schoolhouse curricula review team. I am really looking forward to trying out some new products and writing about them.
The first product I have been given to review is an ebook entitled Travel the World, published by The Old School House. This study begins with a general discussion of the earth, its axis, the equator, longitude, latitude and other geography basics. What is nice about the ebook format is that vocabulary the student may be unfamiliar with is highlighted in blue and you can link to a definition. You will find this feature through out the study.
Next, you will delve into the seven continents and information pertinent to them, such as major bodies of water, mountain ranges and the like. Additionally, there are links to on line games and further study.
This study is suited to do as a lapbook or notebook, as there templates that can be printed off that would work well for either. The author has also provided helpful links to lapbook sites, and since this is an ebook, you just click and look.
Best of all, to my mind, are the scriptures scattered about this study. I really like how everything is connected to God our creator. If you are a family who enjoys units studies, lapbooking, notebooking, and would like to study some geography this reasonably prices ebook should have strong appeal.
The price of this resource is $7.95 and you can purchase it here: http://thehomeschoolmagazine.com/TOSEBookSellSheets/Modules/10June/June2010-Travel-the-World.htm
Members of the TOS Crew received a free download of this e-book for review purposes.
The first product I have been given to review is an ebook entitled Travel the World, published by The Old School House. This study begins with a general discussion of the earth, its axis, the equator, longitude, latitude and other geography basics. What is nice about the ebook format is that vocabulary the student may be unfamiliar with is highlighted in blue and you can link to a definition. You will find this feature through out the study.
Next, you will delve into the seven continents and information pertinent to them, such as major bodies of water, mountain ranges and the like. Additionally, there are links to on line games and further study.
This study is suited to do as a lapbook or notebook, as there templates that can be printed off that would work well for either. The author has also provided helpful links to lapbook sites, and since this is an ebook, you just click and look.
Best of all, to my mind, are the scriptures scattered about this study. I really like how everything is connected to God our creator. If you are a family who enjoys units studies, lapbooking, notebooking, and would like to study some geography this reasonably prices ebook should have strong appeal.
The price of this resource is $7.95 and you can purchase it here: http://thehomeschoolmagazine.com/TOSEBookSellSheets/Modules/10June/June2010-Travel-the-World.htm
Members of the TOS Crew received a free download of this e-book for review purposes.
Tuesday, July 13, 2010
RE: My Fathers World Adventures
At the local convention this year I purchased My Fathers World Adventures for my 2nd grade daughter. Since we school year round I am now into my fourth week, and I dare say any honeymoon phase would have worn off by now. I am over the moon about this curriculum, it is hands down the best I have used in nearly nine years of home schooling. I wish I had know about it to use with my older kids.
Previously, I used, mainly Sonlight, but changed out some of the books I did not care for. MFW has a similar layout, but add notebooking, much heavier Bible, art, science, activities, less books, but more age appropriate, and you have MFW.
After much conversation at the booth I sprung for the whole shi-bang. This is something I have never done before, typically I piece stuff together on the cheap. What pushed me over the edge was being told that if my daughter does MFW from here forward, by the time she graduates she will have read the entire Bible four times. No other curricula boasts such a claim, and I think this is most impressive. Fortunately, it is not too late for the older kids, I can start with high school and they will get trough the Bible one time.
Thus far MFW has been fun, easy to implement, and she enjoys all of the reading selections, and those down the road look equally as good. I am so pleased with this I have begun to gather books for next years Exploring Countries and Cultures, which I am toying with having the older two do this year.....we shall see.
Previously, I used, mainly Sonlight, but changed out some of the books I did not care for. MFW has a similar layout, but add notebooking, much heavier Bible, art, science, activities, less books, but more age appropriate, and you have MFW.
After much conversation at the booth I sprung for the whole shi-bang. This is something I have never done before, typically I piece stuff together on the cheap. What pushed me over the edge was being told that if my daughter does MFW from here forward, by the time she graduates she will have read the entire Bible four times. No other curricula boasts such a claim, and I think this is most impressive. Fortunately, it is not too late for the older kids, I can start with high school and they will get trough the Bible one time.
Thus far MFW has been fun, easy to implement, and she enjoys all of the reading selections, and those down the road look equally as good. I am so pleased with this I have begun to gather books for next years Exploring Countries and Cultures, which I am toying with having the older two do this year.....we shall see.
Thursday, June 10, 2010
Kinetic Books day 3. Trent has been really enjoying this program, he says it is his favorite of all the math we have done. I really like the ease with which solutions to the problems are available. Unlike Teaching Textbooks where you have to plug a disc in to view the solution Kinetic Books has it right at your finger tips. Additionally, they have built some math games into the curriculum which provides some nice variety, as you plug your way through. It will be interesting to see if he maintains the same opinion a few weeks down the road......to be continued.
Wednesday, May 19, 2010
RE: Kinetic Books
Recently, I have been pondering Algebra as I plan to get it underway this summer with my son. While poking around on the Well Trained Mind Forum I came across a product I had never herd of, Kinetic Algebra. The web site demo and downloaded the sample lesson, it looks impressive. It is set up similar to the 3rd-7th versions of Teaching Textbooks where by all the lectures, problems, solutions and samples are on line. The curriculum seems to be quite comprehensive, and I really like the immediate feedback aspect to problems solved. At the price of $34.95, no printed book, or $54.95 with a printed book, one has to wonder if this is too good to be true, well I intend to find out.
Sunday, May 16, 2010
Apologia Human Atanomy and Physiology
After months of waiting, and much anticipation Jeannie Fullbright's Exploring Creation with Human Anatomy and Physiology has finally arrived. This is the sixth book in her immensely popular Young Explorers series published by Apologia. All the books in this series are intended to be used for 1st-6th graders. I have found the ones I have used to be very adaptable making it an excellent choice to teach multiple children the same subject.
For my family, the appeal of this particular book is the topic, human body which is of extreme interest for my kids. They enjoyed the Astronomy, Botany, and Flying Creatures of the Fifth Day, however, their interest in studying animals began to fade fairly early on in the Swimming Creatures book. If you have children for whom animals are of particularly high interest I imagine you would have no trouble completing all of these, this just does not happen to be the case in my house.
As you would expect from Fullbight, the photos are incredible, the writing is engaging and easy to understand, yet not too simplistic for an older student. I think she does an even better job of the "creation confirmations" in this text. The book is full of them and often in an unexpected context. For instance, she informs the reader that examining the rules God gave the Israelites shows us evidence that God is real. Today we understand why the rules were given, to protect the Israelites' from germs and disease, knowledge that only He had back then.
An improvement I see in this text are the "Try This" exercises'. There are far more of them scattered throughout each chapter and I think they are of higher caliber than those in previous books. The "Try This" exercises' give this test a more hands on feeling than some of the others. Additionally, I think the labs are some of her best yet, edible cells, vinegar chicken bones, finger printing, the relationship between smell and taste, and growing bacteria to name a few.
This course comes with an accompanying course notebook. I have always printed off the notebook pages from the Apologia web site. Unfortunately, they were not available for this text so I decided rather than wing it myself I would give the notebook a try. It is very well done, containing many places to record notes, draw diagrams, label parts, answer narration questions, do copy work and play a few word games. In my estimation the course notebook seems to be deeper than what has been provided on the web site free for previous courses.
In conclusion, if you have enjoyed Fullbrights books in the past, are drawn to narration and notebooking style science this will not disapoint. However, if you are looking to cover a wide array of topics and require lots of hands on, this may not be your best bet.
For my family, the appeal of this particular book is the topic, human body which is of extreme interest for my kids. They enjoyed the Astronomy, Botany, and Flying Creatures of the Fifth Day, however, their interest in studying animals began to fade fairly early on in the Swimming Creatures book. If you have children for whom animals are of particularly high interest I imagine you would have no trouble completing all of these, this just does not happen to be the case in my house.
As you would expect from Fullbight, the photos are incredible, the writing is engaging and easy to understand, yet not too simplistic for an older student. I think she does an even better job of the "creation confirmations" in this text. The book is full of them and often in an unexpected context. For instance, she informs the reader that examining the rules God gave the Israelites shows us evidence that God is real. Today we understand why the rules were given, to protect the Israelites' from germs and disease, knowledge that only He had back then.
An improvement I see in this text are the "Try This" exercises'. There are far more of them scattered throughout each chapter and I think they are of higher caliber than those in previous books. The "Try This" exercises' give this test a more hands on feeling than some of the others. Additionally, I think the labs are some of her best yet, edible cells, vinegar chicken bones, finger printing, the relationship between smell and taste, and growing bacteria to name a few.
This course comes with an accompanying course notebook. I have always printed off the notebook pages from the Apologia web site. Unfortunately, they were not available for this text so I decided rather than wing it myself I would give the notebook a try. It is very well done, containing many places to record notes, draw diagrams, label parts, answer narration questions, do copy work and play a few word games. In my estimation the course notebook seems to be deeper than what has been provided on the web site free for previous courses.
In conclusion, if you have enjoyed Fullbrights books in the past, are drawn to narration and notebooking style science this will not disapoint. However, if you are looking to cover a wide array of topics and require lots of hands on, this may not be your best bet.
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