Bible Program

When I think about what I want my kids to know about our faith, two things come to mind: 1) I want them to have a good understanding of reformed theology, and 2) I want them to know the Bible, through and through. When planning our Bible curriculum for the coming years, these two goals are always in the forefront of my mind. I chose a really great catechism program to give my kids a sound education in reformed theology, a three part series we are in the process of finishing now. And I chose Classical Academic Press' God's Great Covenant to use after our other program to take them through the Bible step by step.
SO, when Classical Academic Press sent me a copy of New Testament 1, I was thrilled. In the past we have used their Latin program and thoroughly enjoyed it, and having looked at the books in person at the teacher supply store, I knew this was a program we would be using for years to come. Classical Academic Press sells all kinds of programs, from logic programs to Bible and language programs. God's Great Covenant, is a newer program, consisting of a two part series on the Old Testament and (I believe) a two part series on the New Testament. From what I can tell on the website, the second part of the New Testament has not yet been made available.

Each set comes with a student workbook and a teacher's guide. The guide has a copy of the workbook, but also, much more--notes and teaching helps fill the margins to help you give your student a deeper understanding of what is happening in the text. The student book has a range of activities for the students to comeplete that aid in memorizing and understanding the materials. Also available are audio files of the Bible stories and map and timeline sets to compliment what you are studying. Overall, this is a very thorough Bible program.

Here's an example of the student workbook. As you can see, the workbook contains different activities such as muliple choice, true and false and matching. The questions are directly related to the lesson you have just taught.

Below is an example of the teachers manual. The smaller section is a copy of what is in the student book, and then the margins contain areas for personal notes and also teaching tips and explanations of the material in the lesson. These helps are really great for helping the student really dive into the material.

The NT bundle is $56.95 and includes both the teacher and student books and the audio files. The teacher and student books range from 22 to 29 dollars depending on the one you order. See more about their pricing here.

Disclaimer: I received this product free of charge, in exchange for my honest review. All opinions are mine.

Christian Kids Explore Earth And Space

I'm always looking for a good science curriculum for my kids. I know I want something that covers all the areas of science: biology, physics, chemistry and earth and space, and I know want something engaging and hands-on. But I can never quite find the right curriculum for the job. So when I was given the chance to review one of Bright Ideas Press' science books, I was super excited.

I chose their Earth and Space book because the topics (think rocks, Little Bean's favorite) were those that I thought would interest my littles. They like all science, but I thought the topics in this book were an especially good fit for my kids.

Each of the four Christian Kid's books is a full year's worth of curriculum, designed to be used twice a week, and is a mix of reading and hands-on activities. The materials needed for the activities are those you would usually have on hand. For instance, in the first unit, you need things like scissors, markers, dental floss, a globe, modeling clay or dough and a camera. Each lesson has a similar format, beginning with a teaching time and then followed by one or more activities to comeplete with the student and cement learning. The sidebars are space for additional notes and also feature definitions of the main terms. Review is built in as well as ideas for activities for younger students.

Earth and Space costs $34.95. Please check out their other materials on the website!

Please note: I was given this product free of charge in exchange for my honest review. All opinions are mine and I am not obligated to give a positive review.

Fabulous Fractions

AIMS Educational Foundation is a company dedicated to providing quality educational products for students of all ages. I love their motto: I Hear and I Forget, I See and I Remember, I Do and I Understand. Isn't it true? When our students are actively engaged in their learning, that's when true understanding takes place. And with that goal in mind, AIMS has created educational materials that are appropriate for both in home and in school use.

I was sent a lesson book called Fabulous Fractions. Given a choice between several titles, I chose Fabulous Fractions because Little Bean, my 3rd grader has shown great interest in fractions of late. I thought I'd capitalize on that interest with a great resource such as this one. I was NOT disappointed!

Fabulous Fractions has over 180 pages of lessons and activities related to fractions, developing an understanding in the student of what fractions are and how they are used and represented in mathematics. This book is geared toward 3rd grade and up, OR those who are ready to learn about fractions. Little Bean is on the young side, but he is very bright and would enjoy most of the activities in this book.

I have reviewed for AIMS before, and what I like so much about their materials is that they aren't just lessons and worksheets, but hands-on activites that the student can actively participate in and draw conclusions for himself about the concepts being presented. Some worksheets are included, but the majority of what you find in this book are engaging activities that enhance the learning for the student. Fabulous Fractions also includes games, which I love. The purpose of having so many hand-on activities and games is to bring this completely abstract concept into the concrete so the child can better understand the material. A physical copy of Fabulous Fractions costs $21.95. A pdf version is $19.95. Either one would work great depending on your needs and desires in terms of printing and storage.

AIMS sells a wide variety of educational materials, both books and sets of manipulatives, etc. So be sure to check them out here.

Please note: I received this product free of charge in exchange for my honest review. All opinions are mine, and I am not obligated to give a positive review

Amazing Animals by Design

Amazing Animals by Design is a simple children's book that introduces kids to the idea of intelligent design. Using the unique characteristics of zoo animals, Debra Haagan, the author, brings to light the fact that just like animals, humans were made in complex and specific ways that allow us to function, and most espescially, that there is an intelligent being behind our design--God!

This is a full color picture book, 24 pages long, and available in both paperback, or as an ebook. The paperback is $8.99 and the ebook, $7.99. Both are available for purchase here.

Geared toward elementary aged or younger, I found this book to be a great starting point for discussion regarding intelligent design. Especially since many children raised in Christian homes tend to take from granted that God created everything, the benefit to having a book like this is that it causes one to stop and notice how it actually makes sense that the world was created by design (versus randomly). A child can know that God designed the world because he's been told that, but it is crucial to his growth as a Christian that he understand how that statement actually holds water in real life. To me, that would be the greatest benefit to adding a book like this to your collection.

If you like this book, feel free to check out Debra Haagan's website, blog and facebook page as well.

Please note, I received a digital copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. I am not obligated to give a positive review, and all opinions are mine.

Reading Eggs Review

Miss O, my rising 1st grader, had a chance recently to try out an online reading program called Reading Eggs. Miss O hasn't had the greatest success with online programs, just because she tends to get frustrated with the technical aspects (mousing around, using the keyboard, etc). But Reading Eggs was one program that she typically enjoyed using (I say typically because we did have a few problems with her getting frustrated with not understanding how to play some of the games). We also had an annoying problem of having to reset our password every single time we logged in. It didn't affect program use, and I never contacted them about it because it was easier for me just to reset it every time. I'm not sure if I was the only one having this problem, but it wasn't a huge deal.

Reading Eggs is a reading program that is for beginning or emerging readers, and it is online. Reading Eggs will take a child from no reading to a third grade reading level, using 12 levels (or maps) that cover 120 reading lessons (ten per map). Each lesson contains at least 5 different activities for the child to complete; some lessons contain as many as 12 or 13 activities. Usually one lesson would take Miss O 15 to 20 minutes, so the activities are pretty short. Some activities are really only seconds long, others are a few minutes long.

The lessons are presented as locations on a map. The child chooses an avatar, dresses it, and then the avatar guides them through their map (level) to complete the lessons. Any lesson can be repeated, and any game can be played as many times as the child would like. If a child misses too many, the program will prompt them to re-do the activity. At the end of 10 lessons, in order to move to a new map, the child takes an assessment.

There is a reward component to the game as well. The child earns "eggs," which are like money that they can use to redeem or buy things for their avatar or for theim "home". They also earn a new character after each completed lesson. They can go back and look at their characters at any time. There is also a playroom area, which is free (meaning it doesn't cost eggs to play there). There are lots of little games, like painting, puzzles, musical games, stories, etc. They are semi-educational, but are totally optional and are just for fun for the child. Miss O always liked playing in the playroom or purchasing items with her eggs after finishing the days' lesson.

One thing I really liked about Reading Eggs was that you can start your child at their reading level. We've used some online programs where the way they are designed, you have to start your child at the very beginning. Reading Eggs gives you the option of having your child take an assessment and placing them at the correct level according to the results of that assessment. Miss O was placed on map 8 (of 12). She is currently on map 9.

Another thing I like about Reading Eggs is that a free trial is available. There are also codes you can find online (though I personally haven't tried this, I know many others have) to give you a few extra weeks of trying out the program before purchasing. If you like it during the trial, you have the option to subscribe. Pricing is as follows: monthly--$9.95, 6 months--$49.95, 1 year--$75.00. There is also an option to purchase book packs. Read more about those here. In addition to the Reading Eggs program, there is a companion program for older students called Reading Express. We didn't use this program, but my understanding is that it focuses more on the other aspects of Language Arts--spelling, reading comprehension and grammar.

I was given a subscription to Reading Eggs free of charge in exchange for my honest review. All opinions are mine, and I am not obligated to give a positive review.

The Bible for auditory learners

Several weeks ago I was sent a portion of the Bible on CD to review. The CD is made by a company called The World's Greatest Stories, and isn't that what the Bible really is--the greatest story the world has ever known? Most of us want our kids to enjoy it, but often times we find that the stories are hard to understand when we read them to our children or our children read them by themselves.

The World's Greatest Stories puts out a collection of CDs for purchase that are word for word from the Bible. Read by George W. Sarris in a dramatic tone, these CDs DO bring to life those all important stories from God's Word. Not only were my kids enjoying them, I too was listening along and picked up on some details I had not previously remembered reading.

You can choose from KJV or NIV. I chose NIV for us, and was sent a CD on the prophets. My CD included the stories of Jonah, Daniel in the lion's den, Beltshazar and the writing on the wall, Elijah calling down fire, and the fiery furnace. Little Bean, my 6 year old LOVES to listen to audio books of any kind, but these were a special treat because they are read in such a dramatic fashion and include sound effects like the sound of a blazing fire in the story of the fiery furnace. Miss O liked this CD too, but Little Bean really seemed to favor it.

Each CD is $7.95. You can listen to samples on their website too! Other offerings include: The Life of Christ, Beginnings, Joshua and Esther, Joseph and His Brothers and Defeating Giants.

Note: I received this product free of charge in exchange for my honest review. I am not obligated to give a positive review.

Review: Vintage Remedies

Vintage Remedies a company dedicated to teaching children and teens about natural living and a healthy lifestyle. They have a number of wellness products with this aim, and I was sent a copy of their Vintage Remedies for Kids curriculum, which is geared toward children ages 2 to 6.

Vintage Remedies for Kids is approximately 200 pages, and has 18 health and wellness topics to discuss with your child. Rather than a workbook, Vintage Remedies for Kids is more of a discussion guide with creative ideas to extend the learning for young children. Each chapter has a few pages of discussion that help the parent to lead the child into a conversation about a particular topics. Following that are some ideas to make the learning more hands on. For example, one day the kids and I discussed fruits, and then made a smoothie. We learned that smoothies are healthier than juice because you are eating the whole fruit (pulp). We also learned about what kinds of vitamins and nutrients are in different kinds of fruits. Other topics to explore include: foods that are not real foods, nuts and grains, how I grow, when I get sick, and many others.

While I thought there was quite a bit of quality information in this little book, along with some good ideas for making the learning come alive, I would have found it more appealing if it did come with more visual aids (pictures, of which there are none), and worksheets or mini books to do together. I don't want to have to put together my own crafts to go along with each lesson; I just don't have time for that! Vintage Remedies for Kids is $25.00.

I was also sent a book called The Kitchen Herbal. The Kitchen Herbal is a book that explores 18 different herbs, and their uses for health and wellness as well as for taste! The author, Jessie Hawkins gives a small history of each herb, as well as several recipes and information on how to grow and store the herb at home. Those who enjoy cooking and trying new flavors will likely enjoy this book, as it contains a wealth of information on herbs and their uses. The Kitchen Herbal is is $9.95.

Note: I was given this product free of charge in exchange for my honest review. I am not obligated to give a positive review.

2nd grade, fractions and geometry and a game called Fractazmic

As some of you know, we use and love our math curriculum, Right Start Mathematics. Little Bean is in Book C now, which is for second graders. He is doing quite well with it! Recently we began a series of lessons focusing on geometry and fractions. Little Bean has been using a 30/60 triangle and a T-square to construct various shapes and divide the shapes in parts. He is doing some comparing of fractions during this time too. While this has been very challenging for him, it has also been a great way for him to realize that real math problems are the kind that don't have an immediately apparent answer. He has really had to problem solve to figure out how to divide the shapes accurately.

I was excited when I was given the opportunity to review a fraction card game called Fractazmic because the opportunity came at the same time as our study of fractions did. Fractazmic is a card game with three suits (colors) that the players must collect and add up the fractions on the cards to equal 1. The trick is that the fractions don't all have a common denominator, so the student must convert the fractions to a common denominator in order to figure out how to make the cards equal 1.

Initially this seemed too difficult for Little Bean, who has only had a gentle introduction to fractions, and no introduction to conversions. But as we played, we utilized the illustrations on the cards to help us. For instance, one suit has pictures of eggs in a carton. To add up to 1, you must have 12 eggs. This he could understand, so we built on that, and used the game as our introduction to conversions. To start, we also played our hands open faced, so I could help him along. Later, in Right Start, he was briefly introduced to this concept by dividing triangles into fractions and comparing the sizes of the pieces.

Fractazmic is $6.95 cents (plus shipping). As a learning tool and a fun game, I haven't a complaint about it! The makers of Fractazmic, a company called I See Cards, has several other educational cards games, so if you like the looks of this one, be sure to check out their other offerings!

Please note: I received this game in exchange for my honest review. I am not obligated to give a positive review.

A reading game from the author of Worldy Wise

Most of you know we love games at our house. So when I was given the opportunity to review a reading game, aptly titled, The Reading Game, I was excited to see what it was all about. In the back of my mind, I thought maybe Miss O, my emerging reader, may be too good at reading to benefit from this game, but never the less, we gave it a go.

The Reading Game comes with several decks of leveled word cards and a corresponding leveled reader for each deck. The player uses the cards to play a memory game. When the words on the cards have been memorized, the player then reads the book. During the course of the game, the child memorizes 180 of the most commonly used words in early reading. The goal of The Reading Game is to make learning to read fun for the student and to help give their reading skills a little boost in a low stress situation.

In the end, I was right about Miss O being too advanced in her reading skills for this game. She is already reading most all of the 180 words that were introduced, and the few she didn't recognize she memorized on the spot. So from an educational standpoint, this game was past its' prime for our household. Does that mean it's a bad game? Not really. It's just that since my youngest reader has already learned the words in the game, there was no real educational point in playing it.

In terms of fun factor, I wasn't particularly impressed. I was really expecting a reading game, something new and different, not just decks of word cards and instructions on how to play memory. Memory isn't the most exciting game, my kids have played probably dozens of memory games in their short lives, and it wasn't all that fun for them. Is this always the case? Probably not. There are probably kids who love memory games, and those kids would probably really like this game. For us though, it was a little dry.

Quality-wise, the game itself is packaged neatly and nicely in a little box with colorful decks of cards that appear sturdy enough to be used many times. The readers are paperback, printed in black and white on glossy paper. They aren't fancy, but they do the job. The Reading Game sells for $24.95 here. Free worksheets and assessment printouts are available here.

Please note: I was sent The Reading Game free of charge in exchange for my honest review. I am not obligate to give a positive review.

Math Mammoth

Have you ever wondered about Math Mammoth? I know I have. On the different homeschooling forums I frequent, whenever people ask about quality math programs, Math Mammoth is mentioned as both a quality program and an affordable one. I know all the talk made me curious. So I was excited when I found out I would get to review one of their programs.

Maria Miller, the creator of Math Mammoth worked with each crew member who was reviewing her products individually. She helped us choose just the right program for the particular learner in our home. Apparently this is a regular practice of her, so I give two thumbs up right off the bat for excellent customer service. Maria chose for me both her full 2nd grade curriculum (Light Blue series), and also her multiplication book. I was delighted with her choices and printed out the full 2nd grade text that night!

A little background on how Math Mammoth works may help those of you who are unfamiliar with its' format. Maria has different "series" or kinds of work texts. They are downloadable, so you can print them as many times as you want or need and this also keeps the costs down for you. CD or printed copies are available for those who desire them. Maria has full curriculum sets which are listed by grade level. She also has individual work texts which cover a particular topic--for instance I received one book just on multiplication. These are helpful for students who are struggling in just one area and need extra practice. Check out her FAQs page for more information on how these items are sold and how the grade levels match up to the topics.

In terms of pricing, as I said, Math Mammoth is affordable. I received the full curriculum for 2nd grade, and this runs for $34.00. The multiplication book I received is $5.00. Maria does not actually sell her products on the Math Mammoth site, but you can purchase them on Currclick or Kagi or Lulu. Learn more about that here where she gives direct links to her stores on each site.

Here are my thoughts. Neither of my kiddos are workbook kiddos. Some kids are, and some parents or teachers are. And that's great. But my son can take 30 minutes to do just one Math Mammoth worksheet filled with old concepts for review. Since Kinder we have been using a very hands-on approach that is really teacher intensive and very oral. Math Mammoth is a different approach altogether. It's much more of a paper and pencil math curriculum that requires the student to write quite a bit. There is very little actual "teaching" going on in my opinion, or at least in the way I am used to teaching. Short explanations and lots of practice seemed to be what I observed when using this with Little Bean. That works for a lot of people. So I'm not saying Math Mammoth isn't a quality curriculum. I'm just saying that for us, it's a little to worksheet oriented.

As for how math is taught, Math Mammoth leaves room for teachers to introduce their own manipulatives and make it more of a hands-on approach, certainly. The worksheets are colorful and make use of visual models to help the student understand the concepts. I'm a bit of a manipulative snob though; I believe only certain ones are worth using. I believe that just having a picture of ten balls in rows of two isn't necessarily going to help the student understand what ten looks like. Or counting out beans or plastic bears when adding isn't much of an improvement from using nothing at all. So I guess for me, some of what I saw on the worksheets was visual, but not necessarily helpful to the student. I hope that makes sense.

So is Math Mammoth worth it? Well, that all depends on what you're looking for. Take the Math Mammoth tour so you can get samples of the workbooks and decide for yourself if this is something you want to invest in.

Please note: I received my copies of Math Mammoth for free in exchange for my honest review. I am not obligated to give a positive review.

A computer reading program that's fun!

Some of you may have gathered from previous posts that my Miss O is a little....technologically challenged. She and the computer, they just don't mesh. No matter how well-crafted or fun the computer game is, for some reason she always ends up in tears. Well, recently we had the chance to review another computer program, this time a reading program, called Ooka Island.

Miss O actually really had fun with this one! I was wary to begin with because of our failures in the past, but she really enjoyed this one, and I'm sure will continue to enjoy Ooka Island until our subscription runs out.

Here are some basics of the game:

Ooka Island is a reading program geared toward children in Pre K through Grade 2. The child chooses an avatar to take them around Ooka Island and proceed through several different learning games. Some of the games Miss O enjoyed were the sound cave in which the child listens for a sound and her avatar is moved forward on a little roller coaster ride in the cave, and a mountain climbing game focusing on jumping from letter to letter in alphabetical order. Once they reach the top of the moutain, the child's avatar can skateboard down!

After being guided through the activities for twenty minutes, the child goes to the popcorn library to read a book. At first the books are read to you. Later, it is my understanding that the child reads the books. How it works is that every child, no matter their reading level starts at the same point in the game, but by contacting customer service, your child is offered an assessment to place them at the appropriate reading level in the popcorn library. Though Miss O is reading well already, I chose to start her out at the very beginning for the purpose of this review. But the option to bump your child up is out there for those who need it.

Once you are done in the popcorn library, the child has 8 minutes of free time on the island and can repeat whatever games they like or visit the playhouse, where they can dress their avatar in different clothes or play with the Ooka elves and their toys.

It is my understanding that Ooka Island is a fairly new program, and thus there do seem to be some kinks that need working out. For one, the download itself is quite lengthy. They warned about this one the website, that since there were so many components to the game, the download would be long. But mine was over 2 hours, and even then I had to contact customer support for help because the program would not run right. Fortunately they were very helpful and I was able to get the program going. A second problem we encountered with Ooka Island was with the avatar. Ours was headless! And if my daughter entered the "closet" to change her avatar's clothes, the game would freeze up and we had to close it. Neither of these were a huge deal to me, but I thought I'd be honest and just say the game isn't "perfect" just yet.

Ooka Island runs by subscription. It's $12.95 for one month, $59.95 for 6 months, and $99.95 for a year. Alternatively, if you have more than one child who wants to play, you can take a look at their family account pricing, which is cheaper. You'll want to check out their website because it has lots of information and some video to help you get a feel for what the game is like. Also see the graphic below for a promo code to save 30 percent!

My opinion is that Ooka Island is a really fun, well put together program that most children will really enjoy. I think if the child is just starting out, they would be the ones who would benefit the most.

Please note: I received Ooka Island for free in exchange for my honest review. I am not obligated to give a positive review.

Memoria Press Reading Program

Memoria Press sent me a sweet little bundle of books to try out with Miss O recently. Memoria Press is a publishing company that publishes all kinds of classically-based curriculum for students of all ages. I received their phonics, reading and printing program, called First Start Reading, as well as their Classical Phonics book, which is a little book that has extensive words lists to be used alongside any reading program from K to 2.

Since Miss O is already reading pretty well (she can read books like Henry and Mudge or the Young Cam Jansen Mysteries), I wasn't at all sure what I could pull from this program that would work for her level.

I knew most of the phonics portion would not work for her. I'm not against phonics at all; nor am I a die-hard phonics person like some teachers seem to be. But First Start Reading is a phonics-based program that is pretty thorough, taking a child from not reading at all and giving them a great start toward fluency in reading, and Miss O for one already knows how to read, and for two, didn't respond to the phonics approach very well in the past. I did try out their Classical Phonics book for its' word lists, starting her somewhere in the middle of the book closer to her reading level. This is a nice little companion book, and for those who need it, it does have phonics rule explanations at the bottom of each page explaining the rule the child is practicing.

The First Start Reading program consists of three components--phonics, reading (stories) and printing. It consists of three consequtive workbooks for the student, and a teacher's guide that has scripting as well as a smaller copy of the workbook so the teacher can see what the students will be doing without having to look at the workbook separately. I went ahead and started in the beginning with Miss O, because although she knows how to read already, her printing isn't the best, and printing is an integral part of the lessons right from the beginning. This program uses the "ball and stick" printing you see in a lot of workbooks (as opposed to manuscript or something else). Miss O actually really enjoyed the workbooks, though they are really repetitive in that each lesson is the same format every day.

My assessment of this program is that is a well-thought out, no-frills program that would work well for parents who a) want a phonics approach to teaching reading, and b) who have children who thrive on repetition in learning. The First Start Reading Program is $29.95 and the Classical Phonics book is $14.95. Memoria Press also offers full curriculum packages, Latin and Greek curriculum as well as many other subject areas related to classical education.

Please note: I was given this program free of charge in exchange for my honest review. I am not obligated to give a positive review.

Resource for Christian home educators

People homeschool for all kinds of reasons. Some people do it out of necessity--they have a child with severe allergies, or they live in a neighborhood with poorly ranking schools. Some people do it because their child was not thriving in public school. Some do it for religious reasons. Some would consider home educating their children a calling. If that's you, you may be interested in the book I've been reading of late, a book entitled, "Educating the Whole-Hearted Child" by Clay and Sally Clarkson.

I say this book is for those who feel that homeschooling is their God-given calling as parents because this book is wholly focused on Christian home education. Right off the bat I noticed that it was written to that particular audience, and I think those who do not hold to Christian belief probably would not enjoy this book much, though I can't say that definitively, since there is so much to glean between it's covers.

As a Christian home educator myself, I found this massive, nearly 400 page book to be an inspiring and quality resource. I have always felt that my children should be educated at home with me, that that was where they were meant to be. This book has given me so much inspiration as I explore how to best go about homeschooling my kids.

As the title suggests, this book is about developing the whole child, not just his academic side, but also nurturing the home environment in ways that will aid in shaping him into a child who is wholly devoted to God, and who has had an excellent education. I wish I had been able to read this one cover to cover before my review was due (course with a newborn in the house, who can blame me for not finishing the entire thing), but I will say I am thoroughly impressed with what I have read, and have spent many a session with hi-lighter in hand, processing the things I am reading. I can tell this will be a book that I come back to time and again because already it is reminding me of why I homeschool and in what ways I can make the experience better for our whole family.

"Educating the Whole-Hearted Child" can be purchased at Apologia's website for $22.00. For a book of this size (this book is the size of a college text!), that is not a bad price at all. As most of you probably know, Apologia sells lots of other books and curriculum, so be sure to cruise around their site for a while!

Please note: I was given a copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. I am not obligated to give a positive review.

Magnet Curriculum

What kid doesn't love playing with magnets? I know both of mine have really enjoyed playing with the magnets in the kit Little Bean received from a friend a year or so ago. The kit even came with a little booklet with some simple experiments to try. So when the opportunity arose for me to review Primarily Magnets, published by Aims Educational Foundation, I was certainly interested.

Primarily Magnets is geared toward grades K to 2, and is 85 pages long. Covering such things as magnets interacting with other magnets, magnets interacting with other materials, attraction and repulsion, magnetic fields, and the everyday use of magnets, this supplimentary curriculum went far beyond the little booklet in our existing magnet kit. Primarily Magnets consists of thorough lesson plans which are aligned with educational standards and also has pages that can be copied for use with the lessons. A CD with PDF files of all the worksheets comes with the book, which is really convenient for those who don't have free access to a copier, but can print at home. Primarily Magnets is $18.95. Primarily Magnets is offered in a PDF version for the same price.

As I said, the kids have already done a lot with magnets in the past, but with Primarily Magnets I was able to take their knowledge to a deeper level. I was glad that we had a variety of magnets on hand already, otherwise the book alone would not have been all that fun since it does not come with magnets. You can purchase ring magnets alone from AIMS or a Mostly Magnets kit, but the kit in my opinion wouldn't work for homeschoolers because it comes with too many duplicates (it was clearly made for classroom use). But magnet kits are inexpensive and easy to purchase, and luckily this curriculum with adapt well to any magnet kit you decide to use alongside.

I found Primarily Magnets to be a solid curriculum choice for those looking for a unit study or semester long study of magnets. Was it exceptional? In my opinion, no, not really. But it wasn't bad either. It was a good solid curriculum and I have nothing bad really to say about it. My friends on the Homeschool Crew also reviewed Primarily Magnets and other products from AIMS (AIMS offers quite a range of educational products in the areas of math and science), so if this book sounds like something you'd like to know more about, by all means hop on over here and see what other people are saying.

I received Primarily Magnets for free in exchange for my honest review. I am not obligated to give a positive review, and all opinions are mine.

Our Newest Board Game

How cute is this game?

We are totally board game people--what homeschooling family isn't, right? But Flea Circus by R and R Games is our most recent favorite board game to play together.

The game pieces are well made and super cute, and the rules are easy enough that Miss O, my new 5 year old, caught on quickly and can play a mean hand all on her own! She is the least into board games of all of us, so that is really saying something.

Hey, you can even play by yourself, or if you're anything like Little Bean, with your pet monkey! Just kidding, you have to have at least one friend to play with, but still, isn't this pic adorable? I bet you can't guess who won! ;)

So here's the lowdown on this game, cause I know if you're looking at my pics you're already interested cause this game is just so darn cute!

Flea Circus is a card game that utilizes little rubber cats and dogs--the "spectators"--who have come to watch the "fleas" perform in their circus shows. Each player tries to attract the most spectators to his show to win the game. The box has easy to understand instructions included, and says that the game is for ages 6 and up. But like I said before, my daughter just turned 5, and she is a whiz at this game! The cost listed on the website is $15.95.

And here's a bonus--if your little one is learning skip counting, this game can help them along. Dog spectators are worth two tickets, cats are worth one. So when the cards run out and everyone counts out their spectators, you can take the opportunity to practice skip counting by twos with your child. Here, Miss O used her abacus to count by twos and then ones to figure out her total number of spectators.

Like this game? Me too. And you're super lucky. Because the folks at R and R Games say you can use the promo code CREW20 to receive 20% off any purchase on the site. It's good until the end of the year too, so if you wanna tuck this little game away for a Christmas gift, you can do that too!

Not convinced? Read more reviews R and R games here.

Thanks for reading, and happy playing!

Disclaimer: I was given Flea Circus free of charge in exchange for my honest review. I was not obligated to give a positive review, nor was I compensated in any way. I strive to be as forthright and candid in my reviews as possible.

What we've been doing for science and what we will do

A while back I was researching curriculum for next year and I really could not decide on a science that I liked. One of them I liked, but it was not Christian-based and had some mentions of evolution, another I liked but it was pricey. Eventually I just stopped looking. Then a package came in the mail for review: it was the Eagle's Wings Considering God's Creation student book and teacher's manual (with CD). I was glad to try it because I thought perhaps it would be a good fit for our family for science next year.

Upon opening the student book, I was immediately impressed. The work pages are all very unique and interactive, with lots of information and things to cut, paste and flip open and closed. The workbook itself looked great, so I anticipated that the teacher's guide would be the same. The teacher's guide has alot of information, there's no denying that. The authors took time to go into a lot of detail on each unit (including units like weather, the plant kingdom, the animal kingdom, animal anatomy and physiology, and man). Because Considering God's Creation is a multi-level curriculum that is made for children in 2nd through 7th, the teacher's manual breaks information down in ways that are simple all the way to more complex and detailed explanations for older students. It's a curriculum meant to be enjoyed at home across the grade levels. There is also an accompanying CD with songs that are menat to support the learning. I'll be honest, the CD is not well done. We didn't use it at all once we listened to it at first. But the curriculum is fine without it.

We decided to do the unit on man, even though that is the last unit in the book, it doesn't matter because the information can be done out of order. We used pages from the workbook to make a 3 foot high skeleton, and then learned the names of many bones. We then did some work with the digestive system, again using pages from the workbook to glue to our skeleton, as well as other pages that aided the kids in learning the basics of what happens in digestion.

The kids really love anything hands-on related to science, and they loved these lessons. I like them because they are pretty open and go, except for a bit of cutting that I had to do ahead of time. I also like that I can do most of the activities without purchasing all kinds of special science products. We combined these books with our Magic School Bus science kit on the human body and they complimented each other nicely, but this could be a stand alone curriculum as well. This curriculum is only $29.95, and is well worth it.

If you are interested in Considering God's Creation, check out their sample pages here. See what my crewmates are saying here.

Note: I received this product free of charge in exchange for my honest review.

Homeschool Reading Program for 2nd grade

A while back on the Homeschool Crew, we had the option of showing interest in a number of curriculum choices from Pearson Education. I chose to ask for their 2nd grade language arts curriculum because Little Bean was finished with phonics and close to starting 2nd grade. Happily, I was chosen to receive their reading program, called Reading Street, and Little Bean has been enjoying it immensely.

If you've spent any time in the public elementary school classroom, you will be familiar with the layout of these books. I received two hard back volumes, put out by Scott Foresman, a leading name in the public school system. These volumes consist mainly of living books republished in an anthology form. The stories are broken up into units, each with a theme. Before and after each age-appropriate story are questions and information relating to language arts, such as predicting, talking about genre, story sequencing and comprehension questions. These can be discussed with the child, and then usually there is some light grammar and a writing assignment included. The copies I received were the student copies.

Pearson Education offers teacher's manuals to go along with these books, but really the books are fine to use without. There is a teacher's manual for every unit, and they are quite pricey, so unless absolutely needed, I wouldn't recommend purchasing them for home use. In the classroom, they may provide a little more structure for the teacher and help to extend the learning, but at home, they are not needed in my opinion.

What I like about these books is that they contain a lot of great children's literature, all in one small volume. Rather than collecting a lot of different books, this takes the guesswork out for you. The books also connect to other subject areas when applicable like science or social studies. And, there is a wide variety of genres, from poetry, to fiction, to non-fiction pieces.

Each volume is 43.87, and I believe that both volumes are meant to be done in one year's time. We only do Reading Street once a week, and the kids like to look at it on their own as well, so likely it will last longer for us. The upside is that even when you are done doing the activities, you still have an anthology of great literature to go back to whenever you like. See what my crewmates think by clicking here.