Santa was good to our family.

I can almost see the floor and it has only been 3 days since Christmas.  Santa sure was good to our family.   Bella got everything she asked for and more.  She got an American Girl Doll and clothes, DS game, Wii game, swimming puppy, clothes and several other things.  Griffin got 2 DS games (that was what he asked for), a Wii game, Nerf Vulcan gun (which is really cool), clothes, and more.    David got clothes, winter hat, ball hat, and a heated blanket for his car.  He also got some great pj’s that look like jeans. 

 

I got a new external hard drive, clothes and a new hair straightener.    I am now trying to get the hard drive to work.  It says it has a Terrabyte of storage.  I thought that was a dinosaur but guess not?   I am so far behind in the computer age.  The only reason I wanted one was so I don’t lose the pictures on my computer.  I never have time or the money to print them all but I would be devastated if I lost them.    Hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas as well.  What a great way to celebrate the birth of our Savior, us getting gifts. 

 

Off to take a nap.  Happy New Year!

Maestro – TOS review

I love the idea of adding music to a story and the people at Maestro Classics have done a great job of doing this by adding symphony orchestra music to classic stories.    They are brought to you by Stephen Simon and Bonnie Ward Simon who both have an extensive background in music.  

Here is what the website has to say about their products.

Maestro Classics™ is the ambassador of great music for both children and adults, helping them experience the art form in new and exciting ways. Through wondrous new recordings, innovative educational and performance materials, and uplifting live performances, Maestro Classics™ guides audiences as they expand their listening horizons and discover the magic that can only be called music.

Our family received The Tortoise and the Hare to review as part of the TOS crew.   You can visit their website to see all of the titles that are available.  They also have a Spanish version available for a story called Juanita, the Spanish Lobster.  

My kids really enjoyed listening to The Tortoise and the Hare.  These are a great way to incorporate classical music into your curriculum.  Honestly, we would probably not listen any of this unless it is introduced this way.  We are just not a family that listens to classical music.   While the kids were listening they each drew their version of what they thought the animals in this story looked like.   Both pictures were adorable.  We also received really cute bookmarks.  The CD came with a booklet that had the words to the songs in the CD that had my kids singing hilariously throughout the day.   They were also a couple of activities to continue the lessons. 

 

The CD’s are available at the website magicmaestromusic.com.  Each one is $16.98 which I think is a little expensive.  Right now you can enter the coupon code MAESTRO45 and you can get 3 CD’s for $45.00 which helps to make it a little more cost effective.   I found the animated website to be cute and easy to navigate.   You can see samples of the music here. 

Overall, we really liked this CD and would enjoy listening to other titles from this company. 

Please note that I received a free copy of the CD, “The Tortoise and the Hare” in exchange for my honest opinion in this review.  No other compensation was provided to me. 

Mathletics – TOS review

Mathletics is a really neat website where you are able to learn math concepts, play games and compete against other players all over the world.   I was able to get a trial membership as part of the TOS crew in order to do this review.   3P learning is the publishers behind the Mathletics website.

The first week that we used this, the kids just did the lessons for their level and played a few games.  The second week is when it got really exiting.  Every year Mathletics is the host of the American Math Challenge  where kids from all over the world can compete against each other.  They also are the host of World Math Day. 

Below is a look at one of the questions for fractions.   If the student doesn’t understand the concept, he can click on the question mark to get a detailed explanation of how the problem is done. 

You can view what curriculum is available for each grade level at mathletics.com.   After your child finishes each grade, you can change grade levels (up to 6 times per year).   Mathletics recommends that children should use it 3-5 times per week for maximum results.  My kids both enjoyed the certificates that you can print after each level is complete.   They also loved shopping for new online accessories after earning points for their characters.    They also enjoyed playing math games that are available through RainForest math that is included with the membership.   My daughter finished all of the first grade math concepts in just a couple of sittings.  She really loved watching her points add up. 

Although Mathletics was initially a program used only in schools, I am thrilled that they have broadened out to include homeschoolers.   You can view a 6 page homeschooling brochure here.   This would also be great for any student who needs help in math or just likes to play math games on the computer. 

The parents have their own login in name and can access all of the students progress and even assign certain topics if the students needs help in a certain area.  There are a variety of workbooks that parents have access to that can be downloaded and printed for extra practice. We found these to be very fun and great math worksheets.  They will be adding many more worksheets in the near future and I personally can’t wait to have access to these.   We did have a lot of problems when we tried to access these when using Mozilla Firefox as our web browser.  When we used Internet Explorer there was no problem at all.  Not sure what the deal is there but we were glad to be able to solve this problem  so easily. 

As of now, they have grades Kindergarten through Eighth and you can get a yearly student membership for $59 per child.  Right now if you enter the human calculators favorite number (it’s 9) you can save $10 off of the individual student price making it $49 for a year.   Although this sounds a bit pricey to me, the website is very fun and probably worth the money.  My kids both enjoyed it very much. 

Please note I received a 45 day subscription to Mathletics in exchange for my honest opinion in this review.  No other compensation was provided to me.   Thank you and Happy Homeschooling!

Tektoma – TOS review

 

My family received a 3 month subscription to Tektoma as part of the TOS crew.  We had never heard of this company so I had to research what it was all about.  Tektoma is a website that offers you the ability to make your own video game.   There are several types of games that you can make including a racing or memory game.  My son loves video games so I was hoping that this would be a great way for him to learn more about creating his own games.  This proved to be a little too technical for him.  Before you can start to make your own game, you must download GameMaker and we found this to be a little difficult.  It took us several tries to get everything downloaded and ready to try. 

After getting the software downloaded, Griffin got through the first couple parts of the tutorial.   These are the best thing about Tektoma for us.  Each game comes with very explicit tutorials that walk you through each step of the gaming process.   The racing game tutorial is one hour and 23 minutes and is considered a beginner level.   Griffin did not finish the complete tutorial because he kept having trouble opening files.   We are going to try to figure out what is wrong so that he can complete the racing game.   

You are also given the opportunity to play games that others have made.  We did spend some time exploring this part of the website.  

You can see why parents and children choose Tektoma by visiting their website here.  It is reasonably priced at $14.95 per month or you can pay $140 for an entire year of access to all of the tutorials and online forums.  

I really liked that Tektoma is a safe online environment children.   All materials, projects and forums are moderated for appropriate content, language and graphics that are suitable for even young children.

Tektoma’s website has this to say about what they offer:

• Engaging video tutorials for ages 7-17
• Tutorials of varying skill levels and topics
• Learn at your own pace in the comfort of your home
• Natural progression helps develop technical skills
• Customize your learning experience
• Low monthly membership fee gives access to all our resources
• New curriculums available monthly

So, even though we didn’t quite make our own video game yet, we are looking forward to completing this before our gift subscription runs out.   If your kids want to learn the ins and outs of video gaming, check out Tektoma.

Please note that I was given a 3 month subscription to Tektoma in exchange for my honest opinion in this review.  No other compensation was given.

Carnival of Homeschool

Please check out this weeks Carnival of Homeschool where I have a post included in the Christmas Ornament Edition.  

 

Merry Christmas!!

All About Spelling – TOS review

I have always been good at spelling. It just comes naturally to me. I never studied for spelling tests and could still pretty much get all of the words correct every time. . The t-shirt above is one that I had when I was in high school. I thought it was hilarious. I bet if I had trouble spelling, I wouldn't have thought it was quite as funny. (Okay, I probably still would have).

Unfortunately, my children did not inherit this gift. They have to go over and over words before they can spell them correctly. We did not start spelling with my 10 year old son until his 3rd grade year in school. I really wanted him to be able to read well before we threw spelling into the mix. Because of this, he is having a hard time with spelling. He can usually figure out the words because he can tell if a word is correct by looking at it. It just takes him a few tries to get it. When we received All About Spelling to review for the TOS crew, I was excited. Could this be just what we were looking for in our curriculum?

All About Spelling is a multi-sensory, logical spelling program that leaves no gaps in your child’s learning. It is based on mastery, not grade level which is great for us. It also has constant review in the lessons. Even though I had ever intention of using this with my son, he has been working on writing a novel and spelling kind of took a back seat these last couple of months. So, we started this with my daughter who is 6. She is coming along quickly with reading. She actually amazes me with the words she can sound out and also the ones she recognizes instantly. She is really enjoying using this program.

We started at the beginning with level 1. When I asked her what her favorite part of spelling was she answered “sounding out the words with the magnet things”. She advanced quickly though this level and we are getting ready to start Level 2. Here is what Level 1 covers:

How to say and write the first 32 phonograms

How to segment words into their individual sounds

Short and long vowel sounds

How to identify and count syllables in a word

How to choose between c and k at the beginning of a word

When to double f, l, and s

How to spell /k/ at the end of a word

How to form plural words by adding s or es

Compound words

Open and closed syllable types

You can see what all of the levels cover here. They offer five levels at this time with level 6 coming out soon. In order to use this program you will need to purchase the Starter Kit which includes letter tiles, magnets and a phonogram CD. Honestly, we didn’t use the letter tiles that came with the program. We had purchased a reading program that has magnetic tiles and this is what we used. With the ones that come with All About Spelling, you have to cut all the letters out and attach the magnets on the back of them. This was too time consuming for me when I already had the other letters available. The only difference was that the ones we have do not have all of the colors (which stand for different things). I personally think the ones that come with this are cheaply made. The starter Kit is $26.95.

Bella loved playing with the tiles and learning to spell using these. It seems like more of a game than learning which helps a lot. This is great for hands-on learners.

Each level of All About Spelling is affordable with level 1 costing $29.95 and the remaining levels $39.95. You can also purchase extra student material packets for $14.95.

All in all, this is a good spelling curriculum. We will continue to use this with my daughter and may incorporate it into my son’s curriculum as well.

You can read more about this by checking out what the other crew members have to say at homeschoolblogger.com/Homeschoolcrew.

Please note, I received this curriculum at not cost in exchange for my honest opinion in this review. No other compensation was provided.

Free Printable Advent Calendar

Good Morning everyone. Just wanted to give you the opportunity to download a free Advent Calendar for your family. I bet your kids will love this family tradition as much as mine do. It's a great way to celebrate the countdown to the birth of Jesus. (Oh yeah, and Santa Claus too.) It is brought to you by Kids Corner. Enjoy! Check back soon for more free offers. I am going to try to put a new Freebie every day. Merry Christmas!

Free Printable Advent Calendar