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
Friday, October 8, 2010
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.
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