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.
Monday, July 19, 2010
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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