TOS Review: Times Alive!

When we started back to school in January, after our break, the kids started multiplication in math. So receiving City Creek Press Times Alive was very opportune.
This is a program that teaches mnemonics for the multiplication tables. It uses stories, songs, online coloring pages, quizzes, and games to teach the mnemonics. It covers all the fact families from zero to nine, using quick tricks for numbers like five, two, zero and one, and funny stories for other facts, all divided into18 lessons with each lesson having between three to five sections.

The program gives you the ability to set up as many "users" as you like (just remember what name you used to log-in with, because there is no drop-down menu when you go to log back in, you have to type it back in yourself) and they each have a lesson plan page where you can see at a glance just which lessons have been viewed or completed. There are also progress reports for each user where you can see just how well your kids did on each quiz.
Times Alive isn't a full curriculum, or even a drill program, but is a fun and engaging bag of tricks to remember the times tables. I allowed my kids to roam and play at will, and was pleasantly surprised at how many facts they have learned from these funny songs. Even my younger kids enjoyed the stories and songs just from watching with the big kids.

Kaytie says: "I really like it because it was fun. I like how there was all different characters and they have stories. It helped my learn my times tables because it gave me tips to remember what the answer is."

Nate says: "I enjoyed playing it. I learned a lot of multiplication facts! And I am not done! I would so recommend it!!!"

This was a fun program that my kids asked for over and over. We all enjoyed it. It was easy for me to set up and to use. Once I opened it, the kids could easily click around on it to watch their favorites or find new ones. You can check it out for free here by looking at free samples of the songs. You can see what others had to say about it here. And you can order the software here.

As a member of the TOS Review Crew, I received a free download of this program for the purposes of this review. All opinions expressed are my own and my kids.

Daniel

marches to the beat of his own drum... I'm not even sure he uses a drum, I think it's a trombone, actually.

Term Two, Week Three

This week was a tough week for us. It started out with a bad day on Monday... one of those days where if it can go wrong, it did. So we, ok, I was distracted for the rest of the week. We did manage to get most everything done, but we did not do it in our usual routine... which meant we were all just a little crazy all week long. And besides all that, our little friends were on vacation this week, so they were of no help whatsoever in bringing us back to our routine.

2nd and 3rd Grade:

Math: Multiplication is, so far, fairly easy for them. In MUS, they started learning x 0 and x 1. They were thrilled with how easy it was! They did a couple of  Math Mammoth worksheets on measurement and geometry. They fight over who gets the Master Ruler and I might as well not even have any other kind! They also worked hard on Math Facts Now and a couple of other review items. I'm starting to hope we might, someday soon, be finished with addition fact drills. It was not so long ago that I strongly considered giving up in despair!

Grammar: We got behind in our Rod and Staff books this week, due to the craziness, but I'm not that worried... yet. The kids have yet to complain about the amount of writing required, and they are actually learning something! So I am happy so far. A word of warning though, if you HAVE to do everything assigned, these might not be for you. I am leaving out bits and pieces of review work here and there when I know they know the material. Or we do the review orally, very quickly, instead of taking the time to write it out. I also split up assignments between them... one child does the odd sentences the other does the even ones.

History: We read about Babylon, and they were amused by the story of King Nebuchadnezzar's pride and humbling. Kaytie also liked the story of the Hanging Gardens that he built for his wife. They drew a picture of the Gardens, and I really liked the result of drawing for narration. We will do that more often. We also read a book about the 7 Wonders of the Ancient World that Kaytie enjoyed. In fact, she currently has it in her room, so I can't tell you the exact title and author, sorry!

Geography: They worked on North Carolina. We stick pretty close to our formula of coloring pages and map work. They are slowly getting better at map work, except Kaytie always "draws her mountains upside down" and then complains about it. We have started indulging in Stack the States, an app I found for my iPhone. I am amazed at the educational value of an iPhone!

Spelling: In All About Spelling, they finished up Step Two and wrote sentences using spelling words. Fun, fun, fun! I thought at first "What a big step in challenge there is between Level One and Level Two!" But then I realized that Level One, was, essentially, review for them, and now we are in material they simply do not know. So they are having to work harder.

Bible: They read the first chapter of Luke and attempted to answer my questions without talking in order to experience what Zechariah went through for nine months.

Everybody:
Science: We finished up turtles and started on frogs. We are behind in our lapbooking, but they can usually do several in one sitting, so we can catch up next week. The favorite part of turtles was trying to crawl like a turtle, and watching a video of baby turtles running for the sea.

Handwriting: Using the Peterson method, they worked on the lowercase letter "l". Probably the easiest letter they will ever have!

Kindergarten and PreK:

Math: Daniel blew through another six or seven lessons. Pretty good since he only did math a couple of days this week. Even at our fast rate, I don't think I'm going quick enough for him. This week, in one lesson, he was supposed to be drawing a number card and then counting out cubes to match. He drew the number 5, pulled out three cubes and snapped them together. Then he pulled out two more cubes and snapped them together. Then he announced, "Three plus two equals five!" He did this with every number he drew! :)
Abbie is a few lessons behind him, but is moving right along. Her favorite lessons are when she gets to draw her answers in her math notebook.

Bible: They are still working their way through the story of Joseph. Like their siblings, they beg to do Bible every day. I'm considering getting the teacher's guide, since this curriculum is obviously here to stay!

Phonics: Daniel is loving and flying through his readers that we are reviewing. Abbie, however, is not doing so well. Every day she gets a little more grumpy and a little more reluctant. Even giving her a sparkly princess pointer wand to use did not motivate her, so I think she is going to go back to games and little homemade books for the rest of the term. We will try again later.

I am linking up this week's wrap up with Weird Unsocialized Homeschoolers and Forever For Always No Matter What

TOS Review: Speekee

When I was in college, taking courses in human development, one of the things that stuck out to me was how we learn language. As a baby, no one sits us down and says, "Memorize this list of vocabulary words. Decline these verbs. Write these sentences from dictation." No, we learn to speak by listening, watching, and speaking in real life situations. Therefore, I have always been a fan of the immersion method of learning a second language.
When the TOS Review Crew was first told we were getting a Spanish program, I was a little nervous, but then I discovered it was an immersion program and I got excited!
Speekee is basically a short (13 to 20 minutes) tv show for kids that is totally in Spanish. It reminded me, honestly, of Sesame Street, with real kids, real adults, and real puppets :) talking and singing their way through real life places like the zoo, the market, the beach, the park and so on. There are 10 episodes available, and each comes with downloadable, printable worksheets to reinforce, if you like, the lessons. These are totally optional. We did the worksheets on some of the lessons, and not on others, just to see if it helped them. Mostly, we just enjoyed watching the show. Review is built into the episodes, so it is best to watch them in order, although we also enjoyed going back and re-watching our favorites.
We gathered around my computer to watch Speekee, although some of the Crew were able to get it to stream through their Wii. We sang along, answered Speekee's questions, and then I sat back and watched to see what the kids would do next. After every viewing, Spanish words and phrases started spilling from their mouths. I can ask them, "Que tal?" and they know to respond, "Muy bien!" Kaytie and I have enjoyed several conversations entirely in Spanish!
I was also intrigued by Daniel, who doesn't read well. The older kids were able to read the subtitles to know what was being said, but Daniel didn't have that help. However, at least once every episode, he would exclaim something like, "Mom! Hola means hello!" He was able to pick up vocabulary just by context clues.

I was very happy to get to review Speekee, and the kids enjoyed it as well. The only drawbacks to this program were minor ones.
I wish there were more than 10 episodes. :)
This program is based and created in Spain, so the pronunciation is Spain Spanish, not Mexico Spanish. This is not a huge deal, but is something to be aware of. My best guess, based on the little Spanish I have picked up from people I know, is that the difference is not enough to be concerned about being misunderstood, but is enough to be concerned about being teased.
Because this is made in Spain, the DVDs are not automatically compatible with U.S. DVD players.  There is a note on the website you should read before you order a DVD. However, a monthly subscription is available for you to watch online here. And there is a two week free trial available if you are unsure.
And finally, the songs are catchy and get stuck in your head! I find myself singing them all the time, which can be embarrassing if you are out grocery shopping by yourself. :)

We have thoroughly loved and enjoyed Speekee, and really, really, wish there were more episodes for us to watch, because this is a fun and painless way to learn a foreign language.

If you would like to read what other Crew Members thought about Speekee, click here.

This product was available to us free of charge for the purposes of this review. All opinions expressed here are honest, true, and totally mine and my kids'.

TOS Review: Maestro Classics

I like classical music. As in, I enjoy listening to it. I don't love it and I have no "knack" for it and I know very little about it. This makes it hard for me to teach the kids to love it. I see it as a personal failing, but have few tools readily at hand to fix this problem.
The review item that we received in the mail a few weeks ago appeared to be such a tool. So I was pretty excited to open Peter and the Wolf from Maestro Classics and pop the CD into our player. I expected some resistance from my active, noisy crew, so I chose to play it in the evening, at a time when they are usually looking for entertainment. I gathered them around the table and gave them all a blank sheet of paper and the big box of crayons. It took us two sittings of listening and coloring, but they listened, if not raptly, then politely. They all colored while they listened, but Kaytie took it one step further. The first listening session, she drew how she thought about the music...

The second session, she drew a picture of the story...

After she did that, Daniel and Abbie did as well...

Abbie's

Daniel's

The CD came with a little booklet, full of information and games. We read the info and did the games together, in an oral format, to lessen the fighting over who got to do what. But it rounded out their listening experience a little. :)

I liked that we could listen to one track with narration, so the kids could get the idea that the music tells a story and the instruments are characters in that story, but then we could listen to another track with just the music so they could experience the full effect. Then there were other tracks that told the story behind the story. (I enjoyed those tracks, but the kids were not particularly interested) All in all, I think this would be a very worthy investment for homeschoolers, who, like me, are looking for ways to introduce classical music to busy, somewhat skeptical, kids.
Maestro Classics has several other selections to choose from, including some classic stories and books. At that link, you can check out what they have to offer, purchase, or even just listen to samples of all their products.

The kids opinions are as follows:

Kaytie: I liked it, although I thought the wolf's music kinda sounded proud at a few points. I liked the bird because it was high music and it sounded pretty. My favorite character, though, is Peter. I think other mommies should buy this for their kids because it is a good piece of music.

Nate: It was weird because it took a very long time to listen to it all. I would not recommend it because children will be irritated. Basically, it just took too long. (I feel the need to mention here that there was no complaints while listening, and he was grumpy when I asked his opinion.)

Daniel: I thought that the wolf ate the duck. I liked the story, it was exciting! It was fun to listen to.

Abbie: I didn't like the wolf part. I just liked the duck and the bird, but NOT the wolf. It was fun to listen to this story. Yes, I would recommend it to other mommies.

I also wanted to add that there are many free resources both online and at your library that you can use with this product to create an entire unit study on Peter and the Wolf. That is what we are doing, in spite of Nate. :)

To read what other crewmates think, go here.

This product was given to me free for the purpose of this review. All opinions are my own and my kids'.

Term Two, Weeks One and Two

We have yet to complete an entire week of school, as in, working every single day, but we are getting all our work done, so it is okay.
The big kids are taking off with MUS Gamma and really caught on to multiplication. We have been talking about "groups and sets" for awhile now, and Nate had already started doing multiplication in his head, on his own, for fun, without knowing the language. So now I am just basically giving him the language. We are also enjoying our Math Mammoth sheets. They do a measurement page and a geometry page a week.
The little kids are flying through Shiller math. Kevin is working on shapes and colors. It baffles me because one day he knows them perfectly and the next he acts totally clueless. I am using the Montessori Three Point Lesson method, and we keep moving between point one and point two depending on the day. Abbie hit her first snag on Lesson Nine, and is pausing there to work on recognizing the numbers 6, 7, and 8. Daniel has finished the first 15 lessons and is still going strong. I love that the lessons are so simple that I don't even mind that all three kids are doing something different! On his own, Daniel is doing simple addition. All day he comes to me and informs me that "3 + 2 is 5!" and other similar math facts. It's fun!
In preschool news: Kevin knows that a says a. He is an incredible colorer, and is keeping me busy giving him fun and educational work. He has enjoyed puzzles, lacing cards, matching colors, sorting letters and different sized "snowballs" (cotton balls and white puffballs) and did an awesome job playing Alphabet Bingo. He figured out quickly how to match the shape of the letter I showed him to the letter on his card.
Daniel and Abbie have learned all of their letters except for confusing b, p, q and d. There are a couple of others that Abbie has issues with, but they can play Alphabet Bingo now without being shown the cards. I'm going to move it up a level with them and call out letter sounds instead of letters for them to find.
They are also working hard on a reading program we are reviewing. Daniel is nearly a third way through the first level and Abbie is right behind him. They are enjoying it, which makes it easy for me. They are also still working through Talking Fingers. Daniel can do it independently now, hooray! And they play around on Starfall as well. Some of their boxes always contain fun things like puzzles, coloring sheets, and little games that are mostly review for them. In Bible, they are learning about Joseph.
Rod and Staff Grammar (which is new this term) is going well for Kaytie and Nate. I am a little surprised that they have not complained about the amount of writing they have to do. It gives me a good opportunity to work on handwriting as well. Kaytie says she likes the new grammar better than the old one. Nate says he dislikes both, but he dislikes the old one more. We are currently working on alphabetizing to the third letter, and finding the subject and the predicate in the sentence. They have even started diagramming sentences. We do not do every bit of the work assigned, but I try to just pull a bit to work on everyday from the lessons. I also choose to do some of the written work orally. But on the whole, it is working well for us!
In History, we learned about the Phoenicians, which was fun, and about the very first librarian, which delighted Kaytie, my little bookworm.
In Bible, we finished up Daniel and started the life of Christ... right after Christmas... great timing huh?
In Science, we read about manatees and started turtles. The kids watched some videos of both on the Internet. You haven't lived until you've seen manatees kiss. But their favorite was watching baby sea turtles crawl up out of the sand and run to the sea. We love babies around here... :)
Geography was Virginia and West Virginia. Handwriting was all about practicing writing our numbers correctly. And we do a little Latin twice a week. The kids are really struggling with the different sounds of the vowels, Kaytie more than Nate. They also worked on memorizing Psalm 23, and had some fun playing Math Facts Now, watching a Spanish program that we are reviewing and working on some other reviewing items as well.
So it was a great couple of weeks! And I am ready to start on next week. :)
I'm linking up with Weird Unsocialized Homeschoolers and Forever For Always No Matter What.

How to Teach Five Little Kids without Losing Your Mind

We are back in school after our four week break that really lasted nearly six weeks. In my our defence, we did do some schoolwork in the form of Christmas fun and some TOS reviews that we had to work on. So we didn't spend six weeks in total sloth. It does feel good to get back into the routine, even if that routine is different than it was before we took our break. I officially started Kevin (the boy I babysit) in preschool, so now I have five "full time" students and Gracie enjoying some Totschool fun. Juggling the three youngest students has not been as difficult as I thought.
I actually get asked A LOT by people just how I teach so many young kids all at the same time, so I am going to share my secrets...
The first one is... workboxes. They are truly wonderful. If you have read my post on workboxes, you know I don't "follow the book", but tweak our boxes to fit my needs. And, naturally, that changes from time to time.
The second secret is... taking turns. I am continually reminding small people that they need to wait until I am finished with the child at hand before I can help them. This is a hard lesson, but patience, is, after all, a virtue. I have also perfected the technique of thirty-second grading. I can look at a finished project, assess, and say, "Oh, good job! Now put it away and do your next box." in thirty seconds or less. :) Well, maybe not that fast, but quickly enough that the child I am helping doesn't mind the pause.
The third secret is... group work. If we can do it all together at the same time, we do. Kaytie and Nate have always worked together, and I'm now including Daniel and Abbie into the same science read-alouds and we all do handwriting as a group. Daniel and Abbie do Bible together, and I'm expecting to be able to do more and more together as they get older. We also have a Circle Time where we sing, "exercise" and do all of our "good citizenship" activities.
The final secret is... juggling. :) I have learned to load the workboxes in such a way that all of the independent work is at the front. That way I have more time to work with Kevin and Gracie while Daniel and Abbie are coloring and Kaytie and Nate are reading, working on maps, and/or their Bible memory verses. Then, hopefully, by the time Daniel and Abbie need me, Kevin is finished, or ready to color. And by the time Kaytie and Nate need me, the little kids are all ready to go play. On a good day, that is how it works.

TOS Review: Easy Classical

I like schedules. I like plans and lists and goals. So I was very interested when we were asked to review Easy Classical Early Modern History Schedule. Basically, we were just given a free download of the schedule and asked to tell you what we thought.
This schedule is based on Well-Trained Mind principles and utilizes narration and notebooking and lots of "living books". It is a Classical Education made easy. Everything you need to teach your subject has already been researched and compiled for you into one easy to follow schedule. Lists of books to read aloud, projects, activities, writing assignments... much more than you would ever need or be able to do!
I liked the way it is laid out a week-at-a-glance. Your reading, narrating, history songs to sing, writing, projects, etc.  are all on one page. At the bottom of the page are comprehension questions and the answers which you can use to gauge your child's understanding. Also, on the same page is a list of the supplies you need to gather for the next week. That was my favorite part!
Without actually implementing this schedule, or even being able to personally look over the resources required, I can not give you a thorough opinion on how it would work for me and my kids, but it looks simple and well-laid out and actually, a lot of fun. I know I will at the very least make good use of the lists of books at the beginning and the art projects at the end of the schedule when we go through this period of history later on.
A complete list of the resources used in this schedule can be found on Easy Classical's site here and you can find a small sample of the schedule here.

For what other Crew Members thought, click here.

And as always this product was given to me free for the purpose of telling you about it. All opinions are my own.

TOS Review: See-N-Read

As a member of the TOS Review Crew, we were sent some See-N-Read reading tools to try. We got four different kinds...
A big one for large books

A small one for small books

One with the "window" cut out, and a little bit wider, for highlighting purposes

And one that I downloaded for using on the computer.



These are handy little tools that are helpful for distractable or early readers. My son has a hard time tracking to the new line and often gets stuck repeating a line or skips a line when he is reading chapter books. This product eliminated that problem. My daughter reads much faster silently than aloud, so when she is supposed to be reading to me, she will often fall silent while her eyes skipped ahead, reading on to herself. Not a big problem, but highly annoying to me. This product eliminated that problem as well.
It was nice to have the different sizes for different books. And I would have loved to have the highlighting one when I was in college and studying from books with tiny print. I had never used anything like this before, so I have nothing to compare it to, but it sure beat using my finger to keep the kids on track! It is a fun, but useful little tool.
The E-See-N-Read was honestly not something we really had a use for, but I could see how useful it would be if you worked with coding a lot (on your blog, for example) or are one that has a hard time reading off the computer screen, and it was fun to play around with!
The tools come in different sized packs for all different price options, you can check that out here.
To read what other Crew Members have to say about See-N-Read, click here.

I received this product for free in exchange for a fair and honest review. All opinions expressed are my own.

TOS Review: Math Facts Now

We have really enjoyed being a part of the TOS Review Crew, and have been pleased with almost all of the products we have received. However, the one I am going to tell you about today is my number one favorite product that we have been allowed to review. I have absolutely no complaints about this program, and it has been totally perfect for our needs. There was a glitch with my computer last week, and while my husband was working it out, I told him that if I lost my Math Facts Now, I would be buying a replacement for it. Since I am a cheapskate who thinks long and hard about anything I buy, that is a strong statement. But I would. I would totally, unhesitatingly buy this program.
Let me tell you why...
Our math curriculum is a program that expects the kids to master the concept and memorize the facts before moving on. We are great at mastering concepts, but very bad at memorizing facts. I could not find a surefire way to drill math facts that was enjoyable, effective and not mind-numbingly time consuming for me. Thankfully, someone else had the same problem, and they created Math Facts Now.
This is a program that drills your kids with "virtual flashcards". A problem is shown and the kid types in the  answer, clicks on "check my answer" and knows immediately if they were right or not.
It's downloadable, so I don't have to worry about the website disappearing or crashing on me, nor do I have to keep up with monthly membership fees. The download was quick and easy. You can also order a disk, which is what I will do if I ever have to replace it. It's the same price as the download, (15.95) you just have to pay shipping.
It's completely customizable by me. I can make and edit lessons that contain not only the operations I want to use, but also the numbers. So I can create, for example, a lesson that only works on +2 problems. Later, I can delete that lesson, or edit it to add -2 or +3 or whatever I want. Or I can just make a whole new lesson! I can put in all four of the operations, and all of the numbers, if I want, or pick and choose if I like. I can also choose how long they can take to answer the questions, how many questions are in each lesson, and how many times they have to type out the correct answer when they give an incorrect answer.
It is simple and easy for the kids to use, and when they are finished with a lesson, I can, with a click of a button, see an overview of their results, including

• the exact problems they got wrong,
• how many times they were given that problem in the lesson,
• and if they answered it wrong more than once, the percentage of times they got it wrong or right. 
• It also tells me how long it took them to complete the lesson,
• if it took them too long to answer any questions
• and how many questions they "missed" because of time 

So I know exactly what problems we need to work on, and if they just need more time to work out the correct answer. Because I can change the amount of time they get!
I love all of these things about this program, but my favorite thing is that it is not flashy or exciting. I have computer junkies for kids. They are only allowed to play "educational games" for the most part, so they have seen a lot of math games over the past couple years. I can't tell you how many times I have cringed to see my children give the wrong answer ON PURPOSE because it is much more fun to see the monkey get eaten by the crocodile than to see him swing across the river safely. When I first had my son try out Math Facts Now, I watched as he came to a problem he had to think about. He giggled softly to himself as he purposely hit "zero" knowing it was the wrong answer. "There!" He said, "Moving right along!" His amusement dissolved in shock and horror as he realized that giving the wrong answer was not an easy way out, but he now had to type the correct answer in THREE TIMES (also customizable by me) before he could move on. He now KNOWS what 7+4=!
One last thing... when we were first given this to review, the minimum number of problems per lesson was 50. Several of us reviewers had young children using the program and 50 problems per lesson caused a lot of tears and struggles. Based on our comments and suggestions, the minimum limit was lowered to 5. I was very impressed by this example of customer service!


I love, Love, LOVE this program!!! If you need to read what other Crew Members had to say, click here.

I was given a free download of this product for the purpose of this review. All opinions expressed are my own.

TOS Review: Postive Action for Christ: Finding God's Promises

For a lot of reasons, (we have a Bible program we love, we needed to review this during our vacation, my six year old needed his own thing) I chose to use the Positive Action for Christ Bible Curriculum with just my 2nd grade son, Nate. We received the second grade level, which is called Finding God's Promises and covers the life of Moses. We were sent the Teacher's Manual and Student workbook. The workbook is totally consumable, so you need one for each student. It is also full color, so it is pretty, and fun to use. I was concerned, at first, that it would be a lot of writing for him, since he is a young second-grader, and writing is not his thing, but it actually turned out to be just right, since a lot of it is "circle" or "place an x" or "write the number" or just a fill-in-the-blank.
The Teacher's Manual was extensive and is definitely required for this course. It lists the goals and objectives. It gives tips and suggestions. It has a black and white version of the workbook with the answers, which makes grading super easy! It has a complete lesson plan for each lesson: a script to follow, vocabulary words with easy definitions and a scripture verse, hymn and chorus that go with the lesson. I have heard a lot of moms say they don't like scripts, but I love them, even though I rarely follow them. I like having a "jumping off place" to figure out what I want to say, and I like knowing what point they are trying to make. It makes it easier for me to decide how to get that point across to my kids.
I like having the lesson all laid out. I liked having the memory verses and music already chosen and correlated with the lesson. I knew most of the hymns and choruses, (the words are in the back of the manual, but the music is not) and the few I didn't know, I was able to find by Googling. But what I liked most was the Weekly Lesson Plans. They had them laid out in three different options: 5-day week, 4-day week, and 3-day week. At the beginning of each week, I can decide how many days we have available for that week, and plan accordingly. It made lesson planning super easy!
My son also really enjoyed this course. The workbook is colorful, engaging and fun. He likes puzzles and games so the crosswords, scrambled words, and map labeling was right up his alley! The memory verses were the perfect challenge for him. He is not a singing on command kind of kid, so the hymns and choruses did not thrill him, but even so he had little problem learning them. The actual material was really a review for him, as he has studied this story both in school and at church before, but it was a great way to review, since we both had a lot of fun!

Positive Action Bible Curriculum has a level for each grade from kindergarten to sixth grade, then levels to choose from in middle school and high school. You can find Second Grade here with a complete description, pricing for the Teacher's Manual, Student workbook, and music CD, samples for free downloading, and a place to order.
If you are looking for a fun, interesting, easy to teach, yet complete Bible Curriculum, you should definitely check this one out.
You can read what other Crew Members have to say about this product here.


As always, I received this product for free for the purposes of this review. All opinions expressed are my own.