TOS Review: World's Greatest Stories

I was thrilled when we received a CD from World's Greatest Stories to review.  I was excited because this a dramatic storytelling of the ACTUAL Bible. It's not stories, it is George W. Sarris reading the Bible aloud with flair. My children, however, raised an eyebrow at me and wandered off to play. So I simply popped the CD into the laptop and went on with what I was doing. Before the end of the first story, all four kids (and my husband) had returned to the living room and were quietly listening to the story. They just couldn't help themselves! Then they complained when I turned it off so we could start supper. It is truly that engaging. 

One Wednesday evening I took it to church for the kids that I teach to listen to for class time. The roomful of kids ages 4 to 12 sat and listened quietly to the entire story of Elijah and prophets of Baal, only interrupting to ask questions or to respond to the story. If you have ever tried to teach kids in that age group, you will know how truly amazing that is!

We reviewed the NIV version of Volume One - The Prophets. You can listen to an audio clip here for free. Each CD costs $7.95. You can choose KJV or NIV and if you order six or more, you get free shipping!

 I loved, loved, LOVED this product! And give it the highest recommendation I can give it: I WILL be buying the rest of the CDs that are offered and am hoping that there will be more made.

Kaytie: I liked it because it was... I don't really know why, but I liked it a LOT. I like to close my eyes when I am listening to the story and I can "see" what he was talking about. I want more of them!!!

Nate: It was sorta cool. I understood the stories better after listening. I would like to hear the other stories.

Daniel: I liked them. They are interesting. 

Abbie: I loved the story of Jonah. I want to hear more stories.

We all give this our highest praise (we want to buy the rest of them), but you can read about other Crew Members' opinions and experiences here. 

This product was sent to me free for the purpose of this review. All the glowing opinions are honest and my own. 

TOS Review: Fractazmic

If you are a regular reader of this blog, you know two things about us: we love games and we are not that fond of math. In the past, we have used many and various types of games to teach, illustrate, and pound into our heads different math concepts.
Fractazmic, from I See Cards, is a game intended for just such a purpose. This game consists of a pack of 60 cards and an instruction sheet. The instructions seemed easy enough, and I gathered the children up to play. The idea is that each card is a fraction and you combine the fractions to make a whole. Each whole is a "hand" and the goal of the game is to get the most "hands".

I really, honestly, think that this game would be fun as a review of fractions. But for us, this was a difficult game to play. None of the kids have any real experience in fractions, and certainly not in adding them. We managed to play a few games, but I wound up doing ALL of the work as they took turns showing me their hands and I figured out if they could make a whole or not. I even made a cheat-sheet/poster and still did all of the work.
However, if your child is ready for fractions, is learning fractions, struggling with fractions, loves fractions, or even needs a review of fractions, I would heartily recommend Fractazmic. I know that I learned a lot from playing, even if the kids did not! I am holding on to this game for the future and I know that we will eventually get a lot of use out of it!
The cards are brightly colored and sturdy and appear able to stand up to plenty of play. The pictures are cute, and are helpful for figuring out if you have a whole or not. The only negative I have is that the instruction sheet was a little hard to follow. I am only 90% sure that we were playing strictly by the intended rules. However, the rules we came up with worked out just fine, so it's all good. :)

I See Cards has other math games available as well. I have my eye on a couple of them for our schoolroom.

For other Crew Member's opinions and experiences, click here.

I was given this game for free for the purpose of this review. All opinions expressed are honest and my own.

TOS Review: Artistic Pursuits

I have two kids who are ardently artistic, one child who lives and breathes art and creating, and one child who enjoys art if everyone else is doing it, it is on his own terms, and he happens to be in the mood. I, however, know nothing about art or how to teach it. This is why I like Artistic Pursuits. It mixes art instruction with art history, shows the kids pictures of real art by "real" artists as well as pictures of art drawn by kids their own age; and it does all of this in a spiral bound book of 32 lessons. Each lesson comes with an art project that is clearly and simply explained using both text and graphics. I'm a visual learner, so the graphics are priceless!
We were sent a copy of K-3 Book Two to review, and in this book, the lessons cover such artists as Cimabue, Van Eyck, Leonardo da Vinci, Bruegel, Vermeer, Millet, and many more. The projects are various types of painting, drawing, printmaking, modeling, and mixed media.
There are three books in the K-3 series, there is also a book for Preschool, plus additional series for grades 4-6, Jr. high, and Sr. high.
For a family with a lot of interest and not much knowledge or experience in art, this is the perfect program! Let me tell what we like about it...

1. the book is easy to follow and implement: I don't have to do a lot of prep or planning, I don't have to read ahead or hunt up any additional information ( I did have to gather supplies, but this was simple enough, and a one-time project for me)
2. the information in the lesson is short and engaging but informative and worthwhile, we all felt like we had learned something when I finished reading each lesson, yet I didn't have to tie the kids to their chairs to get through the material
3. on page three of the book is a master list of ALL the art materials you need, divided by lesson, so you not only know what to buy, but when you need it. So if you want/need to spread out buying the materials, this is easily done
4. the projects are well explained so it is easy enough for the kids to know what to do
5. the projects are open-ended enough that the kids are relying on their own creativity and are able to do their own thing... this is good both for my loves-to-create child, who would be stifled by a cut and dried project as well as my not-to-interested child, who hates to be micromanaged, and also for the two in the middle who need the nudging to think outside the box
6. this book is non-consumable
7. I can easily and without tweaking use this book for all of my kids. I admit I don't have a wide age-spread, but all four kids benefited and enjoyed the lessons with no extra work on my part... they simply worked at their own ability level
8. pictures of real art for them to look at and be inspired by
9. it wasn't just art, but art history and art appreciation as well
10. the format of teaching and then implementing. It cemented in their minds the information presented.
11. the kids had fun!

 

Again, this was simple and easy to use. Once or twice a week, I gathered the children up, read them a lesson (3-5 minutes), explained the project, and let them have at it. We love this program and will continue to use it in our school. We now own books 1 and 2 and will purchase 3 when we need it.
If you are interested in the opinions of the children, here they are:
Kaytie:
I like it because I can do art projects and I really like art. The lesson was interesting.

Nate:
I liked the water painting. I am not much of an art person, but the lesson was ok. I like to paint.

Daniel:
I liked the projects. The story was good.

Abbie:
It was great! I liked it! I liked the painting the we did. I love love LOVE to paint.

You can also go to the Crew Blog to read other Crew Member's opinions and experiences.

As members of the TOS Crew, this product was sent to us free for the purpose of this review. The opinions are honest and totally our own.