At Home in Dogwood Mudhole Review - TOS #hsreviews

Here at our house we have a variety of animals and would love to be self sufficient.  I recently was able to read(and now review) a great book about a family who did just that.  Franklin Sanders from At Home in Dogwood Mudhole writes a very easy to read and compelling book!  Well it's not just one book, it's actually a series of three books, but I only was able to read and review At Home in Dogwood Mudhole, the first book in the series.

The book is written for adults, but can easily be used as a read aloud with your children.  In fact, I plan to use it as our next read aloud once we finish the series we're currently reading.  There is nothing in it that would not be appropriate for children to hear, but young children would not be able to read it on their own, and I don't think most children would understand and comprehend quite as much out of the book as the adults will.  It can be purchased in paperback for $22.95 or Kindle version for $16.95.

Volume One: Nothing that Eats and Volume Two: Best Thing We Ever Did are both available, but Volume Three: The Sage of Dogwood Mudhole is not out yet.  We read Nothing that Eats and can't wait to see what happens next in Best Thing We Ever Did.  We received a paperback copy of Volume One to read.  I an read e-books but still love having a real solid book to hold and read.  Maybe I'm old fashioned, but to me it's just the best thing!

Oh and did I mention that Franklin likes the Civil War and that his family likes to reenact!?  Yeah!  As you know so do we.  And of course, I love the way he states about "War of Northern Aggression" and doesn't make it all out to be over slavery.  He's got his history right!  Maybe one of these days we can sit and chat around a campfire and talk.  Maybe we have. . .  or at least my husband, he's been at several events out East.   And to us here in the Midwest, where Franklin lives in Tennessee is definitely part of the "East"!

There are 25 photographs and maps within the book as well to help you really feel "at home" with them and make it so you can see where he is talking about and envision yourself there with him while he's doing such things.

The family is also a family of faith.  Relying on God is second nature with them and you can see this within every page of the book.  If you are not a believer or don't want to talk about God, then you probably won't enjoy this book as much as the rest of us.

The paperback I received is 379 pages long and broken up into four sections with each section containing roughly 25-27 chapters.  But they're not really chapters per say.  It's more like listening to someone else when you're carrying on a conversation.  They're telling you what's going on and you're listening interjecting your opinion every once in a while.  The whole book is in Franklin Sanders voice, but of course it's not all just about him!

This book is not a memoir written at the end of a life or the end of an age.  Franklin Sanders wrote a series of letters and compiled them into this book!  Pretty amazing.  Once a month for sixteen years he would write his letters to put in his monthly newsletter, The Moneychanger, and from those letters these books have emerged.  He then compiled them all together and had them published. . . or will have them published.  Two books are done and the third is coming soon(yes I know I've said that before, but I want to make sure you're really reading and not just skimming).  I'm hoping we can get the second book soon and continue the story.

I love the self sustainability, though I do have to laugh as we're one of those weird families that would take the freshly road killed deer and dress it out.  Really, venison is a great meat and my husband hunts every year so I giggled at that part and wondered why Franklin's son wasn't going to keep the deer and eat it himself.  But to each their own!

Make sure you check out the Main Crew Blog Post to see what everyone else thought of the book.  We all have different tastes in books and in life, so I'm sure they'll have their own spin to this review!

I just was told that you can get free shipping if you live in the US on up to two books with code TOSFREE!!!!  I don't know how long it will work but at this time it is working!

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French Essentials Review -TOS Crew #hsreviews

 

Do you speak a foreign language?  Do you want to learn?  Or wish you had taken the time to learn when you were young?

Foreign language is a staple in schools these days. Not just public schools but homeschools too.  French Essentials is one such language program. They help students learn French from native speakers.  The program is designed for homeschoolers.  Crew members have received a full year or full package of the French Essentials to review.

There are 10 modules in the program which equate out to 2 years of High School French classes. You don't have to be in high school to take these courses though.  They recommend their courses for grades 2-12. The younger grades of course are not going to get as much done, but they do have until the 12th grade to finish all the modules.  From their website if you start the modules in grade 3 and do one module per year you will complete the courses your Senior year or during grade 12.

The program can be purchased either as a full set where you have access to all the modules and downloads for a full year or as individual modules.  Each individual module is accessible for 90 days.  Each module can be purchased for $69.95 while the full year(full package) of all modules can be purchased for $149.95.  Right now only modules 1-5 are available with the rest to come.

The program includes downloadable, printable worksheets/assignments as well as audio and visual learning.  You actually hear and see the language in use to help you learn it.  It is taught by native French speakers.  It is designed specifically for home learners in a clear easy to use format.  Learning a new language is always easier if the teachers really know it and are fluent.  This normally only happens if they are native speakers or have been totally immersed in the country of the language.

As with all foreign language programs both in schools and at home, it is designed to be a daily course.  It should be used 4-5 times per week to help the child remember and improve.

With that, you might wonder how often we used it.  We used it 5 days a week, every week.  In fact, we're still using it!  We love learning foreign languages and have never had a chance to learn French before so this fun not just for the kids, but me as well. I never had the chance to take French in high school or college either so now I am learning with my kids.  Since my oldest is only 8 and in 2nd grade we did not do the actual tests and such, but more just listening and learning.

Next year when they are in 3rd grade they can do the writing and tests so that they are learning more.  I love how it is set up so that they can start earlier than they could if they were not allowed to start until they could do the written work.

Beginning in lesson 5 of module 1 they start having other things to do besides just the listen and say type work.   The first four lessons focus on learning the alphabet and pronunciations.  Those four lessons could be made into an entire year with younger children.  We made it past those, but went at a very slow pace becaue my learners were so young.  We did not do the tests but did play some of the games that go along with the lessons.

The program focuses on teaching and learning in four ways:

-Listening Comprehension(which we used and worked with well)

-Speaking(again one we could master)

-Reading

-Writing

The reading and writing parts were the ones that my young learners had problems with.  I would like to see more listening comprehension for pre-readers, but that is not really what the program is geared towards.  My kiddos did learn some of the writing.  They can write the alphabet and some basic words.  They also can read some small words.  It would equate to reading at a kindergarten level in our school probably.

With the course comes:

downloadable lessons

printable workbook(plus all necessary parent/teacher pages)

online exercises and activities

online lesson tests

topics on french culture

If your student has already had some French instruction, they can take a placement test to see which module they should start with.  It will direct you to where they would best fit into the program.  We of course had no French at all.  I have never had French and neither has my husband or any of the kids.  I do have cousins who live in England who are fluent in French and we said a few words to them when they were over visiting recently.  My grandmother also spoke French but unfortunately she passed away before we learned anything to tell her.

Read more Crew Reviews for French Essentials on the Main Crew Blog!  We all received the same to review but with different kids we all have different experiences.

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IXL.com Math and Language Arts Review -TOS Crew #hsreviews

Does you little one like math and language arts?  Or is it like pulling teeth to get them to do their schoolwork?  Would they do their work if they thought it was play?  Well, let me introduce you to IXL.com an online site with math and language arts practice for kids.  You can get an online math membership or an online language arts membership or a membership that includes both. We were given a year membership to both Math and Language Arts for up to three children as part of the Crew Review Team.

Membership is $9.95 per month per subject with options of adding the other subject or additional students for more.  If you want both subjects for a month it is $15.95.  A yearly membership is $79 for one subject.  If you wish to do both subjects for a yearly membership it is $129.  Each additional child is $20 per year if you do the yearly membership or $2 a month for the monthly plan.  Obviously, the yearly both subject is the best deal; however, if you child is not in grades 2-4 you will not be able to use the language arts section until they expand.

Their online math section has something for grades preK all the way up to 12th grade.  This includes pre algebra and algebra.  They are also working on a section of calculus coming soon.  I like that the math sections are listed out by grade and then by topic.  For instance, the second grade math contains 218 skills that should be mastered.  You can then click on whatever skill you wish for your child to work on and they can work until mastery.

There are more than 2500 math and language art skills combined at this time.  In a years time your child will not be able to learn and complete them all, but they can at least get their one grade done!  With your membership, whether monthly or yearly, you do have access to all levels!  So if your child does master one level you do not have to purchase a new year subscription to get the next level, you simply move them on up.  I love that!  I have some kids that excel and move through things quickly while I have others that are slower and take more time to learn.  I love the flexibility of the program.

Here is my take on this program:  It is perfect for homeschooling because your child can move at their own pace.  I think it is better for older children or children who are motivated to do things on their own so that you are not constantly asking them if they have done their lesson for the day.  We are not a large computer family.  Until recently my kids did not do a lot of computer school so they are still learning.  That means they are slow to answer some questions just because they don't know where all the keys are.  But, they are good with this program because it does not penalize them or immediately mark them as wrong just because they took their time on  a question.  The end results are what matter.  I am near to help them if they need it or they are free to do it on their own.  I have found at the end of lesson time that they have done an extra lesson or two somedays during their time just because they got done and wanted to go on.  It was fun.  It was not thought of as "doing school" so much as it was having fun and playing games.  That is the ultimate homeschool experience.  We're having fun, we're not just learning!

Language arts is a much smaller section right now with only materials for grades 2-4.  They are working on more for this section and are set to expand it soon.  We didn't do as much with the language arts as we did the math because it only has grades 2-4 currently and I only have two kids in these grades.  My two are in second grade so they are just at the beginning of the coursework available.  There are 82 second grade language art skills.  We did not use them in order. . . . . in fact we jumped into homophones first because it was what we were talking about and I wanted to re-enforce what we were learning and then move on from there.  Some of the lessons we had already covered this year so they were very easy for my kids and they just blasted through them.  Others were concepts we had not talked about and they took a bit more doing to get those down.  I think the way these are taught is great because even weeks after mastering a subject my child still could remember what they had learned.  It's more than just memorizing to get on to the next skill, it's learning.  It's learning so they will still remember it for years and years to come.

We like what we have seen so far of this program.  I have not gone past the second grade though.  Soon we might get to pass into third grade math and I can talk about that, but I didn't really go looking as my kids aren't ready for that yet.

I would like to mention they do have an app for iPad users for grades K-6 in math.  We don't have an iPad, iPod or anything that technologically advanced.  We're still learning how to use the computer around here!  But if you do I think it's a great resource to help take school with you where ever you go.  You can do school while waiting at the doctor's office even!  Big mommy grins at that!  It's so much easier to keep your child occupied in new places if you have something familiar to do, so why not school!  For me the why not is more in the I don't want to have to lug around that many books and pencils, but then again if it's all on the iPad you don't have much to carry.  No excuse for being late on that days math work!

Like what you're seeing and want to find out more?  Jump on over to the Main Crew Blog and see what other reviewers had to say!

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Carole P. Roman Book Reviews, Away We Go Media -TOS Crew #hsreviews

I love to read and try to instill that love into my kids.  We recently got a chance to further that love with a review of 4 books by Carole P Roman of Away We Go Media.  We received a series of four books that help kids travel around the world!  Exciting!

We received:

If You Were Me and Lived in . . . Mexico

If You Were Me and Lived in . . . South Korea

If You Were Me and Lived in . . . France

If You Were Me and Lived in . . . Norway

This is a series of four books that help introduce our children to cultures around the world.  I think the idea is fantastic and my kids loved studying where other kids live.  It would be very neat if this series were continued and contained many more countries.  Each book talks about what a child of that country would do, eat, how they speak, etc.  They highlight specifics such as important holidays and how they live as well.

These books are geared for preK through age 8.  My oldest is 8 and loved them.  She was able to read them for herself and only had some questions for words she didn't know.  I read them aloud to all of the children as well and even my little preK guys loved the books.  Of course, preK doesn't have the same comprehension and such that an 8 year old does, but any age will pick up things from these books especially if they are read more than once.

The books are reasonably priced as well.  Currently they can be purchased for $8.99 with a regular retail of $9.99 for paperback editions of France, Mexico, and South Korea.  Right now Norway(the newest in the series) is available for $8.62 with a regular retail of $11.99.

We received the softcover versions of the book which are 20-30 pages long and written in easy to read text for kids.  The last page contains a pronunciation guide for all those foreign words that we're learning.

Of the four books my kids favorite one was Norway, Land of the Midnight Sun.  I think because we had recently been reading about Norse people of old and this brought it closer a step.  They also have studied the legends of Santa around the world and one of our favorite depictions is the Santa of Norway.  I do feel the need to put here that we do not believe in Santa or use a Santa figure in our home, but we have studied them.

These books work great as little mini unit studies.  Look up the country on the map.  Draw pictures of the homes in the area.  We also made a supper of foods that children in that country would eat.  Lots of fun can also be had by letting your kids play games that children in that country might  play.  We also tried to learn to count to ten in the language of each country.

Carole P. Roman has also written other books besides this sweet series.  Such as a Captain No Beard which sounds like it would have all the kids full of giggles!

Want to learn more about these books?  Simply check out the rest of the Crew Reviews over at the Main Crew Blog Post.  We all reviewed the same 4 books but with different ages and different ideas I'm sure you'll get something different from each of us.

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Rosie's Doll Clothes Patterns Review -TOS Crew #hsreviews

I have always loved to sew.  At the age of 5 I was given my first needle and thread for doing simple seam sewing.  Of course, those stitches were huge and didn't hold together well at all, but I was started on a lifelong love.  By the age of 8 I was sewing my first 9 patch and embroidering my name, date, and location on it.  This is a love that I want to pass on to my girls.  My oldest 2 are 8 now and I realized I had not started them sewing!  That is horrible.  I was thrilled to be chosen to review Rosie's Doll Clothes Patterns with my children for the TOS Crew review team.  We received Learn How to Make Doll Clothes Video Course with 8 Free Doll Clothes Patterns to review online.  It is recommended for ages 8 and up though I think some more advanced younger ages would do fine and also you might want to raise the limit on some more challenged children as well.  I have one 8 year old who is more advanced than the other 8 year old and the one struggled while the other did well.

Rosie's Doll Clothes Patterns is an online program where you can purchase for $47.23 USD(the program is produced in Australia so this price may change day to day but today this is the correct pricing) online.  It gives you all the instructions you need to make these patterns as well as many helpful hints and tips to help make your daughter's first sewing experience the easiest and best possible.  There are over 130 video tutorials(over 8 hours of help).  We received the online version to review, but according to the website there is also an option to purchase dvd's of the program as well.  You will get tips on how to choose the correct fabric, thread, how to place the pattern on the fabric, cut it out, pin it, and sew it.  As well as much more!

The course we're using has 8 free patterns(however at this time a 9th pattern has been added available until December 24th, 2013 midnight).  The 9th pattern is of your choosing.  So instead of 8 patterns for $47.23 you are getting 9!

The 8 patterns we had access to for this review were:

sport shorts

crop top

sarong

halter top

summer nightie

hat

pumpkin 

underpants

I have to say these patterns created quite the conversations between my daughters and I.  You see, we're rather conservative in dress at our house.  We don't wear halter tops or crop tops or spaghetti straps etc.  We believe in modest dress for our girls and I try to model that belief to them.  So of course they had questions about these outfits.  We made them though.  And I told my girls that if they wanted their dolls to wear them that they could.  My girls are big into dolls and matching clothes(my oldest has the American Girl catalog almost memorized with what she would like to have) and so they did ask me if they could make clothes for their dolls that look like what they wear so we're going to have to purchase some patterns I think.  Very proud of my little girls and if you look around the site there are several other patterns that follow a more modest dress code.

If you browse Rosie's Doll Clothes Patterns site you will find that she also sells doll clothes patterns individually.  The patterns are available for 18 inch dolls(think American Girl) or Cabbage Patch dolls so your daughter has a choice of which one she wants to outfit!  My girls have looked around and would love to get some of the other patterns.  They are available in PDF so that they are easily printed and used.  You know it's a good program when your 8 year old daughter is begging for a new doll clothes pattern for Christmas so she can sew new clothes for her doll!  She also wants a chance at using my new sewing machine. . . . did I mention I think learning to hand sew is a great asset!  One pattern(today's cost) is $5.63 which gives you access to the PDF of the pattern, instructions, and video guides.

Make sure to check out the other Crew Reviews by going to the main Crew blog and checking out the post for this vendor.  As we all are different people with different children you'll find each post a unique take on Rosie's Doll Clothes!

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VocabularySpellingCity Review -TOS Crew #hsreviews

What do you do for spelling at your house?  Here we never had a set spelling list or spelling book.  I would just randomly choose words each week and we'd use them. Sometimes I'd theme them but most of the time it was just words that I knew my kids needed to learn.  Now enter my joy with a Crew Review we got to participate in!  VocabularySpellingCity is a neat little website that we got to try out for our kids that I can highly recommend!  This game based program focuses on vocabulary, spelling, writing, and language arts.  We received a year of the Premium Membership for free in exchange for our review.

This website offers a standard membership which is free or a premium membership which costs $29.99 per year with up to 5 students.  It is geared for ages K-12 so really any of your homeschool kiddos can use this.  We used it for grades K, 1, and 2.  With it you have the ability to use their word lists or input your own.  Because of the input your own feature I think you could use it with preschool as well(just my thoughts not the websites) as long as your preschool child was capable of using the computer.  I know with my kids my preschoolers can do a lot more than I think just from watching their older siblings.

VocabularySpellingCity offers learning through fun.  One of my boys dubbed it as "they tricked me into learning"!  Yeap that is the truth!  It "tricks" them into thinking they are having fun and just playing games when in reality they are learning as well.  These fun games teach them how to spell words, what words mean, how to use them in sentences, and so much more!

The free account offers you the basics while the premium membership(what we received) offers so much more!   Check out the photo below from the Premium Membership page to see all the extras you can receive.

I have to say that we loved the fact that there weren't ads on the pages.  My kids get distracted easily and far too often would click on ads and such that might be moving on sidebars just because they want to see what they are and what is going on.  They're kids, they're curious and I wouldn't have them any other way, but those ads are distractions.  I am a huge fan of flashcards as well so those are an added bonus as you can print those off.  We also are fans of laminating said flashcards for reasons I'm sure you can relate to.  My littles often get their hands on them and laminated in the mouth stays together longer than just paper in the mouth!  Yes it has happened.  Yes I have learned the extra money is worth it!  Now for the totally selfish part. . . . I love that I don't have to write down their grades!  Yes it keeps track of that for me so I don't have to grade them or record them.  I can simply print their records for our log books and tada I'm all done!  Easy is good when you are homeschooling this many little kids!  I have 8 in school from prek on up to 2nd grade and that extra time can be used for other things.

I do want to note that the free option is still a good deal if you can't afford the premium.  I know several people that might not have that extra money right now, so sign up for the free and purchase the premium when you can.  I do have a question in about what happens when you have more than 5 kids for premium so will let you know that answer when I get it.  With the free you still get the handwriting helpers, the printables, and spelling testing/spelling help.

Free apps can be downloaded to your phones or Kindle even as well.  We don't have that technology here in our house, but for those that do this is a great thing!  Makes learning on the go much easier without having to take a laptop with you.  As homeschoolers that flexibility is something we normally tout and this makes us continue to be able to school on the go.  For my family it would be taking the laptop and working on it when we stopped for breaks or at night since we don't have smartphones, Ipads, or Kindles, but for those that do you might want to check into their free apps.

This is a great daily use website.  I highly recommend doing even a few minutes on a daily basis.  The more they do it the more they learn. We do one list a week.  Each day we do a different game to help us learn more about the word and practice spelling the word.  I print off pages where they actually are writing the word as well because I'm a stickler for penmanship and am determined my kids will learn how to not only spell but write legibly too!  And then we test on Fridays.  If you only do a 4 day week instead of 5 testing on Thursday would be your ideal.  That gives them the rest of the week to learn their words and learn how to not only spell but use them.  We also do double testing.  They are required to do the tests online, but then we also do some oral testing where they have to write down the word.  I either give them sentences and have them put the correct word in or I tell them the word and they must spell it just like the tests we used to do.

My kids love this program.  I'm giving it five stars because I love it too. Makes homeschooling simpler which in this busy time of life for me is a good thing.

Please hop on over to the Main Crew Blog post and read all the other reviews.  There were many of us who reviewed this website and we all have different thoughts and feelings so you won't read the same review twice.  It is a great program and I think we will continue to use it with my kids for the years to come.  Really the money it costs for the website versus what the spelling books would cost is a great deal to me.

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Diary of a Real Payne Book 1: True Story Review, Barbour Publishing -TOS Crew #hsreviews

We are a house of readers and love to read!  If you go through my blog you'll see most of the reviews are for homeschool materials or books.  Well, this review is both!  We, with the Crew Review Team, were sent a book from Barbour Publishing to review.  This book was Diary of a Real Payne book 1: True Story by Annie Tipton.

This book is hilarious!  It's a great chapter book geared towards independent readers ages 8-12.  Now, my oldest 2 are both 8 but they're not really strong readers and I have several under that age that like to read also so we made this into a read aloud where my two 2nd graders and I took turns reading it to the younger kids.  Understandably, the kids liked it better when mommy read, but they listened when the older siblings read too.  It is my opinion that as a read aloud it can entertain all ages, but comprehension is lost at anyone under age 5.

This book is a steal really.  It  is available currently for $4.49 regularly $5.99.  The book is 192 pages long.  It has a larger print though we would classify it as medium around here.  My learners of course prefer the larger print but medium works well for my medium readers!

In March of 2014 they will be releasing book 2.  My kids are already wondering what happens to EJ Payne and what more she will have to share in her diary!  The next installation will be entitled Church Camp Chaos.  My kids have never been to church camp and are very curious about this one.

The book is definitely written in the voice of a child and it appeals to my children because of this.  They love the illustrations(and wish there were more of course) especially the pages that have lines and look like they came straight out of the diary pages.  Just as a little teaser, my kids are already asking if we can have some fun things for our Christmas dinner this year like ham loaf.  They have no idea what that is but because they read about it in the book they are ready to give it a try!  I think we'll have it some night for supper and reserve Christmas for Christmas.  I had to explain to them that we already do a non traditional meal at Christmas so they are already like EJ in that sense(we do a Mexican themed dinner with my family).  They loved the idea that they were like the girl in the book and immediately set about to think of more ways that they could say they were like her.

We had a laugh about her calling the town she lives in small as well.  It is over 1000 people bigger than both of the towns we've lived near in their lives.  We're small town people and my kids compared her population sign to the one we drive by and said she's from a "big city" well at least until we actually went to "the city" and then they said she lives in a "middle city"!  I love the way their minds think at times.  It's so fun and definitely not like the adult mind.

Now there are so many other parts from the book that we loved and the kids say I need to tell you, but that would ruin the book for you.  You really need to just get a copy and read it for yourself.  Maybe then you'll figure out what part in the Christmas pageant EJ gets and why it isn't her dream role and so much more!  Enjoy the book.  We did!

Make sure to hop on over to the Crew Review Main Blog post and see what everyone else has to say about this great book.  I love how we all can read the same thing and offer up so many different opinions of how well it works for us and our family.

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God's World News Review -TOS Crew #hsreviews

With the Crew Review team we recently were able to review God's World News.  We received the Early Edition which is for grades 1-2.  It fit the best with our little school here considering I have 4 kiddos in that age range.  My kids love getting things in the mail just for them.  Which is great for this review as we got a year subscription free!

God's World News has a variety of different levels.  They have 6 total spanning from God's Big World for preschool and kindergarten to Trak for high school.  Each level is available for a years subscription for $28. You can get a full year subscription which includes 10 editions or a school year edition which only includes 7 editions.

With our subscription we received an online edition.  Through this you can get online and read the editions, back editions, and much more.  You can read biographies, print off activities, and so much more.  The kids can also access a kids website or kids zone to find fun things and games for them to do.  I've loved that there is a parents weekly email that gives me extra ideas for current events.  Up until getting the magazine, I've not done a current events curriculum with my kids.  We really haven't talked of much in the way of current events at all.  I had thought they were too young.  Well I was wrong!  They love learning about the current events and I love the Godly Christian take on them that we get with God's World News.

We also received a full sized map of the world to help us locate the locations of the articles.  This was so much fun!  We love finding out where in the big picture the events are taking place.

You may be asking yourself, so what's the big deal with this?  So what, it's a Christian magazine for kids?  But it's so much more than just that!  Yes it is a Christian magazine designed for kids at each level.  But it helps them develop critical thinking skills.  I had never thought of working on critical thinking in my kids this little, but it makes sense to start it now so that they grow in their thinking as they learn.  It makes a lot of sense actually and I for one am very glad for this.  I had never heard of them before this review opportunity came up and it has been such a blessing for us.

My kids can now tell you some of what is going on in the world.  They may honestly know more about this stuff than I do.  I must admit I don't follow the news.  I really don't.  We have no television.  We do have internet, but I don't do a lot of news reading.  I look at the weather, check my emails, do some facebook, and blog.  That's the extent of my internet.  I'm not sure I really have time for all I do on here and have no clue how I'd fit news into my tight schedule.  So now I get my news too!  Current events as told to me by my kids who are reading it in their God's World News!

Within each magazine are full color pictures related to each article.  The articles are short and in big enough print my kids aren't intimidated by them.  It also connects a Bible verse to the stories.  One of the editions had pirate stories including their ships and how they are recovering one such ship.  The verse was Psalm 143:5 about remembering the days of old.  Yes!  That is what we are doing.  We are remembering and relearning from them.  Great stuff here!

So what we're doing.  Read the magazine.  Do the activities in the magazine.  Go online.  Print off extra activities as well as answer keys so the kids can grade their own(they love this) and also read more.  If there is a person in our stories we look for his biography.  If there is an event in our story we look for related articles.  The online resources really are wonderful and so much more than just taking a peek at recent magazines.

And now I close with the highlight of my kids reading.  In the first issue we received, the first story was about the 150th Anniversary Reenactment of Gettysburg!  This was so neat because the kids could say that their Daddy was there!  No he wasn't in the pictures or in the article specifically, but he was there!  And they love to reenact the Civil War with us so this was great.  This one little one page article with 3 pictures started a whole study for us.  We studied the battle.  We watched films from the reenactment.  What a great way to start off our subscription to this magazine!  They are forever in love now and keep waiting for another "blast from the past" that might feature their Daddy someday!

For more Crew Reviews go to the Main Crew Blog Page and see what other Crew reviewers had to say about this great magazine.  You'll find reviews for all the different editions/levels so make sure you choose one that relates to your child's age to check out.

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Chess House Review -TOS Crew #hsreviews

We recently received a beginners chess set to review from Chess House.  The Starter Chess Learning Kit came with a neat carrying bag, chess mat, chess pieces, and a dvd explaining how to play the game.

Seeing as how both my husband and I enjoy playing chess I thought this would be a great learning kit for our kids.  With 6 kids that I deem old enough to play chess it would mean that they could play each other or we could play as a family.  I love the idea of family game nights and with the kids still learning it's an easy boys against girls type game to play as the 6 oldest are 3 boys and 3 girls!  Of course then the two younger girls can think they are helping play too which makes it fun for them as well.

The Starter Chess Kit that we received is available to purchase for $39.95 currently which is $10 off their standard retail price.  You can choose either a green or black bag. We received the green one in our kit.  The great thing about the kit is that it can be used by any age group.  The main focus range is ages 6-12, but it can be used for younger or older. I know an adult that would benefit from this(sorry friend, but you stink at chess).  Maybe I should have my kiddos teach her how to play chess!

As most of you know, we reenact the Civil War and chess is a period game to play.  I would love to someday get one of their awesome looking wooden chess sets to let the kids play on while we're away.  This past weekend when we spent a day at a reenactment daddy was at they had a lot of fun playing with another reenactors wooden chess set.  But wooden isn't the only novelty set that Chess House has, they also have life size chess sets which would be great for using at a kids birthday party or in a homeschool group.

Did I mention the intricacy of some of the sets they have?  As I browse their site I am amazed at the detail some of these artists can do.  Wow, just wow.  Our pieces are plastic.  A high quality plastic that is less apt to break(important when working with kids) and they are also easy to replace.  The chess board rolls up to fit in the case and is made in the USA.

Now lets talk a bit about the DVD.  I did sit and watch it with my kiddos.  We had to watch it in small sections as my oldest is only 8 and none of them have super long attention spans if you want them to actually retain what they are watching.  The DVD by itself is $20, which goes to show you what a great deal the Starter Kit really is.

The beginning level dvd we received is the Pawn Level(how cute they name their levels after pieces).  You can purchase a workbook separately to use with the dvd as well.  It does come with a booklet that shows practice positions and exercises to help them learn.  It is in total 49 minutes long.  We ended up watching about 10 minutes at a time the first times we went through it.  The next week we broke it down even more and only watched 5 minutes at a time to help us focus more.  My favorite was how it detailed each piece, what they were, what they could do, etc.  It was great.  Just right for little learners to understand and remember.  For my kids repetition is key which is why we watched the dvd several times to help them "get" it.

If you'd like to read more about what other people thought of the Starter Kit make sure to go to the main Crew Review page and check them all out.  With all of us having different aged children as well as different levels and methods of learning and teaching I'm sure they'll all prove unique and different.  You're bound to find one that fits our style.

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YWAM Publishing -TOS Crew Review #hsreviews

 

Our latest Crew Review item was threefold.  We received a book on George Washington: True Patriot as well as a two part study guide.  These are available from YWAM Publishing.  They have a series called Heroes of History with several different figures they focus on.  We received George Washington while others received Jim Elliot

   

The George Washington book is recommended for children ages 10 and up.  We used it as a read aloud for all of our children but found that the study guide was a bit much for some of them.  My 8 year old who is in 2nd grade did not have a problem completing the study guide but my 1st graders did.  It's just a bit too much.  They all had better luck answering the questions if I asked them out loud though.

 

Both the book and unit study are written by Janet and Geoff Benge.  You may purchase the book in paperback, kindle, nook, or audiobook versions for $6.99.  I think the audiobook versions would be wonderful for car rides though I have not listened to them so don't know how well the voices are done.  The study guide can be purchased in paperback or pdf for $7.49.

We received pdf files of the unit study and a kindle edition of the book to review.  I loved the voice that the book is written in. It is full of information but not dry or in a way that kids won't want to listen or be compelled to hear more.  We are big readers in our family and I read a lot of books outloud to the kids so this was not a big deal to them, just another day in the Slocum house learning about history!

This study fit right in with what we're studying in school which was great!  My kids already knew somethings and I would have to regularly stop reading to answer their questions or read around exclamations of names before I read them.  It really was super fun and funny for me to hear them repeating things they'd learned and the excitement of them remembering things.  For our Revolutionary war and Colonial history semester we've been watching a video series that my kids adore and it has included lots of information from this book that they loved being able to regurgitate to me and to daddy when he got home at the end of the day.  I think they were surprised to discover that daddy already knew some of this stuff too!  Their faces were priceless when he could tell them who the people they wanted to tell him about were.

At a length of 224 pages this is definitely not a fast reading book.  You wouldn't want to read it fast either as you might miss important information.  My kids were shocked to find out that George Washington was involved in more than just the war but went on to be President as well. They also were very outraged that he was in the British army at one point.  It was definitely a good learning experience for them.

I have say if this book is any indication of what the rest of the Heroes of History series is like we will be wanting to use more of these in our history lessons.  Not only do they cover history but also geography, government, and science.  They are a joy to read and the study guide is thorough and well thought out.

Other Crew members reviewed a biography of Jim Elliot as well as some who reviewed Washington as we did.  Please hop over to the Main Crew Blog Post and read their reviews to see what they thought of their books.  I'm sure most enjoyed them as much as we did!

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Logic of English Foundations -TOS Crew Review #hsreviews

Do you want to make learning fun for your little ones?  Logic of English has many great programs for your kids.  We reviewed their Foundations A level which is geared towards budding learners ages 4-7.

Foundations A is a complete learning experience for reading, phonics, spelling, and handwriting.  You can choose whether you'd like manuscript or cursive handwriting as well.  We're doing manuscript because I think cursive is too advanced for my crew at present.  Not even my 2nd graders have started cursive yet!  We did receive a cursive handwriting chart for reference though.

Logic of English employs the see the phonogram, hear the sound, touch the card principle to help appeal to multiple senses at once.  I think this works really well with children who have some learning disabilities.  It is easier for them to grasp a concept if they can have it tactile.  If they can put immediately a sight and a touch to the sound that they are hearing.  Add to that lots of fun learning games and you've got children begging to do their reading as soon as they wake up. . . . it's too bad for mommy if that time is 5am and mommy hasn't had her coffee yet.  It's been a few weeks where I've been thankful for that programmable coffee pot!

So for this review we received the Foundations Level A Manuscript Teacher's Manual($38.00), Foundations Level A Manuscript Student's Workbook($18.00), Cursive handwriting chart($10.00), Red Manuscript Phonogram Game Cards($10.00), Blue Bookface Phonogram Game Cards($10.00), Basic Phonogram Flash Cards($18.00), a whiteboard($12.00), and the Rhythm of Handwriting Manuscript Tactile Cards($28.00).  This ends up being a $144.00 value.  You can buy these items individually or all together in a Level A and B set.  You can also build your own sets with other components as well.

I mentioned above that this program is designed for children ages 4-7.  I want to throw in that if you have a struggling child a bit older this is good for them too.  We have an 8 year old that has some developmental delays and there were areas that she hadn't totally grasped with phonics.  I went ahead and let her advance to 1st grade this year, but she still struggles.  I decided to let her sit in and play the games as well as listen and touch with the other children.  We only received one student workbook so that was given to my beginning schooler starting his first year of kindergarten(age 5) and another workbook was purchased for my other 5 year old just starting kindergarten.

I did not have any 4 year olds to try this out with, but I do have a 2 year old(almost 3) who really loved to play the games with us and picked up quite a bit from just listening.  I would have to say if you have a gifted or fast learning 3 year old this might even work for them.  They don't say this on their site and of course there are studies that show formal schooling shouldn't start until the child is older, but I find my little girl learning so much just by listening in to "school" in our house that if she asks to learn along I can't say no!  I could very easily see myself purchasing a workbook for her in the next year or so.

I had no problems getting my kiddos to want to do this program.  They fell in love the first day of learning and were always begging to do more!  I love it when kids love to learn and this program really seems to make them want to learn and to continue to want to learn.

I, as the mommy and the teacher, like that there are some online resources and videos that I can watch if I'm having any troubles teaching.  Let's face it, it's been a long time since I learned these letter sounds/phonics and I want to make sure that I'm pronouncing them correctly before I teach my children and have them saying them wrong for life!  There is a great resource on the Logic of English website entitled Free.  From there you can find a drop down menu of videos, downloads, etc.  It's a storehouse of information that I loved having access to.  Definitely helpful.  You can find spelling lists, spelling rules, phonogram help, and so much more!  I loved having access to spelling lists by phonograms to use for our school.

Now other Crew members also received the Foundations Level A to review as well as other programs from Logic of English.  Make sure you pop on over to the Main Crew Blog to see what they have to say about their experiences with the program.

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Greene Bark Press Children's Book Review -TOS Crew #hsreviews

 

Recently we were given the opportunity to review a children's book published by Greene Bark Press.  This book happens to be a super cute little board book for younger children entitled Look Left, Look Right, Look Left Again and teaches children about safety.  The book retails for $8.50.

Obviously, being a board book this is geared towards younger children.  When I read the book to my kids I had all of my children sit down to hear it.  This spans from 3 months(I don't think she got anything out of it at all) all the way up to 8 years.  I think all of my children minus the infant actually could get something from this book.  Even though I always stress street safety with my kids, it never hurts to reiterate it just that one last time.  It might just save their lives one day.

 

Look Left, Look Right, Look Left Again is written by Ginger Pate and illustrated by Rhett Pennell.  It contains cute little pictures to help grab children's attention.  It is geared for ages 3-8 which worked well with my school crew as the youngest preschooler will turn 3 in November and the oldest 2nd grader is 8.  This book focuses on Wally Waddlewater who wants to mail a birthday card to his Grandmother.  Now our mailbox is at the end of our driveway, and we live in the country, so my kids had questions about the large mailbox that many people put mail in as well as why he had to cross a street to get there.  My kids are of a curious nature and I have to satisfy them by answering their questions before they could settle down and listen to what the book was actually saying.

Once we'd answered such questions as why he had to cross the street all the way up to what day was his grandmother's birthday(not sure where these questions come from) it was time to read the story so we could understand why we need to stay safe and what staying safe entails.

I loved the simple way they told of street safety and why we must look both ways before and during crossing a street.  I do think that we'll have to read this book over and over again before it all sinks in to all of the kids, but for now at least I know that the older ones are going to at least have the knowledge at their fingertips that they should be looking both ways before crossing the street.

Want to see what other people thought of the Wally board book?  Simply hop on over to the Main Crew blog page and click on the links provided where you will see a list of all participating blogs!

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Homeschool Spanich Academy Early Language Program Review -TOS Crew Review #hsreviews

Recently we were selected to review the Early Language Program through Homeschool Spanish Academy with other TOS Crew members.  We received a half semester which consisted of 7 lessons.  My kids thought this was pretty neat as we don't tend to do a lot on the computer.  They were very excited to get to meet a new "teacher" and also to learn some Spanish.  The only exposure they had really had to Spanish prior to this course(for these two students) was Dora and Diego!

The Early Language Program is designed for children ages 5-8.  We used it with our two second graders.  They are Bridgett age 8 and Patrick age 6.  The program happens over Skype where their instructor would call us via Skype and talk to the kids while teaching them Spanish.  My kids were shown pictures and taught the words to go with the pictures as well as the alphabet and numbers.

I was impressed with how good the teacher we used was with the kids.  My 6 year old boy tends to be a bit shy and really didn't want to participate the first few lessons.  We used the same teacher for all of our lessons to make this easier on him.  She would ask him specific questions knowing that the subject interested him.  While sister would say all the words he would only want to say the ones he liked such as spider, dog, etc.  By the end of our lessons he was just as loud and answering as many questions as his older sister.

The style of learning is great!  It's more see and say at this stage.  You see the picture, the teacher asks you what it is, you say the English, she says the Spanish, and you say the Spanish.  Each session lasts roughly 25 minutes and then you're done for the day.  A copy of the lesson was then emailed to us as homework for the kids to study and practice the words that they had learned.  

A half semester(which is what we reviewed) for a pair(again what we used) doing one class per week for a total of 7 lessons is $89.99 or $12.86 per class.  If you opted to do one on one learning for the half semester of one class per week for a total of 7 lessons it would only be $59.99 or $8.57 per class.

The Early Language is not the only level they offer.  You can also choose to take middle school, high school, or adult classes as well.  You can opt for a full semester instead of a half semester or to do two lessons per week instead of one.  It's really very adaptable as you are the one who sets up when your lessons will be and you are the one who chooses your teacher.  We loved the flexibility of being able to choose our teacher and to continue to use her throughout the entire half semester.  

I do want to say that we really did love our teacher!  My kids looked forward to learning with her and she made their learning fun.  We did not try out any other teachers so we can't compare her to the others, but she definitely earns high marks from us and knows how to work with young children.  It was a bit difficult at times to find times that were available to meet with her that were open on our schedule due to the number o people attending classes.  To combat this Homeschool Spanish was training new teachers!  They saw the need and worked quickly to fill it which is exceptional!

One of the hardest things for us was keeping the rest of the children away from the computer so the two taking the course could hear and respond.  Our internet connection is not the best, but we were able to see and hear everything.  It probably would have been a bit faster if we had a better connection, but we were highly pleased with our experience and definitely recommend to others.

You don't have to take our word for it though.  Feel free to check out the other Crew Reviews to see what our fellow members thought of the level they reviewed.

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