homeschool reviews

Christian Character Curriculum

January 15, 2017 By Valerie Mcclintick Leave a Comment

Parenting is SUPER EASY!

(Said NO Mom EVER!!)

Parenting is likely the hardest JOB you or I will ever have.

It’s truly NONSTOP.

Which means it really NEVER Stops.

Like Never Ever Ever Never Stops.

Sometimes it slows down for a while…

A short while…

Just enough for you to catch your breath and lick your wounds,

but then it’s right back up again

Pedal to the Metal, one-hundred and ten percent effort on two hours of sleep!

And it’s not all about potty training, vegetable eating or learning to read.

Parenting is mostly about training children to have good character

Obviously, this happens mostly by setting a good example in your home.

However, a solid identity and self-awareness can also be achieved through purposeful, and thought-provoking study.

i.e…Children who can identify character qualities (or lack thereof) in others can certainly take time for introspection and self-analysis.

And really, there is something to be said about learning character qualities beforehand.

Am I right?

And by beforehand I mean BEFORE said child is screaming in your ear, reaching for that toy or hitting the poor cat.

As problems arise, we can certainly use each opportunity to correct and train…but when emotions are high, and adrenaline is running, cognition and higher thought is not so much….

Isn’t it far better to start building character vocabulary and understanding while your child is calm and able to “risk” their heart of hearts in a safer and less challenging….maybe even FUN environment?

Why YES, there is…

I’m so glad you asked

We Choose Virtues is a character building program designed to fill such a need.

Fun, tangible ways to learn good character that lasts.

Youth Virtue Cards are designed for tweens and teens ages 10-16.

For each character quality there is a simple catchphrase:

I am Diligent.

I start fast, work hard and finish strong.

As well as character antonyms:

I am not slow to get started, lazy or disinterested and I don’t procrastinate or quit early.

On the Faith Based versions there is also a corresponding Bible verse for children to learn.

The back of each character card includes five key areas to continue learning about the virtue:

Define The character quality is defined and children are prompted with activities to learn more about this specific virtue. Example: Find a quote about this virtue, Research a famous person who had this virtue.
Discern Children are asked to think about specific situations in which this virtue can be used. Example: Describe a time when someone with dilligence blessed you.
Dream Children are asked to think ahead to see how this virtue can help them in the future. Example: Can being dilligent help you overcome an obstacle?
Detect Self Analysis questions are given for children to answer to see how diligent they are and where they can improve. Example: Do you work hard when no one is watching?
Do A call to action for children to apply this virtue right away! Example: How, When and Why will you be diligent today?

With We Choose Virtues, everything is top quality.

They cards are full color, high gloss and printed on thick/sturdy cardstock to ensure they will last through the years.

I keep mine in page protectors in a three ring binder for easy access.

The Virtue Cards are perfect for a variety of settings and We Choose Virtues offers many different options available to suit your specific needs:

We have even used the Virtue Cards during our American Heritage Girls meetings. With all of the discussion questions on the back, it makes for simple planning with very little prep-work. Our Troop Shepherd can easily hold the card for children to view while she asks the questions written on the back.

Co-Op and Group Teaching Tips:

Provide children with small blank journals or the Youth Virtue Journals to write in answers to the questions and to keep track of their weekly virtue goals.
To break the ice, bring small snacks or incentives for children who answer questions.
Split children in to smaller discussion groups to talk over the ideas on the back.
Use the tasks on the back to assign children something to do before the next group meeting.

Family & Homeschool Kit for Youth

How to use this tool:

A parent can facilitate this program, or a student can work through the program independently. There are instructions for each scenario.
With only seconds of prep time, and only 10 minutes of discussing Virtues each day, you will be surprised how fast your students will learn to choose and use Virtue!
Simply choose one card to work on each week. The order you teach them in is flexible.
When you have finished with each card, start over again. Each time students go through the questions, they will be at a new place in their life, so you can go through them often, a few each day.

Included:

12 full color, printed, 8.5×11 glossy cards
2 11″x17″ posters
10 Youth Virtue Journal page styles and instructions (PDF)
Youth Character Assessment (PDF)
Youth Virtue Handbook (PDF)

Click Here to Learn More

For the entire Month of January We Choose Virtues is offering a special coupon code:

Don’t Miss January’s Special Code: Homeschool20

This will take 20% off any Homeschool Product from We Choose Virtues.

Hurry, Offer Expires Jan 31, 2016.

Spanish

ReviewsIMages

Rosetta Stone Homeschool Edition Review

Coming Soon

Homeschool Spanish Review

New and unique to homeschoolers, Real Homeschool Spanish takes the entire family on the journey of language learning. Our easy to use curriculum is made specifically for the Home Educator and the home learning enviornment.

View Resource

Speekee Revies

Featuring a lovable character named Speekee, this program includes 10 streaming episodes of Spanish lessons for children. Songs, Animations, and more make this a fun way to introduce your children to a second language.

View Resource

Music

ReviewsIMages

Ocarina Fundamentals Review

Ocarina FUNdamentals is specially designed for parents who want to teach their children music. STL Ocarina has put together a package of fundamental resources for teaching children how to play the ocarina. The set includes a 12 hole plastic ocarina, Method book 1 on CD, Method book companion CD and an instructional DVD.

View Resource

Kinderbach Review

There are 6 curriculum levels to Kinderbach, each with a very detailed syllabus of what skills are being addressed. Each level is scheduled to last 10 weeks (with 4 lessons/week) For each level of Kinderbach there is a cooresponding PDF workbook:

View Resource

ALEKS: A TOS Homeschool Review

February 14, 2012 By Valerie Mcclintick 2 Comments

When I started homeschooling one of my biggest concerns was:
How will I know that my children are really learning?

In fact, during the first couple of years I had nightmares
that we’d fall victims to the “Fill-in-the-blank” cycle of teaching.

You see I would spend a week teaching my children all about “Rounding to the nearest 100”
They would complete their worksheets with great accuracy,
then we’d move on to the next subject.

Half a year later, we’re doing problems that require rounding to the nearest 100,
and both of my children are sitting their completly stumped as to what I’m even talking about.

That ever happen to you?

This happens to me in every single subject.
I teach, they listen,
I test, they regurgitate,
I grade, we move on.

Of course NOW….we’ve learned to REVIEW.
(we actually have “Review” as a subject on our weekly calendar.)

And, usually our review sessions are short little verbal quizzes
in which we simply sit and play “Mom against the kids”
to see who can score the most points.
(Mom getting the points for a missed answer)

These types of reviews can usually be done on the fly,
with very little prep work, (and sometimes even in the car.)

But then there is math….
Math is a bit harder to review.
Sometimes it requires an actual sheet of paper to work out the problems.

But most often it’s hard to really know what math concepts my children understand,
and which ones their skirting around or finding other ways to solve.

So our ALEKS reveiw couldn’t have come at a better time:

ALEKS stands for Assessment and LEarning in Knowledge Spaces is a Web-based, artificially intelligent assessment and learning system. ALEKS uses adaptive questioning to quickly and accurately determine exactly what a student knows and doesn’t know in a course. ALEKS then instructs the student on the topics she is most ready to learn. As a student works through a course, ALEKS periodically reassesses the student to ensure that topics learned are also retained. ALEKS courses are very complete in their topic coverage and ALEKS avoids multiple-choice questions.

Did you read that last line?
“AVOIDS MULTIPLE-CHOICE QUESTIONS.”

As a student I used to LOVE multiple choice questions.
As a teacher….eh, not so much.

Here’s what I really enjoy about ALEKS:

–Initial Test to see exactly what my child knows.

–Subsequent lessons, reviews, and testing surrounds only subjects that my child needs to work on.

–There is an “Explain” button.…oh how I love that button
Sissy: “Mom, I need help!”
Mom: “Hit the explain button!”
Sissy: “Oh, I get it!”
Mom: “Zzzzzz” (that’s me snoring and taking a nap on the couch)

ahem. kidding.

–Data is presented in a pie-chart that my child can understand
(seeing your own progress is a great motivator)

–Daily review with each log-in.

–Quick tables are great for speeding up those Math facts

–State standards are easily assessed

–Quizzes show progress made and in what areas.

–You can PRINT out a worksheet to take on-the-go

Now, ALEKS is a bit heavy, and more intensive then I first thought.
My daughter is in third grade, the very first level of ALEKS,

And there are initial training programs for children to learn how to use the tools and the functions, so that they don’t miss questions because of a lack of technological ability. This was something I was concerned about for our upcoming state test this year, so I’m glad that Sissy got in some practice.

You can subscribe to ALEKS in a variety of ways:

$19.95 a month,
$99.95 for 6 months of access,
$179.95 for 12 months.

(For families with more than one child, discount pricing is available.)

ALEKS also offers a Free Two Month Trial:

I would definitly recommend trying out the program to see if it’s a good fit for your family. If nothing else, after the initial test you’ll have a great idea of what areas to work on with your children!

Disclaimer: I was given two free months of ALEKS for purposes of this review. All opinions are mine honest thoughts about the product. Read what other TOS Homeschool Crew members thought of ALEKS here.

Homeschool Spanish

January 2, 2012 By Valerie Mcclintick 3 Comments

This year one of our homeschool goals has been
to lay a good foundation for learning Spanish.

It’s been one of my more challenging goals, because

(let me fill you in on a little secret here…..)

I don’t know Spanish.

Interesting little situation isn’t it?

And let me just say here, that when I started homeschooling
this was one of my biggest ~~fears~~ questions.

How am I ever going to teach my children something that I don’t know?

And so far, with my eldest in 3rd grade,
I haven’t really had to deal with that question.

But this year we’re branching out,
Breaking boundaries and learning Spanish.

It’s time to deal with my fears.

So we started off the year with simple workbooks, building our vocabulary and
introducing the concept of different languages.

We kept it simple.

And our basic workbooks were a great foundation but I soon found out something VERY Interesting:

Not only can I not SPEAK Spanish….

I can’t READ Spanish.

(Which also means I can’t PRONOUNCE Spanish.)

And the FEAR came flooding back.

Well, TOS Crew to the rescue because last month we recieved a very special
Spanish Curriculum to review!

One that has taken care of all my Foreign language Fears.

Real Homeschool Spanish
A REAL Curriculum for the Whole Family
Relax, Enjoy, Aspire, Learn Spanish.

“New and unique to homeschoolers, Real Homeschool Spanish takes the entire family on the journey of language learning. Our easy to use curriculum is made specifically for the Home Educator and the home learning enviornment. Real Homeschool Spanish trains you and your child to be able to learn Spanish together and interact together in fun and interesting ways.

Did you read that quote?

Nah. You skimmed it.

Admit it. It’s okay, I do that all the time too.

But the quote is important, it’s why REAL Homeschool Spanish is working for our family.

The program is geared towards homeschooling children,
and specifically those whose mothers mistakenly took Japanese in highschool and not Spanish like the guidance counselor recommended, defiantly dreaming of living abroad as a business student, dining on fresh Sashimi and teaching English on the side.

Okay, That’s not exactly in the quote….

but I’m pretty sure it’s implied.

*ahem*

This program comes as either a hard copy ($89.95)
OR a digital download ($49.95 which is how we received it).

The Bundled product includes:

Book (the actual text)
Activity Book (worksheets and such)
Answer Book (for the worksheets)
Audio Files (mp3 format)

You can also order a Daily Curriculum Guide for $9.95
that gives you a short daily idea to keep on track.
I enjoy these because they are short, and I can easily do them without much prep.

You can check out more information about each of the elements
to this program by visiting their website
Click Here for a sample pages.

We’ve been using the program for about a month,
and with all the amazing suggestions and guides
I quickly settled into a daily routine.

First of course, I sent the Daily Curriculum Guide
and all the Spanish Vocabulary Audio File to my kindle fire.
(Oh, any reason to use my new toy)

The Audio Files are fantastic! We listen to them every day before we start our lesson.
And sometimes in the car for an impromptu review.
That way we can listen to the CORRECT pronounciation of each new word.
I can’t stress enough what a great part of the program this is.

All the vocabulary comes in a printable format as well.
I have my children follow along with their fingers, and quietly repeat
after the nice lady on the kindle.

After reviewing our vocabulary, we use the suggested teaching tips to put them into practice.
Some of the things we’ve done so far:

Flashcards:

Comic Book Strips:

And even some Role Playing….

My favorite part about this program is that it’s very simple to implement.
I did one night of prep-work (making flashcards, masks, role-playing scripts, and printing)
and I haven’t had to do anything else all month.

There are so many suggestins and ideas that I haven’t even scratched the surface,
It’s a great way to get some hands on learning alongside your children.

Another benefit is that you can work this book at your own pace,
spending extra time on lesson if they are difficult, or
skipping a lesson if you children master it with ease.

We plan on using this curriculum for the rest of the current school year,
and most if not all of the next.

Disclaimer: I was given a free download of this product for my honest opinion. All ideas and expressions are my own.

Big I.Q. Kids: A TOS Review

September 11, 2011 By Valerie Mcclintick Leave a Comment

Have you heard of Big I.Q. Kids?

Big I.Q. Kids is an online learning program for children
covering Math, Spelling, Vocabulary, and U.S. Geography.

Big I.Q Kids offers Free programs and Paid Premium programs.

I’ve used the Free spelling programs with each of my children in the past,
so I was semi-familiar with Big I.Q Kids before we were asked to review this program.

First if you haven’t yet tried Big I.Q. kids….you really should.
Because they offer the Free options for spelling and vocabulary
you can easily try them out with your children to see what you think.

Additionally you can even sample the Premium version for 7 days to
see if you think it’s worth paying for. (btw-I’ve linked to the chart outlining the differences between the free and paid versions below)

Again, since there is a free version and a paid version,
things might get a bit confusing here, but I’m reviewing the PAID
version for you today.

As part of the Big I.Q. Kids premium version, children get to customize their
character, and just for fun I thought I’d share the ones my children made:

Strikingly similar to their actual daily appearance
~~minus the pirate hat.~~
No, nevermind, that’s pretty accurate.

BigIQkids Spelling & Vocabulary: Complete Program is Free!
With a over 40,000 word dictionary, BigIQkids spelling & vocabulary program comes pre-loaded with 40 lessons for K-adult appropriate word lists. Or, as a parent or teacher, you can easily enter your own word lists and the program will automatically create a weekâ€™s worth of lessons, quizzes and tests around your own list with the goal of achieving 100% on the Friday spelling and vocabulary tests. The program includes tracking and progress reports. You can build your own curriculum or use our default settins. The program is completely customizable and goes around a student’s prograss.

What I Like about the Spelling/Vocabulary Program: I love that is free! You can customize word lists, take spelling tests, hear your word, and understand the meaning of your word, and my children’s favorite: Take a spelling bee!

What I Dislike about the Spelling/Vocabulary Program:
Computer Generated Voices. These are used throughout all the programs. They take a bit of getting used to. My kids don’t seem to mind though, but I wonder a bit when the program is teaching vocabulary and my children are asked to pronounce the word immediately after the computer says it. (I’ll also note that my son has a bit of a Speech issue, so I’m hypersensitive to what he is being taught)

BigIQkids Math Program:
(Free v. Premium Membership)
You can set up a child’s lesson to mirror what they are doing in their current curriculum. For example, if the child is on double digit addition and single digit multiplication, the program can focus on just these two areas providing invaluable practice and reinforcement that is certain to provide them with the tools to ace their next test. Or, BigMathTime can automatically generate grade specific and subject specific lessons as per your requirements.

What I Like about the Math Facts Program:

If there is one thing I’ve learned about homeschooling math, it’s that we can always use more proficiency with our math facts! They really do have to be MASTERED. And really, the only way to do that is with repetition and repetition and more repetition. This math program allows you to work with children on addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division. These are the only topics covered with the match program and with the timer clock it’s really like an online worksheet. There isn’t a lesson, or demonstration or anything like that. However, when a child clicks on help, it pops up a small screen with a visual hint for how to solve the problem. Additionally you can really tailor this to fit your child’s ability level, and print up the worksheet or set your child up with a quiz.

What I Dislike about the Math Facts Program:
This is a Math FACTS program only. For the price of premium membership ($49.99/year) I would like to see a more expanded Scope of Sequence. Math isn’t just about Facts (addition, subtraction, multiplication and division.) What about geometry, and algebra? I have a third grader who is needing these important foundations in math and $50 is 20% of my homeschool budget. Even with the tracking and the customization options, I simply can’t spend that much just on Math Facts alone.

U.S. States:
(Free v. Premium Membership)
Every elementary student will be confronted with the need to know their US State facts to mastery. BigStatesTime is the ultimate tool in learning the state’s location, capital, spelling, abbreviations and general state facts. The program allows parents/teachers to add additional facts which will be included in the child’s lessons and the program culminates in a â€œState Mastery Examâ€ that, if passed with 100% mastery, awards the child a State Master Certificate.

What I like about the U.S. States Program:
We loved this program. I haven’t found anything on the web that does what this program does, and I appreciate the fact that Big I.Q kids is providing this service. We are learning about the states this year and I love that my children can hop online and hear a few facts about each State. They also practice spelling the state, learning the state capital, and the abbreviation. Immediately after learning about the state they take a short quiz to make sure they were listening! This is a great program. I can set the difficulty level for each child, turn states on or off, and even set up a test.

What I Dislike about States Program:
While we enjoyed the States program much more than any other program on this site, again the price of $39.99/year is a huge chunk of change to us and it wouldn’t be something that we could afford. Love the program though, and I’m feeling very blessed to be able to review it.

Overall Thoughts:
In general this is a great program, but the cost is something you’ll want to consider before upgrading to a Premium membership. Additionally you should be aware that not only are there advertisements on the free version, there are advertisements in the GAME SECTION of the Premium versions as well. This was actually problematic for my 5 year old who clicked on an ad (thinking it was a game) and was taken offsite to an inappropriate website. Thankfully I was standing close to him and saw that he wasn’t on BigIQ anymore, but I was concerned none-the-less.

I emailed the owner of Big I.Q. Kids to let her know about the ad, and asked about their advertisement policy. I thought it was important that I share with you here about the response I recieved:
(Please note this is in reference to the Premium/Paid version)

“We are IN THE PROCESS of creating a totally AD FREE game page. Because the PREMIUM programs DOES NOT have ads in the lessons portion of the program. The only ADs the student can see in the PREMIUM program is via the game page. BUT, a parent can turn the game page OFF which will creaete an AD FREE program but not a happy student. :) We are working on our game page being an AD FREE game page.”

-Debra Marcionette www.BigIQKids.com

I posted this just for your reference, so you can also know why you might see advertisements in a paid site. I’m really glad to hear they are working on an Ad-free Premium version, and I for one completely understand the need to support the site with outside advertising. It can be quite difficult and a lot of work to make sure every add is Family friendly, it happens to me all the time, and Debra’s quick response showed me that BigIQKids.com was committed to having a safe place for my children to play online.

Overall I am really looking forward to seeing this company grow. I love to see things like the Interactive Homework lessons, and the Worldwide spelling competitions! I love that Debra provides so much of these programs for Free, and I sincerly hope that the premium version will fit more in our budget in the years to come.

Don’t just take my word for it!
This review is part of The Old Schoolhouse Homeschool Crew,
check out what other homechool families thought of Big IQ Kids here!

Disclosure: This product was provided to me for free in exchange for my review as a member of the 2011-2012 The Old Schoolhouse Magazine Homeschool Crew. My review of the product reflects my honest opinion.

Toddler Curriculum Package from Timberdoodle!

June 30, 2011 By Valerie Mcclintick Leave a Comment

As part of Timberdoodles blogger review team
I have an awesome product review to share with you today!

Wedgits!

When Timberdoodle asked our family to participate in a review of their
Toddler Curriculum Package, I jumped at the opportunity!
(If you’ve been reading my blog for any amount of time,
you know that I LOVE educational toys and games)

It’s an ~~addiction~~ passion of mine.

And Wedgits have been on my wishlist for a long time!

When the tote arrived on our doorstep,
I could hardly keep my children away from it long enough to snap this photo:

If you look close enough you might be able to see the reflections
of their little vulture faces hovering in the plastic.
(Imagine them pacing semi-circles behind me as I struggle to take a decent picture)

It’s hard to see everything in the tote
So, here’s more details on what’s included

And here’s how it all works:

Leveled game cards are included, which show a picture of object to be created.
On the back of each card there are the specific building materials needed (i.e. 2 red, 1 green)

Once you gather your shapes, you start to build your creation on top of the green board:

Making sure as you go that your model represents the same shape in the picture:

The shapes can get pretty hard…and when you finish all the cards
(which we haven’t even come close yet)
you can check out even more difficult shapes in the provided booklets:

Wowza!

So do you have these?
I’ve seen them everywhere, and I must say
I thought they were for much older children…like say 10.
But each of my children 8, 5, & 2 were able to use them!

Sissy (8) and Bubba (5) made the more complicated structures:

Monkey (2) spent over an hour arranging and rearranging
these different pieces together.
And while he is still a bit young to be building the exact models on the cards,
he had a great experience just learning how to build with these unique shapes.

I took lots of photos of his adorable Tot hands so you could see
the progression of how he learned to manipulate the pieces:

Hmmm….Now, how did they do that?

Maybe this way……almost there…

Hmmmm….Let’s think about this for a minute….

Success! Yea for Monkey…High Five!

Wedgits were a bit hit at our house, they would be perfect for family game night,
and I love that my Toddler is gaining important motor skills…and confidence!

So what else is included in Timberdoodle’s Toddler Curriculum Package?

Upper Case Lauri A-Z Puzzles
Lower Case Lauri A-Z Puzzles
Rubbabu 3D Shape Sorter Animal Puzzle
Buddy Blocks Puzzle
Fantacolor
Wedgits 20-Piece Tote
Bambino Starter Set
Bambino Special
Earlyears Lace A Shape
3D Feel and Find
Colorback Sea Turtle Maze
I Can Cut Toddler
I Can Paste Toddler
I Can Trace Toddler
I Can Color Toddler
McDonald’s Farm Counting Book
Primary Science Set by Learning Resources
First Hundred Words in English
My First Animal Signs book
Big Book of Things to Spot
The Music Box
Primary Science Set by Learning Resources
Peek-A-Boo Animal Puzzles
Big Oball
Entertaining and Educating Babies and Toddlers
Active Baby, Healthy Brain
Check out Timberdoodle’s Planning Folder for product details

You can also check out all the other “Because Mom Said”
reviews to learn more details about each product!

Disclosure: As a member of Timberdoodle’s Blogger Review Team I received a free copy of this book in exchange for a frank and unbiased review.

Hola Speekee!

May 10, 2011 By Valerie Mcclintick Leave a Comment

Today we have a special visitor!!

It’s Speekee!

Speekee is our newest sponsor,
and he has quickly become my children’s favorite T.V character.
(Elmo is so yesterday)

For the past month we have welcomed Speekee into our home not only to entertain us, but to teach us Spanish as well.

(I say US, because I am probably the only person on the earth who didn’t take Spanish in highschool, and thus can’t teach my children more then the first ten numbers and a few colors that may or may not be pronounced correctly)

So I’m learning from Speekee as we go too.

If you’ve never heard of Speekee,
take a quick second to view a sample episode:

Then come right back…..

Okay, so what do you think?

Cute right!

For some reason Speekee reminds me of E.T.
I don’t know, maybe it’s just me.
Like E.T. and Barney collided together to form a
purple alien like creature.

Whatever he is, my kids LOVE him!
Even Monkey, (who calls Speekee: “Eeeeee” )
enjoys the episodes and looks forward to them.

Here is what’s included in the online subscription:

10 EPISODES, OVER 150 MINUTES OF PURE SPANISH LEARNING
LEARN SPANISH FROM REAL SPANISH CHILDREN IN REAL SPANISH LOCATIONS
FEATURES SONGS, ANIMATION AND PUPPETS
OPTIONAL SUBTITLES IN SPANISH AND ENGLISH
FREE ACTIVITY SHEET DOWNLOADS
GREAT FUN AND EXTREMELY EFFECTIVE
CREATED BY SPECIALIST LANGUAGE TEACHERS

What I like about Speekee:

First of all, I love that it spans the gap in my children’s ages and still keeps them all equally entertained. (2yr-8yr) He is adorable and memorable and my children really listen to hear what he is saying. (And if for some reason they can’t understand him, there are captions on the screen as well)

We officially welcomed Speekee to our classroom by making welcome signs:

Then, following one of the recommend activities,
we made sock puppets to use alongside our lessons.
What fun that was!

Here are Lilly

& Gerpoke

Yeah. Gerpoke.
The boy named his puppet Gerpoke.
(Grrrrrrr-Poke)
Just like it looks.
In case you didn’t know, it’s Spanish for….well,
Gerpoke.

Anyway, we have been using our sock puppets to repeat after Speekee, and to work on new words we are learning with each lesson.
Another aspect I really appreciate is the fact that all of the videos are presented alongside corresponding worksheets and suggested activities. There is like zero planning time needed, you just log on to the video you want and you can print from the same screen as your kiddos are watching.

The worksheets have really helped to solidify what my kids are learning from the videos, and help me to know what to focus on throughout the week.

I think Speekee is a fantastic program , and so far it’s been a great fit for our family.

You can subscribe to Speekee for a monthly fee, or purchase the 10 DVD set. They even have a School license which gives you access to a two-year scheme of work! I’m secretly oogling over this and considering it as part of our budget next year.

And of course if you like to try things out before you buy them,
you can sign up for a Free Two Week Trial

I received a free online subscription to Speekee.com for my honest opinion of the product.

The Curiosity Files!

April 26, 2011 By Valerie Mcclintick 4 Comments

Are you Curious about The Curiosity Files?
Well, ponder no more! Because this month we had the pleasure of reviewing our first title from this fantastic series, and I’ve got lots to share with you!

First of all, In case you haven’t heard,
The Curiosity Files is a new series of Unit Studies
targeting children ages 8-13 with the goal of educating
children about, “subjects they’d never find otherwise.”

Isn’t that exciting! What fun!
Topics are picked because they are not usually studied, or because they are unusual or unique in some way.

Here is an adorable quote from the description:

“Professor Ana Lyze and her research â€œspyâ€ team
specialize in the obscure, the abnormal, and the bizarre.
They search land and seas for oddities
and make each one a star,
such as outlandish insects, rare diseases, unique gems,
and more.”

Currently there are 10 different titles in the series:

Blue Diamond
Dung Beetle
MRSA
Puffer Fish
Red Tide
Zombie Fire Ants
Blue-footed Booby
Cicada Killing Wasp
Quicksand
Platypus

(You can view samples of each from Here)

And with each title the research and planning is almost completely done for you!
You seriously could just print this up, three hole punch it
and spend a week going through it without any worry that you’re not covering something.

Each Unit Study comes with the following features:

-Bible study and memory verses
-Math, history, and geography investigations
-Literature and suggested book list
-Writing, spelling, and vocabulary activities
-Beautiful copywork pages (manuscript and cursive)
-Science observations, projects, and experiments
-Discussion questions
-Art, crafts, drawing, and coloring pages
-Lapbook and notebook pages
-Internet resources and video links
-Complete answer key

Just as a side note here:
I love that these come in e-book format.
Nine times out of Ten if I have a choice I always pick e-books.
Not only can I pick and choose different sections to print,
but I can double up on the worksheets for each child,
and save a copy of the entire unit for when my younger boys are ready.

Oh, and a little side tip:
I know that sometimes ink can be expensive,
especially when your e-book is full of color as this series is.
So for these I usually print in fast-draft mode, which still
prints in color but saves me tons of ink by not using such bright hues. Of course you can always print in grayscale too.

Anyway, Moving on….

We received a copy of QUICKSAND to review this month,
and I’m happy to report that this study was well loved by
all. Seriously, what child doesn’t love learning about
crazy sand that swallows people up to their waist?

Okay, it does sound a little bit scarry
and my kids are a little timid sometimes,
*snort
but the activities in this study were right up
their alley!

What started as this:

Quickly turned into this:

And then was finally channeled into this:

Look closely.
Do you see the poor unsuspecting horse about to
be swallowed up by the “Quicksand!”

Poor Fella.
Didn’t even see it coming.

My Thoughts:

So, I could probably spend the next hour detailing all the fun
aspects of this study, but I thought I’d share just a couple
of the more important qualities with you.

One of my favorite parts of this study was that directly after
reading about the different properties of quicksand, children
are presented with a biblical application stemming from the
ideas they just learned. So for example instead of going directly
into a craft, worksheet or other activity, the next few pages
worked on expanding their newly gained knowledge
and molding it into a lasting wisdom.
This was done with a short bible study, followed by
thought provoking questions that both of my kiddos
were more then eager to answer.

Children learned about the sinking qualities of quicksand,
and then were asked to carry that knowledge over into
a biblical discussion about Jesus’ commands.

Fantastic!

The goal was to affect matters of the heart
first and foremost, and I’m very impressed with how the
authors set it up this way!

I also loved the inclusion of essentially every Subject of study,
Did I already mention that?
Well, it’s important.

I really did just print up the e-book and use it to cover
everything for the week.

My only concerns about this book is that there isn’t
really a schedule, or a recommended daily outline.
(Not that I’d stick to it anyway)
But sometimes it’s just nice to have.

In all, I’m really excited about this
series and I can’t wait to see more titles added to
the collection!

If you want to learn more about The Curiosity Files,
they are available for purchase at The Old Schoolhouse,
ranging in price from $1.00-$6.95 for an e-book download.
(And you can get a discount if you purchase a bundle)

Have you already tried The Curiosity Files?
I’m Curious to hear what you thought

Please note that I received a free product in return for sharing my honest review and opinion.

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