Early Modern History Schedule

The following review is for an Early Modern History Schedule. For those of you who have thought of history as boring, I highly encourage you to take a look at this history schedule.
 It is structured around The Well Trained Mind: A Guide to Classical Education at Home by Susan Wise Bauer.  This schedule lays out the day to day lesson plans for 36 weeks and includes a list of suggested curriculum choices, book lists and materials shopping list.  Each of the week's lesson includes review questions and an answer key. There are helpful icons included on each week's page spreadsheet of assignments that help the teacher to quickly see when  activites are scheduled. Some of those activities include a mapping exercise, history summary, history songs and reading narration. 
The Content for this schedule includes:
7 week unit on the Explorers
5 week unit on the 13 Colonies
8 week unit on Colonial Americ
5 week unit "Road to Independence"
11 week unit on the American Revolution. 

Each week's lessons also include assignments from other Easy Classical Resources that need to be purchased separately. 

I enjoyed implementing the schedule alongside the history program I was using.  It was very organized and easy to read and easy to use.  I would recommend it to those using the classical and non classical approach.  One certainly does not have to be using the classical method to implement this history schedule. 
The digital copy price is 29.95.
The Notebook version is 35.95
This history schedule is 106 pages an is intended for grades K-6.



I received a  digital copy for free for review purposes only.  The opinions expressed are solely my own.

Give Away-- A Beautiful Fresh Wreath

A Wise Woman Builds  is giving away a beautiful fresh wreath to one lucky winner.  To enter click here.

Our Land Publications Review

I recently had the opportunity to review My Texas by Our Land Publications. I wasn't sure what to expect at first.  History is such an interesting subject and yet it can come across so dry and dull through many curriculums.  However, this certainly was not the case with My Texas.

What I immediately noticed was its chronological order and how well organized it was put together.  As I read through the introductory, it gave a great overview for steps to success with it.  The teacher's manual came in a white binder put together and ready to use and provided an overview of all the lessons. 

The lessons are in the form of a news article.  Each issue's size is equivalent to two sheets of 8.5 X11 paper with information on the front and back.  Within that space, one textbook chapter is actually covered, but because it is kept informal and succinct it is interesting and does not come across dry or boring.   The issues are numbered  so it allows for easy planning.  I simply made a lesson file by taking number dividers through 25 and adding each issue to its appropriate divider.  The great thing was it tied in perfectly with our American history study as well. It touched upon the same explorers we were studying about in American history. 

Some of the great things about this program are:
Structure:  It presents everything chronologically
Organization: Everything came put together.
User Friendly:
Hands on (the student will write in it and assemble it in their own folder, binder or envelope (which promotes ownership) The author's goal is to make them feel it is truly "My Texas" or whichever state they are studying.
Encourages discussion (through the use of the questions)
Issues are divided into bite sized teachings
Topics are presented informaly and interestingly
Provides copies of maps, charts and drawings

The age level recommendation is upper elementary or middle school class (in which the  study of Texas state history is focused on.)  My 8 and 10 yr old are using it  and they are enjoying it very much.

I can not think of how to improve this program so far.  We have obviously not finished it but I am extremely impressed with what I have seen of it so far.  I would highly recommend this to anyone looking for a state history program. 

Other states are offered as well such as My California, My Illinois, My Indiana and a Land of Liberty in various set accomodations.
The price for the set of the  teacher's manual and all  25 Issues of My Texas was $179.00.   Individual pieces can also be purchased separately here.


 I was given a set of My Texas for review purposes only.  The opinons expressed here are solely my own.

Talking Fingers Review

I received the opportunity to review Talking Fingers for The OldSchool House.  Initially I was concerned that my children would be unable to use it because of their age.  However, I found out it is designed for children K-3rd grade. 

Talking Fingers is based on the idea that text is speech made visible.  When children begin to link speech sounds to letters they can use the alphabet to write the sounds.  "Their fingers are talking"

The Read, Write, Type Learning System costs $79.00 for the Home Edition on CD.  If you have multiple children that will be using this program then it may be the best way to go.
Otherwise the individual pricing is as follows.
                                 $35.00 1 user
                                 $55.00 2 users
                                 $70.00 3 users
                                 $85.00 4 users
                               $100.00 5 users
The one year subscription includes over 90 games, typing lessons, animated stories, and writing samples.   It includes, phonics, spelling, keyboarding and word processing to help the child/student make the connection.  I received the online version and had my middle child try it out.  She really liked it.  It has a storyline of two hands (Lefty and Rightway) trying to defeat a villain named Vexor.  It enables the student to learn proper hand positions and the program grows in complexity as the children learn more letters and sounds to create words. 

LanSchool Technology Review

Lanschool is a computer program that allows you to interact with your student(s) using a computer for classroom work.

*Reduces Distractions for Student: It helps eliminate many distractions that can interfere with a student completing his work by limiting web browsing on student computers and blanking screens. It also can help eliminate distractions such as games and messaging.
*Monitors Students: It helps monitor student activity within a classroom setting. Teachers have the ability to send messages to the students and allows all screens to be viewed with the current application running.
* Assess Student Understanding: Students can be polled during a lecture with true/false or multiple choice questions.
*Individual help:  Students can silently request help from the teacher by submitting a question that appears on their computer screen along with a question mark to alert the teacher there is a question or help is needed.
*Monitor Internet History :  Monitor all history
* Screen snapshot: Provides a snapshot of student's current computer screen. Parent/teacher are able to easily see if they are on task.
*Limit Printing:  Print options can be disabled on any of the computers set up with it.
*Web Limiting:  Limit website accessiblity

The goal of LanSchool is to help educators teach more effectively with innovative software solutions.

It is priced at 99.00 for the home version.  I phone or I pad apps are available for free at the I tunes store.

I think this is an excellent product for a homeschool that has students doing a good amount of work from their computer or for an older student.  Currently my children do not do schoolwork from a computer so it did not fit our needs at this time.  However, I can certainly see it coming in very handy in the future with multiple children as they begin to use the computer on a more regular basis.




*****I was offered this product at no charge for review purposes only. 

New Monic: Vocabulary Cartoons Review

Schleich Animal Figurines: Review

Our family recently had the opportunity to review a collection of Schleich animal figurines for The Old Schoolhouse Magazine. If you think you have never heard of the name Schleich you may be surprised to learn that you have probably seen the toy figurine collection.

Even before I had the privilege of reviewing them, my children had spotted them in the toy aisle at Target and clamored for some. The word "toys" doesn't adequately describe them. They are high quality, very detailed, hand painted play figurines. They are not your typical lightweight cheap plastic (which if your children are like mine) can be destroyed quickly. Instead, these are very sturdy and weighted.

We received 8 figurines. Two horses and a pony, which my girls loved and quickly wanted to use with their Polly Pockets. A donkey, a Swabian-Hall piglet, an adult and calf Gnu, and an Asian elephant calf. My little one picked them up and decided he would build a barn for them with his Lincoln Logs. They entertained him for a long time which is hard to do.

As we browsed through their catalog we saw the large assortment they had to offer. It wasn't just animals, although there was a large assortment of those that would be very beneficial for a geography study especially considering the catalog describes which continent each animal is from. However, they also offer knights, smurfs, dinosaurs, dragons, fairies, dogs, cats and much much more. My children enjoyed looking through the catalog just as much as playing with the figurines. Each of my childrent  took turns choosing  which one they would like to get next.

Photos will be posted soon so that you may see some of the details for yourself. The Schleich website does not sell directly so prices will vary by store. Target and Toys R Us carries a good selection of them.

I have been very pleased with them and my children love them. I will definitely be purchasing more as birthday and Christmas gifts.

Salem Ridge Press Review

Anyone that knows me, knows that I devour books. I remember as a small child, before I could even read, being entertained for hours through books. As I grew older, I was fortunate enough to have access to good quality literature. Seeking the same for my own children has proven to be a bit difficult. Many times the books I seek are out of print and difficult to find and if they are found they are normally asking a pretty penny for them. So imagine my delight when I received 3 books from Salem Ridge Press to review for The Old School House Magazine.

Salem Ridge Press Company (just under 5 yrs old) was founded by Daniel Mills, an homeschool graduate himself. It was after a couple of particular reads that were out of print that Mr. Mills was inspired to start his own company to reprint similar quality books that were no longer being printed. He wanted to provide others with the same exposure to quality literature as he had been blessed with. I was drawn to this company not only for the access to great literature but also because it is built on a biblical foundation.

Philippians 4:8 captures the thinking and motives behind their company.Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things.

Our family strives to read living books and this company can easily provide just that. However, even if you are a family that schools with just textbooks or doesn't school at home, you will find these books to be a rich asset to your read alouds. The books can be purchased through Salem Ridge Press. The prices vary depending on whether its a soft or hard cover (ranging from 12.95-24.95) They also provide a link for purchasing e books.

One of the books I reviewed was Soldier Fritz and the Enemies He Fought.

It is an historical fiction, taking place during The Reformation. It's the story of a young boy and his birthday gift (a bible which was illegal to own at the time) that learns to fight battles of pride and accepting consequences. Fritz's family is forced to go into hiding to avoid being thrown into prison for owning a bible. At that time, the church felt that only the Clergy should own their own scriptures to read and therefore disapproved of Martin Luther and his ideas. My children loved this book as did I. It is recommended for ages 8 to adult.

The other two books were e-books. One titled Mary Jane Her Visit and The American Twins of the Revolution.

Both were excellent reads.

Mary Jane Her Visit, captured my daughter's attention. I even found them role playing 5 yr old Mary Jane on her great grandma's farm. It's a sweet story recommended for ages 6-10. This version differs from the Project Gutenberg Version. However, Salem Ridge Press made their revisions to bring the book up to their standard. Some people, like me, like careful ommissions for subject matter that may be a bit questionable. Others however, do not like edited books. However, I did not think that it took away from the book in any way.

Lastly, there is The American Twins of the Revolution. This, like Soldier Fritz is an historical fiction, telling the story of twins (a brother and sister) who help hide a shipment of gold from the British in order to help General Washington pay his discouraged troops. This book is also recommended for ages 8 to adult.

All three books were excellent reads. Salem Ridge Press has 27 titles in print with a variety for different ages. I highly recommend this company.


Disclosure: I received a print copy of the book Soldier Fritz and e-books of Mary Jane- Her Visit and The American Twins of the Revolution for review purposes only.

Give A Way--- at A Wise Woman Builds.

A Wise Woman Builds is having a give away for an Lilla Rose flexi clip. What is a flexi clip you might ask? Its a flexible (hence the name) clip that wraps around your hair so that it can be pulled up in a variety of ways. They offer an assortment of styles and in addition have an 0-ring used for a pony tail. They also offer pins and jewelry. Those that have used the )-rings and flexi clip say they stay put in your hair all day. I haven't tried them yet but am eagerly awaiting my order. Here's the link. Go check it out for yourself. Good Luck!

http://proverbs14verse1.blogspot.com/2010/09/charming-and-elegant-lilla-rose-flexi.html

Math Essentials

Math Essentials (www.americasmathteacher.com)is a math website that provides learning, exercise, evaluation and resource centers. It also provides speed drills along with basic, advanced, pre-algebra, and algebra math.
I had the opportunity to review the basic math course which was geared for 4th and 5th graders. The topics included in the Course 1 were, whole numbers, fractions, decimals, geometry, integers, number theory, algebra, charts and graphs, probability and statistics and word problems. My daughter is just beginning 4th grade and is not at a fourth grade math level at the time of this review therefore, we mainly just tried out the printed exercises for whole numbers. They were pretty thorough and provided plenty of practice. The website also provided quizzes, exams and video lessons. Because of my daughter's level we were not able to take advantage of all the resources provided. I wish that they had a version for students under 4th grade. However, those resources that we were able to use worked very well. The price for the homeschool membership is $195.00 for the year. The education memberships are as low as $1.00 per student. Given all that is included in the membership I thought that was a fair price especially if it is used with multiple students.

*I was given this material free of charge for review purposes only.

TOS Review-Peterson Directed Handwriting

 Peterson Directed Handwriting  is not just another cursive or print handwriting program as I thought it would be.

It is a program that uses different colors in the strokes of the individual letters to help them learn the movement sequence and a chant or jingle to help them remember how the movement sequence goes. They provide E-workbooks to let you lead and print your own lesson pages from Acrobat Reader. The size of the worksheets are smaller and deliberately designed to fit the size of the child. This allows the child to hold the paper correctly and write easier and properly on the paper. They also have the Wacom Digital Tablet software if you pefer that route. Their goal is to allow the child to learn to write using their memory rather than draw from tracing or trying to match what they are seeing. And then finally, formulate that properly onto paper.

Many children usually have established habits of wanting to draw letters rather than write them but PDH teaches them to engage the motor system by not actually writing on paper at first. The chant or jingle they provide creates a beat and challenges the child to move with rhythm when practicing.

For example, the letter "d" would have the curved part in green and the stem part in brown. The child would say "poke around" as they drew the curve and say "tall down" as they drew the stem part of the letter "d". The child first practices this by writing it in the air. These steps teach a top down, left to right process vs. down up (as found in most tracing programs). PDH has a link to a video that explains why tracing may do more harm than good when learning to write. While PDH has many tips and information, there are four main steps they teach to enable the child to learn to write.

They are the following:

Step 1: Illustrate and Describe

Step 2: Write in the air and say

Step3: Finger trace and say

Step 4: Write and Say

My children loved this program. We are continuing to practice it. Peterson Directed Handwriting provides a way to review the childs progress as well. The Print version has Pre-K through Grade 4. The staff is very helpful. Rand Nelson was available by phone and internet to answer any of my questions. I would highly recommend this program to anyone searching for a handwriting program. The cost of this program is $75.00 each for PDF hand print or cursive or you may purchase the combo for $125.00.


I was offered this resource free of charge for review purposes only.

The Girlhood Home Companion Magazine

Raising Homemakers http://raisinghomemakers.com is doing a give away for “The Girlhood Home Companion Magazine.”

Here is what she had to say about it....

"It is a beautiful, high-quality magazine produced by Jill Novak and her family of Remembrance Press. In it you will find stories and encouraging essays on being godly young ladies, recipes, crafts and even some paper dolls from my own daughters.
Mrs. Novak is graciously giving away a bundle that includes a back issue of “The Girlhood Home Companion Between Friends” and CD.
Give-away ends Friday, August 27th at midnight."

Charlie and The Trike in the Grand Canyon Adventure

A Wise Woman Builds Her House is having a great book give away for Charlie and Trike in the Grand Canyon Adventure. She has had several others this week that I forgot to register for......So don't miss out. There are four possible winners for this one!

http://proverbs14verse1.blogspot.com/

Travel The World

I was recently given the opportunity to review The Schoolhouse Planner June 2010 Module "Travel The World!" by The Old Schoolhouse Magazine I was excited to see that it focused on geography because I had been wanting to implement some geography study into our schooling. I couldn't find an age range recommendation so I quickly perused the material and found that it would suit all of my children who's ages range from 4yrs-9yrs old.

The module begins with an introduction to geography by explaining what geography is and how the Earth is shaped and how it rotates. It provided scripture verses to show how the Earth tells God's story. We had a globe to explore but for those who do not, a picture of a globe was provided. It discussed in a fun and simplistic style what the equator was and how latitude was used to show north and south and longitude showed east and west from the equator. My little ones were just as intrigued as my older children. It went on to explain how maps have special features that globes can not give us and talked about how God provided us the land and waters. It used fun songs to help children learn the continents and provided extra links and online games for locating countries in North America and labeling states and capitals.

It was packed with additional geography fun as well. Including extra links to games, quizzes, family fun, and homeschooling ideas. We created a fun lapbook to put together all that we had learned. I used the worksheets provided for my 8 and 9 yr old and the coloring worksheets for my little ones to color. For $7.95 this module was packed full of information to teach your little ones about geography. It was easy to download and didn't need any additional resources to teach it. I loved that it exposed the information in a fun, easy and entertaining manner. I didn't have to tweak it all for my younger children and it still held the attention of my older ones. I would highly recommend this to those wanting to implement some geography fun into their schooling.

I received this product free of charge for review purposes.