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.