Archive for the Category »TOS Crew Review «

Sep
08
Math Tutor DVD Review
quinnschilling

Math Tutor

Review & Summary: 4 This company specializes in Math Curriculum, packaged in DVD and online formats for all ages, from beginning Math to Physics. We received two specific DVDs, Pre-Algebra Tutor Volume 1 and a TI83 / TI84 Calculator Tutor.

Overall, I felt the curriculum was solid…the presentation for the older ages is very much like taking Math in a class.

Now, while Math Tutor does have a range of math products that includes colorful and fun videos for younger children,when you look at  the material for the older students, you are getting serious, lecture style instruction. The instructor is Jason Gibson who has several math related degrees.  As he lectures, he uses the whiteboard and is quite clear and very specific. You can see a sample from the Pre-Algebra video here:

I am not a math lover, myself. I will basically do anything to avoid Algebra. But, I do understand Jason…so that is a start. I have one child whose eyes just glazed over when I put it in…and another who excels in Math said he could use this easily and move forward quickly. So, for the cost, I think this could be very useful. I intend to use the DVD as a help–to do review or get extra help when my Algebra student is stuck.

item63Now, the graphing calculator DVD is supposed to “unlock the power” of your graphing calculator. And, it does! With 3 DVDs you can see all kinds of functions. I am ashamed to admit this, but it helps you to put it in perspective. The main thing I have done with a graphing calculator lately is to type in numbers and turn it upside down to see if I found a new word. With this tutorial, I can show off some new skills. I did not watch all 8 hours, but I think it is cool that I could.

My three teenagers felt that this DVD was really worthwhile–all of them are using/or will be using the TI calculators through High School. As in most of the Math Tutor materials, you learn by watching your teacher DO. For this one, it is neat to see a close up of the calculator itself as the teacher works example problems on the calculator. You can see a clip of this in action on the math tutor page. (Drag down a bit).

I think this curriculum is worth taking some time to look at. While I feel less sure about my opinions when it comes to upper level math, I think this curriculum does have some excellent courses and is very reasonably fantastically priced. If you are looking for a long term plan or just some help for Math, definitely stop in at the Math Tutor DVD site. They have plenty of samples and videos and worksheets to peruse to see if the style works for your family. They also offer an online plan for $19.99 per month.

The Math Tutor DVDs reviewed today are currently on sale for $26.99 each.

Find tons of FREE sample lessons, online calculators and math references and articles–even a podcast at Math Tutor.

To see what my TOS crewmates have to say, click here

The 2 Math Tutor DVDs were provided to me for the purpose of my review. I have expressed my unbiased opinion on this product.

Category: TOS Crew Review, curriculum  Tags: , , , , , , , ,  Leave a Comment
Jul
22
Travel Kits: a Simple Way to Bless Others
quinnschilling
emmacar

She's good on a trip...but she could be happier!

You know, many days, I will say to the kids, “today is a gift-let’s savor it and enjoy it, consider it a present”. 

But how many days do I show my child or friends the delight of a gift? How often do I hand them a surprise complete with ribbons and bows to untie, treats to enjoy?

When I downloaded Travel Kits: A Simple Way to Bless Others, I thought about this quite a bit. In all my practical, frugal homeschooling, I can be very efficient. I can make healthy meals and pay attention to my children…I can teach my children.

But, I know that, if asked, my children would not remember me as a marvelous, spontaneous gift giver.

My dad’s father died when I was very young. I remember just a bit about him. And, the one thing I remember is that he always had a surprise for me when I saw him. He would have a bit of candy or something—and would play the “which hand is it in?” game with me.  Such a simple little thing—but to a four year old, it was magical, in a world full of busy adults. Of course, Grandparents often do this. But, at some point, it seems like we often lose that ability to give a good gift. I’ll do that at Christmas, or birthday…

And, what most often stops those of us who don’t give sparkly, fun, unexpected gifts? Personally, I think it is because it takes a lot of creativity and often, money. And, I often do not have an abundance of either!

Oh well. Now, I can do better. Now, I have some creative tricks up my sleeve.

gifts2

Now, this ebook I downloaded is entitled Travel Kits: a Simple Way to Bless Others….and the basic concept is that you can do some special little baskets and surprises and such for an upcoming trip.

You can do tons of things to help keep kids occupied on a long trip and for a lovely surprise… Carpe Diem!

I think it is a magical idea. And I was really pleased to read the ebook. What really shocked me was HOW MANY great ideas were in the book. There are 93 pages full of ideas! There were pages on choosing a theme for your gifts…to making this work for large families and big groups…and so many of the ideas made me say, huh. Why didn’t I think of that already?

One little idea I especially liked had to do with candy treats. I really try to give kids healthy food when traveling, otherwise, mine get so restless…but this idea is a gem—you can give the children candy, but in little containers where they are in charge of eating a bit every once in a while…and the way you package these makes the child want to do it!

I also love the idea of wrapping a bunch of small gifts and letting a child open these at certain points on the trip. You can decide when they can open the gifts using fun criteria, like:

You could open presents when you . . .

  • Cross a state line.
  • Stop for gasoline.
  • Spot a certain type of sign (speed limit sign, McDonald’s sign, sign with a state name in it, etc.).
  • Spot the name of a certain city on a sign.
  • See the odometer reach a certain number.
  • Hear a certain song or advertisement on the radio.
  • See a particular animal (e.g., horse, cow, eagle, dog, possum, goat, etc.).
  • Can recite a designated Scripture verse without error.
  • Finish reading the next chapter in a book.

Bingo with presents!

Anyway, I recommend this ebook. Use it as it is meant to be used (for traveling) or even use it to jump start your gift giving skills, like I am!

Here is what my little one is getting next time we have a big trip in the car–I am saving it for now and will be wrapping the items and doing a real surprise! I got all the little things at Target in the dollar bin. Some were even 50% off the dollar. I did not come up with a mighty theme, but, hey, I got it started and stored…..

gift

Now, I am going with the theme of getting ready for school...and saving our memories...bubbles and headbands just because:)

OK. There really are too many ideas for me to tell you all about it. But, you can go to a sample of the ebook and check it out—and this includes the index!

Or, just go and download yours for $12.45. To download or read more, go to The OldSchoolhouse Store, here.

To see what my TOS crewmates have to say, click here!

A download of Travel Kits: A Simple Way to Bless Others was provided to me for my review and I have given my unbiased opinion.

Category: TOS Crew, TOS Crew Review, family time, homeschooling  Tags: , , , , , , ,  8 Comments
Jul
18
Setting Sail with the TOS Crew
quinnschilling
Sailing north of Stuart Island

Image by mark.aaserud via Flickr

Well, The OldSchoolhouse Crew (TOS) journey for 2010-2011 has begun! You will be seeing crew homeschool reviews pop up this week and hopefully, be able to learn about some practical, useful and fun curriculum.

The crew journey last year was a blast. I got to try out tons of new learning products and meet lots of great people. To check out some reviews from last year or to see why we homeschool, you can click on my Homeschool Helps Tab. I can’t wait to see what I’ll be reviewing this year…

This time around, I am also a First Mate with a mini-crew! I’d love to welcome these ladies to the crew and introduce them to my readers. Please check out their blogs for homeschool advice and inspiration.

Here’s our mini-crew logo. We are using an old sailing term “Know the Ropes,” because all of the ladies on this mini-crew are veteran homeschoolers who will be wise reviewers….they do Know the Ropes!

April at  Heartfelt Homeschooling
Denise at  Light, Liberty and Learning
Kimberly at  Until The Day Dawn Weblog
Sarah at  Ahoy Maties, My Homeschool Crew Reviews and 212 Mom

Watch for our logo and some great ideas for you and your family!

Category: TOS Crew, TOS Crew Review, curriculum, homeschooling  Tags: , , , , , , , ,  2 Comments
Jun
25
Homeschooling Reviews and Blogs
quinnschilling
The cruise ship Star Princess in Oslo, Norway.

Image via Wikipedia

Hi everyone! I wanted to share that although I am enjoying some lazy days by the pool and reading some plain old fun fiction (for no review purposes at all), many people have been working hard to get ready for the upcoming TOS Crew year!

This year, we will officially start the cruise in late July. And, I am proud to be a returning member of the TOS Crew for 2010-2011. In fact, this year I’m a First Mate! I really enjoyed the crew last year. I got to explore some fantastic homeschooling resources and also make many wonderful blog friends.

I really learned a ton about what resources are available to homeschoolers…and frankly, all the resources that are available to any parent. With the crew, I was able to review items such as online math programs, children’s fiction books, videos to help teenagers get extra credits for college by taking the CLEP exams…even online piano lessons.

Anyway, I am very excited to do this again and also, to know a bit more about what I am doing:) Please leave me a comment if you have any items you would be curious to see reviewed or have other homeschooling questions.

Also, as part of the TOS Crew community, I will be trying to participate in two other memes/activities that will shine a light on many Homeschool questions and issues. The first is the TOS Crew Blog Cruise, so when you see this button:

Please know that you can click on it to go to some great Homeschoolers opinions and ideas–each week, a new homeschool topic will be addressed by many different bloggers…so you will get all kinds of perspectives.

For another way to share our homeschooling knowledge, crew members are doing a Blog Walk of all the TOS Crew blogs. Each week, I will be visiting 10 homeschooling blogs. Please join along and make some new blog friends!

Here’s the Blog Walk List for this week:

1. Second Star to the Right and Straight On Till Morning
2. Surviving The Testosterone
3. Family Style School
4. School Around The Bible
5. 1628 The Story of The Goebels 5
6. Morris Family Madness
7. Homeschool Musings
8. Homeschooling (and then some!)
9. Heartfelt Homeschooling
10. following Him home

Category: TOS Crew Review, book review, curriculum, giveaways, homeschooling  Tags: , , , , , , , , , , ,  2 Comments
May
24
Peterson Handwriting Review
quinnschilling

Peterson Handwriting


Summary and rating: 4  This is a VERY interesting way to teach students to write, whether you are teaching a small child beginning printing, an older child cursive, or even to improve the writing skills of a left-handed or injured adult writer. The learning method is based upon the fact that the act of writing is muscle based. So…just as you can teach your muscles certain repetitive motions…you can also use muscle memory as an integral part of the writing process—to use muscle memory to make letter strokes using rhythm and action rather than visually guiding the strokes. The Peterson studies have shown that to use this process results in better handwriting.

I really enjoyed having Rand Nelson help me choose which software to use. We met in a customer service online meeting room, which was cool, to discuss the program. At that point I was able to download my lesson e-workbooks. As I am teaching a budding writer, I have the beginning print levels.

After my download and watching some videos on the site, I did get the BIG picture—and very much wanted to teach handwriting in this fashion. It seems like a very straightforward and common sense way to learn to write. But, I felt a little overwhelmed as I am not a creative type. Drawing in the air? I needed a bit of help.

Although you can go to the Peterson customer support people, I went to my TOS Crewmates to ask how some of them were doing. I felt better when one of the women I respect highly agreed that it took some work to learn exactly how to use the materials.

I ended realizing that, for me, I needed to lighten up a bit and enjoy drawing in the air and drawing on our erase boards…and just go slowly through the four main steps of the curriculum’s method:

  1. Illustrate and describe: Use large visual pictures and a word chant to describe each letter stroke.
  2. Air writing: Practice using large strokes (such as in the air) to train the muscle memory
  3. Finger tracking and chant: Students use finger-tracing on paper—but lead with their voice, not visually
  4. Write and Say: Using a pencil they write—first on unlined paper then lined. If all the above steps are properly processed, this should come pretty naturally.

The company has an in-depth website and they recommend using their online support all through the process of using the curriculum, from having an expert help you choose which level lessons to pick, to reviewing data on scope and sequence, to watching videos about how to understand and use the program. They do have good customer service.

You can watch a method presentation to see how this works! Go here. Or, just go browse the Peterson website. You can see some neat items, from homeschool kits to animated letter cards to a software program for the curriculum that uses pen tablets. Price points vary, as there are many options.

I have to admit, May is not a good time to start a new curriculum. With my daughter having Spring Fever, I am hard pressed to really dig into the curriculum. I do think she enjoys it and I plan to use it when we start back to school in late Summer. I will let you all know how we do!

I hear that some of the reviewers who jumped into this right away are seeing positive results. To read reviews from my TOS crewmates, click here!

I received downloads of the beginner print series to write this review for the TOS Crew. I have given my unbiased opinion.

Category: TOS Crew Review, curriculum, homeschooling  Tags: , , , ,  Comments off
May
23
Lobster Network Review
quinnschilling

Lobster Network

lobster network

lobster network

Summary & Rating: 5 This is such an ingenious new thing! This is an online community where you can …well, share stuff. It has been described as a virtual library–but it is run by individuals, working together within the framework of a secure network.

From the site –because they explain it better:

LobsterNetwork makes it easy to share your stuff.

Share your videos, books, video games, audio, tools or anything else.
Let your friends see what you have to share. Find out what they have to share.

Lend it. Borrow it. Trade it. Sell it. Give it away.
All with the click of a button and only with whom you choose.

How LobsterNetwork works:

It’s simple. Create a personal library of your stuff.
It’s easy. Create friendships with the people you know.
It’s fast. Browse your friend’s stuff and request to borrow something.
It’s flexible. Approve or reject any request for your stuff.
It’s controlled. Decide who sees your stuff. Even create “communities” of friends that only share stuff with each other.
It’s helpful. It tracks your stuff on loan and automatically reminds your friends when to return your stuff.
It’s secure. Keep a private inventory of your stuff online for insurance purposes. Include pictures too.
It’s free. Best of all it’s free.

Go to www.LobsterNetwork.com to sign up for your FREE account.

To check out the videos click here.

To see what my TOS crewmates have to say, click here!

I have given my unbiased opinion.

Category: TOS Crew Review  Tags: , ,  Comments off
May
20
Ideal Curriculum Review
quinnschilling

Ideal Curriculum

Summary & Rating: 3 Ideal Curriculum is a research-based, structured curriculum for early kindergarten or preschool. I received the first month of this curriculum kit as a download. The curriculum includes literacy, Math/Calendar, and Science/Social Studies, all revolving around a monthly theme. Mine was transportation (Click here for list of other themes available).

From the site: Each skill area for reading, writing, math, oral language, and science is developed in a sequential, systematic way and tracked by short assessments.

I thought it was interesting and useful that the creators of the curriculum take the time to explain why you are teaching the specific things to the children.

Overall, I found the idea of an all-inclusive curriculum attractive and enjoyed having print outs of each day’s work available at my fingertips…however, I also like coming up with my own mix of curriculum. This would be good for structured people and busy settings like daycares.

Monthly kits cost $30 for a downloadable version or $55 for a print version. Click here. Try it out with a free 1-week of Ideal’s curriculum by signing up for their newsletter. Readers can get 10% off on their first order of any product using the discount code welovekids, during the month of May.

To see what my TOS crewmates have to say, click here!

Ideal Curriculum, Month 1 download for preschool was provided to me for my review and I have given my unbiased opinion.

Category: TOS Crew Review  Tags: , ,  Comments off
May
19
Wholesome and Fun Summer Reading!
quinnschilling

Andrea Carter and the Trouble with Treasure by Susan Marlow

Rating & Summary: 5 I love these! This series really got my attention. First of all, it is geared for tweens and has an exciting mix of teenagers, horses and adventure. There was plenty of action in the plot and a very strong theme of family love and support. I absolutely loved the relationships between the characters. I felt that the author, Susan Marlowe, really captured how young people think and behave….and also grow as people!

As this book is one in a series, I think these would be fantastic for some summer reading–and hey, Mom–no vampires! Gotta love that.

From the site: Andrea Carter is back for another adventure with her Circle C pals! Book 5 is the popular series, Andrea Carter and the Trouble with Treasure is a perfect choice for middle grade readers ages 8-14.

When innocent horseplay temporarily lands Andi and her friends in jail, they decide that a trip into the mountains will leave their troubles far behind. Accompanied by big brother Mitch and armed with a map showing old gold diggings, they can’t wait to strike it rich. What could be better than two weeks of camping and horseback riding?

But instead of gold they find heaps of trouble — trouble that leaves Mitch gravely wounded. Andi needs help fast. But who can she trust? And what good is a bag of gold when her beloved brother lies near death in the middle of nowhere?

You can purchase Trouble with Treasure for $7.99 on the Kregel site. You can also check out other books in the series, read an excerpt and download a unit study on Kregel’s page.

Also, I really recommended taking a look at the author’s site. You’ll find sample chapters for all the books, book trailers, enrichment guides, puzzles, photos and other fun things for your readers!

**I also have to tell you about the brand new Circle C Beginnings series! We cannot wait for these. My five year old loved hearing Trouble with Treasure read to her and is very excited to “read her own Andi stories.”

These books, geared for younger readers (6-8) follow Andi and Taffy’s adventures when they are much younger. Take a look at the adorable illustrations on the new website! Soon, you can print out coloring pages and activity packs to go with each book!

To see what my TOS crewmates have to say, click here!

Trouble with Treasure was provided to me for my review and I have given my unbiased opinion.

Category: TOS Crew Review, book review  Tags: , , , , , , , ,  One Comment
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