TOS REVIEW~ Student Writing Intensive Level C

Oh my a review for a writing program!  That was my first thought as  I received Institute for Excellence In Writing's  Student Writing Intensive Level C  for review.  You see I have a 9th grader who strongly dislikes, ie hates, writing.  You can’t blame her, as I strongly disliked writing in high school as well.  I still do, although I am no longer in high school!  With my dislike for writing, it trickled down in our homeschool to me not wanting to teach writing and thus avoided doing so.  Obviously that was not beneficial to my kids.  So with Student Writing Intensive Level C in our possession we dove into the first video lesson.  Level C is geared towards 9-12 graders. The reaction was this....

yes that is a smile on my “I hate writing” daughters face.  My other daughter is a camera avoider but it’s a good shot of the binder :)

Here is a brief video introducing Student Writing Intensive.  I think you will find it helpful to see and hear Mr. Pudewa himself.

The videos were shot live in a class setting so your child feels as if they are in the class with other students and Mr.  Pudewa.   Here is a short you tube video giving you an idea of the setting for level C.

Mr. Pudewa is engaging and  light hearted with the students.  He encourages, directs and teaches in such a way that my 9th grader just had to join along.  Yes, they thought some of the jokes were corny but they were smiling.  We didn’t make it through the whole program yet but plan on taking the summer to wrap it up.  Just in the amount we did though I saw a confidence blossom in my daughter’s writing.  As we continue with the program and broaden her skills to enhance her writing, I believe that moving into her 10th grade year she will be a more confident writer.  

SWI Level C is $99.  It contains four DVD’s, a binder with dividers, and a packet with the teacher’s notes, handouts and checklists.  The handouts were able to be copied for same family use.  There are 15 lessons included.  You can choose to do one lesson over one or two weeks making this program anywhere from 15-30 weeks long.  

I also received Structure and Style Overview DVD.  It introduces you to the style of teaching writing that this program uses.  Available for download off the website are additional handouts to help you teach the course to your students.  The DVD is available for $10.  IEW also sent along a portable wall (pictured below).  This portable wall offers several bulletin boards full of information to be used in conjunction with the structure and style program.  It offers synonyms for overused words, strong verbs, prepositions, -ly adverbs.  It also gives highlights for each of the 9 units.  So compact that it fits inside the students notebook.  A great resource for $7

Institute for Excellence in Writing offers many other writing products for all levels of writing. 

Come on over and see what my crew mates thought of the program here.

Disclaimer: I received a free copy of this product for review purposes only.

TOS REVIEW ~ Go Trybe

GoTrybe is a web based fitness program that incorporates fun easy workouts that kids can customize along with health and wellness related questions.  You can read their full description of their product here.

I prefer my kids to get outside and play rather than be in front of a monitor doing exercise.  But some circumstances like months on end of snow on the ground (not here in Texas mind you), or no yard could make this a great fit for a family,  For us it was a hard review because we are active outside.  GoTrybe, being web based,  required us to set up the laptop in an area where the kids could move around while viewing a small lap top screen.  It was not an ideal situation for us.  However the workouts were challenging and got the kids heart rates up.  We were signed up for the high school level which was  nexTrybe.  Other levels were zoodoos up to fifth grade and Trybe180 for 6-9th grade.
My 14 year old daughter enjoyed being able to pick her warmup and activity videos.  She could customize her workout based on a particular sport or mood.  There were so many videos to choose from a teen could easily find something of interest to them.  She would choose a video for warmup, cardio, strength and flexibility.
In addition to the workout videos they could move on to nutrition, motivation and wellness questions.  For nutrition a small paragraph would be presented with a multiple choice question.  A correct answer would earn them points, which I will discuss in a minute. The motivation portion is a video that offers insight from some of the instructors.  The one I just watched was silly with no real motivation. Wellness is also a brief video that offers advice and information.  Being that this is for high school level I found these last three parts basic and not challenging at all.
Everything they do on the site earns them points which they can use to customize their avatar.  If racking up points on a video game is a good motivation for you kid then the point system might work for them.
Like I said we are big on getting outdoors and moving.  GoTrybe isn't a great fit for our family but it might be for yours. You can try them out for free with the code GETFIT.  If you like it you can then subscribe for $19.95 which is a reduced price.  Cheaper than P.E. classes or a gym membership but still screen time in my book.
See what my other crewmates thought of here.
Disclaimer: I received a free subscription to GoTrybe for review purposes only.

TOS REVIEW ~ Latin's Not So Tough Level 3

Latin's Not So Tough is a product of Greek N' Stuff.  As part of this review I was sent the Level 3 workbook ($21.95),full text answer key ($21.95)and pronunciation cd ($10.00).
Latin's Not So Tough Level 3 is geared towards the beginner Latin student in upper elementary or above.  I started this program with my 3 oldest (14,13,11) and let my two younger ones (8,6) tag along.  At first we were going along great.  The beginning lessons are mostly vocabulary and my children were picking up the vocabulary quite quickly.  The pronunciation cd was very helpful with pronunciation.
Where Latin got tough for us was where the conjugation began without teaching how to conjugate.  According to the teacher guide "the third level uses an inductive (parts to whole) approach...Level four transitions to a deductive(whole to parts) approach".  So the kids are learning conjugated verbs and are just memorizing what the all ready conjugated verb means.  For example, Amō nautam, means I like the sailor. Therefore the kids are memorizing that Amō means I like.  On the same page they learn others as well all with the ō , being told to recognize it but it will be explained later.  It is just a different approach than I am used to and one that caused a stumbling point for us in our studies.
That being said we enjoyed the large font of the sprial bound workbook.  The minimal exercises per day were enough to sharpen their vocabulary skills without boring or exhausting them.   The flashcards were invaluable as well.  The little checkbox on the bottom of each page reminding the student to study their flashcards was a great way to remove me from the nagging role :)  I went ahead and ordered the accompanying test booklets as well available from Greek N Stuff.
This was our first exposure to Latin studies and it did seem tough because no one in our household is versed in Latin. Latin is tough but it is made easier with this program.  After just a few lessons my kids were spotting Latin everywhere, root words in English, on coins etc.  
In the end though, Latin's Not so Tough is a good program.  


See what my crewmates thought here


Disclaimer: I received a free copy of the workbook, full text answer book, and cd for free for review purposes only.

TOS Review ~ Nutrition 101:Choose Life!

What an honor to review Nutrition 101:Choose Life! by Growing Healthy Homes.  This a a fabulous 448 page Biblically based book chock full of information.  I hate to call it a text book because it has such valuable information.  I would call it a christian family resource, one well worth the price of $99.95 for the book version and $79.95 for the electronic version (the version I received for review).

Nutrition 101 is labeled a "family nutrition and health program" and I couldn't agree more.  This is a book you can use for the whole family.  If used by a high schooler it counts as a nutrition/health credit.
Within the book you will find that 12 main body systems are covered in 6 units which are then broken down into four chapters.  The 6 units are:
The brain and nervous system
The digestive system
The respiratory, olfactory, auditory and visual systems
The muscular and skeletal systems
The endocrine system and emotions

Each chapter includes information, scripture, discussion questions, activities, resources, fun facts, word power(vocabulary), power recipes and illustrations.  Folks these are jammed packed chapters, however you will not feel overwhelmed.  The book held my interest and kept me coming back for more.  It made me call out to the kids "hey did you know this cool thing about the digestive system?"  The recipes at the end of each unit are designed to go with the system just studied. It motivates the parents to get the kids involved and in the kitchen making healthy food with the explanation of why we need healthy foods for our bodies to work the way God designed them.

As if 6 units with four chapters each isn't enough, this book has appendices.......from A -EE!  They cover a myriad of charts, share debates on milk, talk sugar alternatives, spices, etc.  This is the section you will keep coming back too.  For me personally I plan on printing out the appendices and placing them in sheet protectors and putting them in a kitchen binder for easy access.

This resource has made me think about the food I feed my family.  It has encouraged me that change in habits takes time, that each step taken in the right direction is good.  It has given me a tool that I can use to share with my family the interesting systems God created in our bodies.  I plan on making it a portion of our science curriculum for my high schooler in the fall .  I also plan on pulling details from it as I do anatomy with my younger set as well as trying the recipes that go with each system as way to reconnect with my kids in the kitchen.  This resource has me digging deeper into health issues that I have experienced since being diagnosed with and surviving breast cancer a year and a half ago.  This book, this wonderful resource, has me seeing scripture and knowing that I am fearfully and wonderfully made.

But wait did you tune out just a bit when I mentioned the price tag of this resource?  Don't  Growing Healthy Homes has offered all the readers a 15% discount coupon using the codeTOScrew11! 

To see what my other crew members thought go here.  I'm sure you will read many more positive reviews of this product as last year it was voted best e product of the year by the crew.
 Disclaimer: I received a free electronic copy of this product for review purposes only.

TOS Review ~ Zeezok Z Guide

The latest review is from Zeezok Publishing. Zeezok provides a host of products from penmanship to movie guides.  The product I was asked to review was a movie guide.  I chose the high school guide for the movie "The Hiding Place"  My seventh grader had read this book for an English class and I thought it would help her with understanding the time frame.  The guides are priced at $12.99 for an e-book download.
I was impressed immediately with the guide.  It had questions to answer during and after the movie, activities for understanding the time period, and an answer key.  The company does strive to "develop your family's love for God and Country" which means faith is talked about.
I asked my daughter Hannah to write about the guide.  Here is what she had to say:

The Hiding Place movie guide was fun. It allowed me to learn some new things about the different aspects of the movie and life in World War II. I learned that Ravensbruck was just as bad as it was portrayed in the movie, if not worse. The guide made me explore details of the hiding place in Corrie's room in detail,
and challenged me to pick a room in our house that would be best for a hiding place of our own. Would I hide Jews if it meant going to Ravensbruck?
Where would I hide them? It challenged me with these questions and more. It made me respect the Ten Boom family even more than I used to.
They sacrificed so much, and expected nothing in return. This movie guide was great because it made me look beyond the surface of this movie.

 So there you have it.  Two thumbs up from my girl for Zeezok movie guides.

Disclaimer: I received a copy of this movie guide for free for review purposes only

Tos REVIEW ~ Big IQ Kids

Big IQ Kids is a internet based program for kids K-8 helping them "become and stay A+ students".  It offers math, spelling, vocabulary and US Geography lessons and quizzes.
From the Big IQ Kids website:
"BigIQkids.com turns your computer into an online learning academy by providing daily academic lessons for young learners in an interactive, easy to follow format. For the best results, children should log into BigIQkids.com daily and complete their lessons and quizzes. This “daily” strategy builds invaluable study habits, leads to better grades and greater self confidence."
There is a free version and a premium version (we were reviewing the premium)  Big IQ kids has it's pricing options here.  My two boys were the ones who helped me review this product.  Ian is 11 and in 5th grade while Neil is 8 and in 2nd grade.

The format was indeed easy to follow, so much so that once I got my kids on and showed them around they were independent with the program.  The enjoyed the study of the states the most because of the interesting facts presented as each state was introduced.  The lessons build on themselves each day of the week gradually getting harder.  If I found the boys were breezing through the lessons giving them ample time for the games then I went in and changed things up a bit increasing the difficulty.  Below is an example of the page where I was able to customize Neil's math.

The cute little blond in the corner is Neil's avatar.  He can customize it using his game coins.
How we used it in our homeschool
I let my two boys, second grade and fifth grade, use this program independently.  I did go in and plug a week or two of their current spelling lists into the program just to play with that feature.  Since they don't really struggle in spelling I let them do the progressive lessons that were pre-programmed.  My boys would sign in with their own log in and password and go through each of the four categories.  As I was working on my computer emails would ping in with their results of each lesson or quiz.  I knew immediately if they were getting the lesson or if I needed to help them out with a concept.  I had to laugh one Saturday morning while my husband and I were on a getaway weekend.  A friend was watching my kids here at my house waiting for one of mine to be 24 hour fever free before combining my brood with hers.  I get an email at 9:30 in the morning telling me Neil had just scored a 100% on his vocabulary!  I knew right then that Neil had woken up and was "playing" on the computer, but he chose Big IQ Kids as an outlet.
The boys loved earning coins to use play the games.  I would have to say for Neil that was the big motivator for him to do the lessons.

Overall I enjoyed the fun, easy atmosphere BIG IQ kids provided.  My boys really enjoyed using it.

See what my other crewmates thought of Big IQ Kids here.

Disclaimer: I received a free premium membership for review purposes.

TOS REVIEW ~ Apologia Who is God?

Bible time.  As a Christian homeschooler I know that Bible time should be the first subject we discuss each morning.  But in reality I had hit a slump.  With five kids in five different grades ranging from 1st - 9th it was difficult to find a curriculum that challenged the olders while informing the youngers.  I had resigned myself to teaching two different levels but had sent my olders to be independent.  NOT what they needed.  The youngers got stories but I felt it was repetitive of their Sunday School.  Then Who is God? and How can I know him?  Biblical Worldview of God and Truth from Apologia Press showed up in my mailbox to review for TOS.  Oh happy day.  We have started using Apologia's science curriculum this year and loved its narrative style.  Who is God? has that same easy narrative style.  It is engaging for my 1st grader up to my 9th grader!

The book is a hardbound, 252 page text that Apologia offers for $39 on their site.  It is divided into 10 lessons which have many sub sections in them.  Each lesson contains a Big Idea, a story that applies the big idea, several sidebars exploring the idea, think about it questions, memory work, vocabulary and notebooking ideas.  There is a lovely amount of information in each chapter that each of your kids is bound to have a favorite part.  I'm really finding it hard to put into words what I love about this book.  It has brought our Bible time back to the family unit.  The kids enjoy it.  I enjoy it (which means we actually do it:) )  Who is God? is the first volume in a series.
A lesson is taking our homeschool about 2 weeks to finish using the book 3 times a week.  I don't have a hard and fast schedule of what I read each day.  We just read, discuss and then stop when I feel we have learned and explored the idea.  Apologia offers notebooking pages on their site available to purchasers of the book.  We use these pages to help the kids solidify the lesson.  Also as book extras, are the teacher help pages,valuable information to help you get the most out of the lesson.

We loved Who is God? by Apologia but stop by the crew site to see what my mates thought.

Disclaimer:  I received a free copy of this book as a member of the TOS crew for review purposes only.

TOS REVIEW ~ Reading Kingdom

Reading Kingdom is an online program that teaches kids ages 4-10 to read using Dr. Marion Blank's method of reading.  From the website:
"The Reading Kingdom uses new teaching methods pioneered by renowned literacy expert, Dr. Marion Blank. These methods do not rely on standard phonics techniques which have yielded a national 40% reading failure rate. For better or worse, the vast majority of words in English cannot be sounded out. To adapt phonics to this reality, it uses almost 600 rules which are almost impossible to memorize and riddled with exceptions. The Reading Kingdom, on the other hand, has no complicated rules and empowers children to learn using simple and easy to follow techniques that leverage the tremendous skills they have mastered in learning spoken language. In addition, the Reading Kingdom is the only program that customizes itself to a child. In this way children do not become bored learning something they already know or frustrated by material that is too advanced for them."

I used this program with my two youngest kids ages 6 and 8. The program has a cute owl mascot that leads your little learner through their lessons.

The lesson pages are very engaging with bright colors and fun animations and sounds. Many giggles commenced as they answered questions and saw how their response triggered sounds and silliness.


While using this program in the beginning my kids were frustrated as they had to listen closely to whether the program wanted them to "type" or "click".  Also the child could not be too quick to respond nor too slow or the program would count it as a wrong answer.  Learning these nuances took time.

I teach reading using the phonics method so the approach the website took was different for my kids.  Avery was doing the mouse and keyboard training and I found that helpful for those skills.
Neil is all ready a proficient reader and seems to be stuck on Level 1 of the program.

The parent can check the progress of the student on the parent tab.  Here is Avery's progress as of this morning.













Reading Kingdom gives you 9 Reasons to sign up.  The pricing is  $199.99 for the year or $19.99 a month.  They offer a free 30 day trial to check them out.

Overall my kids had fun with this program.  If you are looking for a phonics based program than this is not for you.  If your child learns better with Blank's method than this program would be a good fit.  I highly recommend you give the 30 day trial a go before purchasing.
See what my other crew members thought of Reading Kingdom here.

Disclaimer: I received a free one year subscription to Reading Kingdom in exchange for an honest review as a member of the TOS Crew.

Tos Review ~ Math Rider

Saddle up kiddos its time for math!




Do you have a kid who likes horses or quests?  Do they not share the same passion for math drills?  Math Rider will have your kids drilling in their free time.  I never once had to ask any of my kids to launch this program, they were standing in line waiting for their turn!
Math Rider is a downloadable program available for $37 on their website.

Math rider drills addition, subtraction, multiplication and division math facts.  It isn't some drab flashcards popping up on the screen either.  You are a rider on a horse in a magical world, questing for objects.  The screen is colorful as the rider rides through the world answering math facts so the horse can jump hurdles.  My only complaint about the screen is that the equation is small and off to the side, so as the player you don't get to enjoy the scenery because you are concentrating on the equation.  However, those watching you play certainly get the pleasure of it.  Math rider uses every response given to adjust game play.  The horse slows down if the child's answers slow down and speeds up if they are answering quickly.  Parents can go in and see a screen like the one on the right to see where the weaknesses are.  The red indicates trouble areas, green indicates mastery.  The nice thing about math rider is that it drills more of what they are struggling with than those they have mastered.


Although it is a single player game up to ten players can be riders.  When a rider logs in with their password their quest screen pops up.  As they complete more and more quests they earn things like flags, flowers etc.  Up at the top a parent can quickly see how they are doing with rides completed, quests completed and how much math they have accomplished.


I used this program as busy work.  It can easily be done independently by the child after set up.  I preferred to have the sound muted because the horse neighing grated on my nerves after awhile :)  My kids opted for headphones instead.  


All in all this program is a great way to reinforce math facts without the drudgery of flash cards.  My five kids would choose the horses of math rider over mom and paper flashcards any day.  I promise not to take it personally!


Check out what my other crew mates thought of math rider here


Disclaimer:I received a copy of this program free for review purposes only.

TOS REVIEW ~Virtual Nerd

Virtualnerd.com is an online supplement to upper math.  They offer online video tutorials in Pre-Algebra, Algebra I, Algebra II, and an intro to Physics.
We reviewed this product at the Algebra I level for my high schooler.  She found the videos helpful and understandable.  What she found difficult was locating exactly what she needed.  They had a proper search box and a list of topics but it took some trial and error to locate what she needed.  If your student used one of the four textbooks they had listed it was easier to track down what you were looking for.  What I liked about it was the instructors were clear spoken.  They talked through the problem using a white board.  On the right side of the video was the breakdown of the problem.  You could at any time pause the video and check out the right side.  At this time their is no practice sheets for the problems just discussed.  However Vritual Nerd has plans to add practice, quizzes and feedback in Spring 2011.



Virtual Nerd offers several subscriptions.  From $5 for a 24 hour subscription to $49 a month.  It is a fraction of the cost for a private tutor but still seemed quite high for this homeschool parent.

Find out what my crewmates thought of Virtual Nerd here.


Disclaimer: I received a free trial of this service for review purposes only.

TOS REVIEW ~ ALEKS

 

I have 1 math lover, 1 math hater, and 3 math tolerators.  Yep, if you do the math that is 5 kids and only one who is passionate about math, he happens to be in the 2nd grade - working in a 3rd grade level math text at the moment.  So when I pulled up ALEKS for the first time it was my second grader who wanted to try it first.  


What is ALEKS?
From their website... 
Assessment and LEarning in Knowledge Spaces is a Web-based, artificially intelligent assessment and learning system that uses adaptive questioning to quickly and accurately determine exactly what a student knows and doesn't know in a course. ALEKS offers truly individualized instruction that meets the student at her learning level and instructs her on the exact topics that she is most ready to learn. As a result, no two students will experience the same learning path while working in ALEKS. Learn more by watching a quick 2-minute video.


When you first use ALEKS it has you set up a master account for the parent to oversee the student accounts.  You then set up individual student accounts.  When the student gets on it takes them first to an assessment.  I loved the assessment part.  It took the kids through a series of questions and assessed what they knew.  The student has an option of "I haven't learned this yet" button if they haven't learned the concept yet.

After the assessment the student is given a pie.  "My ALEKS Pie" as Neil called it.  In fact he would often say he was going to go "eat some ALEKS pie" and he would log himself on.  The pie shows both parent and student what they have mastered and what they need to work on further.  The student can select a topic to work on.  ALEKS then has them do a few questions and if they master it they move on. ALEKS works towards mastery, it isn't just a one right answer - you know it deal.

I liked several aspects of ALEKS for all my kids.  The assessment was good.  The pie gave them visual of their accomplishments and what they needed to work on.  The questions gave them an "explain" option where the problem was explained in detail, then another question of the same type was offered for them to solve on their own.  Like I said earlier my math lover loved ALEKS and considered it a  treat to log on.  My math tolerators tolerated ALEKS.  They found the interface enjoyable enough though to come back to it once or twice so I could see how the program worked.  My math hater is just really hating math right now.  The nice thing about ALEKS for her was to show her her pie and just how much Algebra she really knew. I can see ALEKS being a huge asset as a tutor to the upper level math programs.  


Overall ALEKS is a good program with an easy interface, good customer service.
Subscription for an individual child is $19.95 a month.
ALEKS offers a family discount for more than one student for either the 6 month or 12 month time frame here.


The button below gives you a free one month trial of ALEKS!  This is a great way to see if ALEKS is for your family.  Their website only offers 3 hours of use in a 48 hour period so click the button below to get started.



See what my fellow crew mates thought of ALEKS here.
Disclaimer:  I received a free trial period of Aleks for review purposes only

TOS REVIEW ~ Master Ruler

Do your kids ever get frustrated using a ruler?  Do all those lines confuse them?  While grading the young ones math do you discover they used the centimeter side rather than the inch side?  Well the master ruler will help with all that!

The Master Ruler is several  clear plastic rulers that are bound together.  The clear plastic helps one with seeing through the ruler.  A huge plus for little ones trying to manipulate a ruler on a math sheet.  The several rulers are actually different measurements.  For example on the inch ruler you have a 1/2, 1/4, 1/8, and a 1/16 ruler.  To eliminate the lines for the smaller dimensions if you child is merely looking for inches then you just open it up to the inch.  As you teach the smaller ones you can add them in.  It gives the kids a great visual that a 1/2 inch is 1/2 of an inch and so on.  They also carry a metric ruler as well. Both are available for $9.95 each.

Along with the two rulers I received Master Innovations also sent along a work book (pictured above) and a measurement poster ( pictured below).  The workbook has lots of fun worksheets that encourage the use of the ruler while introducing the various measurements.  Listed in the upper corner of the worksheet is the measurement used for example on the "Birds of Beauty" page it indicates 1/2 inch.  This workbook provides  a lot of ruler work.  The 24 page workbook is available for $15.95.  The poster that was sent has made a great addition to our school room wall.  It shows length, capacity and weight.  It also gives kids some reference points as to how big an inch is.  

The Master Ruler is available through Master Innovations website.  Also on the website you will find videos that show how to use the ruler and how to use it to help teach fractions.  Overall I think the master ruler is a good tool to have in the classroom.

Check out what my crew mates thought of the Master Ruler here. 

Disclaimer:  I received a free copy of the product for review purposes.

TOS Review ~ Collectorz.com

I have a problem.  My children, all five of them, have a problem.  My husband funds our problem.  However this is not a problem you will see portrayed on any of your daytime talk shows.  Nope this is a problem most homeschoolers have..... books and lots of them!  I heart books.  I have loved books since I was little.  I used to polish off Nancy Drew's in 2 hours.  It was hard to keep me in books and it is hard to keep my kids in books.  So the problem lies in how to keep track of what books we own or don't own when we head to the book store.
The solution came via this review product.  Collectorz.com offers a downloadable program for Mac or PC that will help you organize your book collection. Phone apps are available too.  They also have programs for movies, music, comic books, and games.  Book Collector standard edition is $29.95 while the pro edition is $49.95.

I quickly downloaded the program, typed in my license code for the pro version and got started entering ISBN numbers into it.  The program is easy to use.  After doing manual input without a number pad I went ahead and ordered the cue cat scanner from them.  It arrived incredibly fast and has made input a whole lot quicker (once I discovered the barcodes on the inside of the books are more accurate)  My kids have been bringing me stacks of books off their personal shelves as well as the books we are currently using in school.  The search function is fast and almost 100% accurate.  I can organize them into folders of my choosing according the tag I give them.  I can also indicate on which bookshelf they are located on.  More features can be found here.  I also like that I can print a copy of our books for insurance purposes. This product is very well thought out for the collector.

You can try book collector for free up to 100 books.
In a household that loves books this is a great program to have to keep track of what you have.  You can also indicate if you loaned out a book and to whom.
Crazy book lovers can see their collections on screen with Collectorz.com
See what my crew members thought of Collectorz.com on the crew blog

Disclaimer: I received a free copy of this product for review purposes.

TOS Review : Schleich

Christmas in August!  That is exactly what my kids thought when my review package of Schleich figurines showed up on our porch one afternoon.  Exactly 5 new fans of these figurines have been born.

Included in my package were
•Swabian-Hall Piglet
•Okapi
•Donkey
•Gnu Calf
•Gnu
•Przewalkski's Horse 
•Dartmoor Pony
•Indian Elephant Calf

These animals are hand painted, containing great detail to each figurine.  The weight of the figurines is what surprised me.  I am used to light weight flimsy figures where over a short amount of time a trunk breaks off or a leg bends and snaps.  Schleich figures are solid, with a good weight to them.  Schleich figures are geared towards the 3 and up crowd, fitting nicely in a small child's hand.  The details of each animal are amazing. It gave my kids the ability to really explore the animal without being around the life sized one.

There are many things you can do with these animals.  For instance my little ones ages 6 and 7 began imaginative play with them.  I also let them choose one to play quietly with while I did a read aloud.  My older kids were fighting over the color catalog that came with them, choosing which ones to spend allowance on.  My 14 year old was particularly taken with the magical collection of fairies that they offer since she collects fairy figurines.  The prices vary for the animals and other pieces.

One thing I enjoyed was on the Schleich.com site specifically.  You can look up any animal they sell and it will give you its zoological name, conservation status and global home.  Also listed with the specific animal is a blurb about that particular breed along with a fun fact.  This could be a fun activity for kids to look up different animals to help them classify them or dig deeper on a specific animal.  My 12 year old spent some time checking out all the different information they offered on the various horse breeds.  Local retailers sell them, use the locator on their site to find one near you.  You can also find them at online retailers.  We purchased some at Amazon.com for stocking stuffers this Christmas.

Schleich figures are a great toy.  When you see one in person you can see the painting detail.  This is one company I will turn to for quality toys for all the kids in my life.

You can see what my other crewmates thought of Schleich figures here.

Disclaimer: I received these 8 figurines for free for review purposes only.

TOS Review: Salem Ridge Press

Salem Ridge Press sent me one paperback book and two E-Books to review. Salem Ridge Press is committed to wholesome moral books.  They describe themselves on their website as "Salem Ridge Press is a publishing company, established in 2005, dedicated to bringing back quality children’s books of the 1800’s and early 1900’s for a new generation of readers. We strive to republish wholesome "living books" for the whole family, and we hope that you enjoy these books as much as we have! "  Their website has a large list of historical fiction.  
Two of the books were by Emma Leslie, an 18th century author.  Salem Ridge Press has republished her historical fiction 12 book series on church history.

  From Bondage to Freedom was the first book I chose to read.  From Bondage to Freedom is a historical fiction book about the rise of Islam.  At first the book was hard to get into.  The old English wording took some time to adjust to.  After awhile though it became easier to read.  The characters in the book drew you in to their plight.  The character Aseeyah especially caught my interest as she began the book as an outcast due to her blindness but ends up being a leader of her tribe sought for her wisdom.  Asseyah becomes a Christian but all around her is the pagan religion of the Arabic tribes and a new religion being proclaimed by Mohammed.  The story line follows several characters and bounces between the three.  It also switches between Mecca and Constantinople.  This book is obviously written from a Christian perspective.  Not being a scholar of Islam or having much knowledge myself of how that religion came about I can not speak to the historical authenticity of the book.  However the author does a good job of drawing you into the cultural difficulties of the time.  The book is geared towards ages 12- adult but I think I would wait until high school to introduce this book.  From Bondage to Freedom can be purchased in soft cover for $14.95.  Hardcover is available from Salem Ridge Press.

Before the Dawn is another of Emma Leslie's books on Church History.  It is available for  $14.95 for softcover at Salem Ridge Press or in E-Book format from The Old SchoolHouse Store.  This particular book is church history surrounding the times of Wycliffe and Huss.  Again the language is of old but after reading the first book of hers I was more accustomed to it.  Some vocabulary words are defined as footnotes at the bottom of the page to aid the reader in better understanding.  This book pulled me in right away, perhaps because From Bondage to Freedom had warmed me up to the author's style of writing.

Marie's Home available for $12.95 for softcover is written by Caroline Austin.  This particular book is geared towards the 10-adult age range.  So I gave this E-book version, available at www.theoldschoolhousestore.com,  to my 12 year old daughter to read while waiting for her sister to finish choir.  My girls are hard to keep in books, if you know what I mean. so I printed it out (several pages per sheet) and sent her on her way.  She wrote her own review of the book.
My 12 year olds review of Marie's Home

I liked this book because there were very few dull moments, and you saw Marie grow and mature as she told her history. The only thing I did not like was that there were a few vague points where you did not really know what was happening, until Marie addressed the event afterwards (usually telling her thoughts, feelings, opinions, etc.) You did not know what had happened when a person suddenly dropped from the story line. On the other hand, it had quite a lot of historical insight. The story was set a little before and after the French Revolution, from 1789-1793. It showed all different sides of the story, the French Nobles, King Louis  XIV and Marie Antoinette, and last but not least, the peasants. As Marie and her family happened to be in the French Court as a Noble family and favorites of the King and Queen, things do not bode well for them. But an act of kindness committed by Marie upon their arrival at the French court saves them in an unusual way. The title “Marie’s Home” comes from the fact that Marie and her family move from place to place in England and France but every time they come back to the one place they call home. I would recommend this book for ages twelve and up. All in all it was a great book, and I really enjoyed it. 

I enjoyed these living books from Salem Ridge Press and will definitely add them as a resource when looking for more historical fiction for my children.  They have the entire series from Emma Leslie, plus books on World History and American History.  These books that I reviewed were for an older set but if you check out the reviews of Salem Ridge Press by my fellow crew mates that can be found here you will find reviews of some of the books published for the younger set as well.

These three titles are available at The Old Schoolhouse Store in E-book format

Disclaimer: I received a hard copy of Bondage to Freedom an E-book of Marie's Home and Before the Dawn for free for review purposes only

TOS Review: Vocabulary Cartoons

mnemonic |nəˈmänik|nouna device such as a pattern of letters, ideas, or associations that assists in remembering something.

Mnemonics is the exact thing that Vocabulary Cartoons utilizes in the book Vocabulary Cartoons SAT Word Power.  This book is geared for 7-12th graders, although when it arrived in the mail for me to review there was fighting amongst my kids grades 2, 5, 7 and 9 as to who got to read it first!  For $12.95 this book offers over 290 vocabulary words.    Each page has one vocabulary word.  This word is the word intended to be memorized.  Beneath each word is it's phonetic pronunciation, part of speech and definition.  Also under the vocab word is it's link word, a word that links it to the cartoon.  Then you have the cartoon.  Under that you have the caption which uses both the vocab word and it's link word.  A few sample sentences using the vocabulary word follow the caption.  You can follow this link to see how it works.  Below you will find an example from the website

My kids would grab up this book in their spare time and look over the words.  They really enjoyed the format for each word.  The cartoon usually had them snickering to themselves.  Most words required  calling over a sibling to let them in on the cartoon and caption.  The funny thing is while they were laughing over the cartoon and caption they were actually absorbing the true definition of the word!  Fun, easy learning.

For the most part, I just have this book handy in our school room for them to pick up at leisure, however when I was met with a particularly snippy 7th grader I presented her with the book to work on the first 10 vocabulary words.  The requirement was for her to take the review quiz and earn a 100% in order to relieve her of other vocabulary work.  She aced the review.  Even several weeks later she can still tell me which each one means as she recalls the cartoon.  My goal is to present a few of these words each month reviewing the previous ones in the process.  I figure by the time SAT time rolls around they will have a good grasp on the vocabulary words.

I love the concept of Vocabulary Cartoons.  It works for several types of learning styles.  The vocabulary words are presented in such a fun manner that you can't help but learn the word.  This is one book we will keep handy as we approach the years leading up to the SAT. 

Vocabulary Cartoons also has books for elementary as well as a second volume for middle - high school.

Disclaimer: I received a free copy of Vocabulary Cartoons for review purposes only.

TOS Review: Vantage Learning My Access! Home Edition

Ugh!  That is my immediate reaction when faced with assigning a writing assignment to my kids.  I don't enjoy formal writing and I sure don't enjoy grading it!  In fact when I received this review I was dreading it.  I felt my back against the essay wall.

To be honest my older girls (who were my testers) were not that thrilled either.

My Access Home Edition from Vantage Learning however changed a few of our minds.  My Access is an online writing program.  The program is $129.95 for up to 6 students per year.  They also have an option for up to 3 students for $99.95.  For this fee you get access to the online writing center.   My Access! has writing prompts offered for up to three age groups, 8-10, 11-14, 15-18.  The parent has an account and each kid has their own login and password as well.  In the parent center you set up the child's account.  Also in this area you can choose to have progress reports emailed to you each week and set point goals for your child.  There is a huge list of writing prompts available for the student to choose from, but the parent can also create a topic.  I implemented this program in our homeschool by having my girls sit down with the program for about 30 minutes twice a week.  

My 14 year old is not so keen on writing.  She went through the self-paced pre-writing exercises begrudgingly.  As she went through the pre-writing exercises though there was a writing guide she could print out and refer to.  The pre-writing used a nice interface of a journalist gathering info.  It kept her somewhat motivated to get through the initial exercises.  

My 12 year old daughter enjoyed the program.  Well I should rephrase that... she tolerated the program until her final submission of her first essay.  I walked in the door one evening after she had drafted, submitted, corrected and then resubmitted her paper and she was beaming from the top of the stairs.  I asked what was up and she proclaimed that she was "advanced proficient" in all five of the areas the program scores in.  That made her day.  Here is a screen shot of her progress

What I like most about this program was the step by step approach it took to introducing writing.  It didn't just assign a topic and leave you with a blank page.  It "held your hand" helping you build the essay.  What I loved about this program was it's grading process.  It took my daughter's essay and highlighted every grammar, spelling, punctuation, and syntax error.  It then allowed her to hover over the highlighted error for corrections listing what was wrong with the particular phrase or section of the paper.  

I'm hoping to incorporate My Access! Home Edition into more of our writing lessons.  I feel it has valuable resources in the writing guide as well as in the correction phase of the writing.  The cost for three students is reasonable.

See what other crew members had to say about My Access! here.

Disclaimer: I received this product for free as a member of the TOS Crew for review purposes.