EdAlive Typing Tournament and Math Invaders Review

The girls are still working on there typing skills. They are slow and tend to hunt and peck more than anything. I thought this program by EdAlive called Typing Tournament Online might help them learn to type a little better. EdAlive also has program called Math Invaders Online. These are two different subscriptions but both are reasonably priced.

Math Invaders Online is a math program that is designed to be a fun way to learn math. It uses a game format to help kids have fun while learning math skills. It is designed as a mastery learning system for age 5-15. It covers topics like Times Tables, Addition, Subtraction, Multiplication, Division, Fractions, Percentages, Decimals, Counting, Squares, Powers, etc. As your child masters a concept the program automatically progresses them to the next level. Kids are motivated to learn by earning new defender levels. The girls have toyed around with this program a bit. They report that the games make practicing fun and they are usually willing to play it at least a few times a week. The only downfall to this program is its internet based so while they can play it on a tablet or phone they must have an internet connection.

Math Invaders has become our rainy day activity. About 2 weeks into the program the girls discovered they could host a game called space rescue and they could invite other players to play with them. Most of the time they are just playing against each other but they find it fun to see if they can beat each other. I like that its fun and educational at the same time. Math Invaders is giving them some extra math practice and for once they are not complaining about it.

Typing Tournament Online is the program the girls have used the most. They are calling it TTO. This one is designed as a complete 10-finger typing course. It is for ages 6 to adult. There is no need to have prior typing experiences. It progressively introduces the whole keyboard and allows the student to work at there own pace. There are 128 lessons including games and drills. Typing Tournament Online teaching works on PC's Tablets, ipads, iphones, Android tablets etc. It solves the problem with the nonstandard on-screen keyboard that is used on mobile devices by substituting its own specially created onscreen keyboard that has a standard layout. You get unlimited 24 hour 7 day a week access. The only down fall is its internet based so if you must have internet to use it.  As far as typing programs go this is one of the better ones we have tried. What makes it better is its been updated so the graphics are modern and it the audio is easy to understand. The girls say the instructions are very clear and easy to understand. They describe the typing games as fun. The games have a medieval theme with 16 different levels they can advance through as there typing skills get better and better. As they progress through the program they are given test to evaluate how they are doing and an opportunity to earn tokens that you can use to watch a movie.

From the teachers end of things it offers a teacher account with printable reports so its
easy to keep a log of each child's progress. It has an unlimited amount of printable worksheets that you can choose from for some extra practice when they need it. It offers graphs etc to help you track progress and see any areas they might need a little help working on. Both girls have really improved there typing speed and accuracy. They enjoy playing the math game and blasting away aliens and are really getting some much needed math fact practice.

Don't forget to click the banner below and check out what all the other crew members are saying bout EdAlive!

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Spring time happenings

The greenhouse plants are looking good

However the flooring I ordered for my bathroom not so much. UPS beat up my poor flooring and now I’m fight with menards to get it replaced. 

So this happened

Well our chicken started setting on a fake egg the girls were trying to use to train her to lay her eggs in the nest box. My neighbor came over and snuck the fake egg out from under her and replaced it with three eggs from his coop. This little momma was non the wiser and now she has 3 chicks. She is such a good momma chicken. She got them up and out of the coop into the run the very next morning. She has already taught them to scratch and peck for chick starter and today she was showing them how to find ants and small bugs. When ever she fears they are in danger she calls them and they hurry under her wings. The girls are beyond excited to be raising chicks.

CrossWired Science Review

CrossWired Science is a new science program that we were given the opportunity to try out. This is a yearly subscription Science program that is Biblical based introducing young children to "deep God-honoring Science" and it brings powerful science that points to the Lord as students finish their high school years.. The material on the sight is designed to be use for students in multiple grade levels from kindergarten all the way to High School. This is a science program with really great video lessons or explanations coupled with some great resources for more learning and understanding.

The website stated that the program covers 30 global topics. Currently there are just 2 topics listed on the website which will give you 3 months of science as a full curriculum. The two current Global topics are Sound, and Fluid Dynamics. These are the two topics the girls have started with. There will be two more additions coming soon and that will give you an entire school year of science. With the other upcoming additions they will offer approximately 6 years of Science.

Both of the girls were confused on how get going on this. When they log in it took them to the Home page which displayed videos. They thought this was what they were supposed to be doing. So they started watching the videos. They stated they were cool but short and didn't have enough information. They had actually watched the sample lesson videos. They had watched roughly 8 of them before I realized what they were doing the good news is they enjoyed them. When the student logs in they have to go to a tab at the top labeled curriculum. They then have to select first time or second time. If they select second time they get the same videos and topics but the questions and test are harder. I have both the girls working as first timers.

Each class session should take around 45-60 minutes. There are videos, quizzes, experiments, extra links to investigate, and memory versus. So the girls log in and select a topic. One started with Fluid Dynamics the other with Sound. It gives them a video to watch then below the video it gives them some questions to do. After answering the questions they select the finish quiz button and it grades the quiz. You then select the next lesson button and go on to the next lesson which is set up in a similar manner.

Under the Parent/teacher tab at the top you can find worksheet answers. Under that same tab there is an area for unit links, general links, and teacher resources. The first 2 are exactly that links that go along with each unit. Teacher resources has tips for using CWS, a calendar, and a link to information on the student dashboard. I also discovered a student progress section which tells you who has completed how much and when. There is also a quiz results section that you can go and view each students quiz results. Now for the thing I felt was missing from the Parent/Teacher tab. I was really disappointed not to find a break down of subject areas covered for each Global Topic. These topics seem to cover several subjects and there is no guide to show me what is being covered in each one. This means I have to spend hours reviewing each lesson so I can log what was being covered. If you click the general links option it gives you daily links to other resources. My issue with this is its hard for my kids to find it on there own or to even know its available in less I am there to go over it with them.


I do not consider this a self guided program at least for elementary and lower grade school kids. Navigation was to tricky for them to be able to figure out what they need to do with out guidance.

This is a brand new program and the company is still adding content and working out the last of the kinks. I think they have a great start on a cool science program that a child could grow with. Be sure to click the banner below and check out what other crew families thought about CrossWired Science and how it might work for your family.

Country Living

I thought I would share a few pictures on how the hydroponic set up is going. The plants we started as seeds are doing well. We have lettuce, a tomato plant, a heartless habanero and some cabbage that is just now sprouting. The strawberries were transplants from our outdoor beds they seem to be adapting to life in the hydroponic set up we even have our first flower.

Green house happenings

Our mint plant made it through the winter. I really thought it was gone since everything else had started to green up and this pot was still empty. But I guess this little guy was just lying dormant under the soil waiting for the right moment to start growing again. 

YWAM Publishing Review

YWAM Publishing has some great new learning products available. We are taking a look at Heroes of History series. We got to review a specific book Heroes of History Ronald Reagan. The series comes with some great downloadable study guides.
http://www.ywampublishing.com/c-108-downloadable-unit-studies-curriculum-guides.aspx.

We got started on this book a little late in the game. Our original book got lost in the mail. It showed up just the other day and well it looks like something tried to eat it. It had a really sweet note from the post office that said were sorry your book got damaged. The company was great and sent us a replacement copy and my daughter got started on it right away.

The study guide is easy to access once downloaded. It includes a section with more information on who your book is about, in our case Ronald Regan. I discovered a guide specifically for homeschool families. It tells you how to use the Heroes of History series as a curriculum. It breaks down each book by topic and period of History the girls are interested in reading Benjamin Franklin: Live Wire next. It gives you some suggestions on how to use the series with children of varying abilities.  Under the Unit Study section I found a guide with different study question to use with my child as she reads through the book. It includes basic questions as well as essay questions and hands on projects. Under the Bonus Item section we found some different word puzzles that seemed like they would be great for a student who has read several of the books in this series.

My 6th grader is the one reading this book and working through the study guide. She had no prior knowledge of Ronald Regan and she was a little reluctant to read the book for me. It took her a hole chapter to really get into the book. But now she is really into learning who he was and what did for our country. She thinks his nickname Dutch is funny and cant believe he got the nick name because he was a 10lb baby. She tells me that the book is fully of great information that is some times funny. She couldn't believe that one of our presidents had been a life guard or that he grew up in
a pore family and had to move around all the time. She loved that he had flaws and came from an underprivileged family yet did something amazing with his life. She feels as thought the chapters are on the longer side and a child in a younger grade might have difficulty reading it on their own.

From the mom perspective I think this is a great biography on a Hero of History. It felt like the book gave her a good idea of who Ronald Regan was and some of the great things he did for our country. I starts out with his life as child and progresses through his life as the fortieth president of the United States. I like that it came with a study guide. While there are a few student printable' s I would like to see more student work pages that I could print off and have her work on while she is actually reading the book. Both of my girls really like having a work sheet they can work on as they go. I think the series as a hole would make for a great history unit. Looking at the Unit Study guide and the length of the book and its content we could probably cover one book a month from the series.

YWAM Publishing has some great new learning products available. We are taking a look at Heroes of History series. We got to review a specific book Heroes of History Ronald Reagan. The series comes with some great downloadable study guides.

http://www.ywampublishing.com/c-108-downloadable-unit-studies-curriculum-guides.aspx.

We got started on this book a little late in the game. Our original book got lost in the mail. It showed up just the other day and well it looks like something tried to eat it. It had a really sweet note from the post office that said were sorry your book got damaged. The company was great and sent us a replacement copy and my daughter got started on it right away.

The study guide is easy to access once downloaded. It includes a section with more information on who your book is about, in our case Ronald Regan. I discovered a guide specifically for homeschool families. It tells you how to use the Heroes of History series as a curriculum. It breaks down each book by topic and period of History the girls are interested in reading Benjamin Franklin: Live Wire next. It gives you some suggestions on how to use the series with children of varying abilities.  Under the Unit Study section I found a guide with different study question to use with my child as she reads through the book. It includes basic questions as well as essay questions and hands on projects. Under the Bonus Item section we found some different word puzzles that seemed like they would be great for a student who has read several of the books in this series.

My 6th grader is the one reading this book and working through the study guide. She had no prior knowledge of Ronald Regan and she was a little reluctant to read the book for me. It took her a hole chapter to really get into the book. But now she is really into learning who he was and what did for our country. She thinks his nickname Dutch is funny and cant believe he got the nick name because he was a 10lb baby. She tells me that the book is fully of great information that is some times funny. She couldn't believe that one of our presidents had been a life guard or that he grew up in
a pore family and had to move around all the time. She loved that he had flaws and came from an underprivileged family yet did something amazing with his life. She feels as thought the chapters are on the longer side and a child in a younger grade might have difficulty reading it on their own.

From the mom perspective I think this is a great biography on a Hero of History. It felt like the book gave her a good idea of who Ronald Regan was and some of the great things he did for our country. I starts out with his life as child and progresses through his life as the fortieth president of the United States. I like that it came with a study guide. While there are a few student printable' s I would like to see more student work pages that I could print off and have her work on while she is actually reading the book. Both of my girls really like having a work sheet they can work on as they go. I think the series as a hole would make for a great fun history unit. Looking at the Unit Study guide and the length of the book and its content we could probably cover one book a month from the series.

Other crew families had the chance to try other books from YWAM Publishing so click the link below and see what they thought about the other books.

Social Media Links:

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/YWAM-Publishing-482973445102/
Twitter: http://twitter.com/YWAMpublishing
Pinterest: http://www.pinterest.com/YWAMpublishing
Instagram: @ywampublishing

Hydroponic gardening

Me and the girls are trying out hydroponics in the garden this year. I bought a small setup online which I am not going to recommend this specific one or even the seller. They were shipping from the USA but apparently they are from China and they sent me a controller that is completely in Chinese and both the controller and the pump won’t run on a USA outlet. I had to order a new pump and controller. Any way it’s now set up the green house seeds are starting to sprout  finally! We transplanted a couple of strawberry plants from our big bed just as an experiment to see if we could get them to grow in the hydroponic. We have like 4 varieties of lettuce started and some purple cabbage just because I wanted to see what it would do. Our temperature dropped back to freezing so I had to cover everything with ground cloth to keep them from freezing. We got the liquid nutrients in the tank and the PH adjusted so I guess now we watch and wait.

Wordless Wednesday

Let your Gravel Travel

Back road season is here again. Roll down the windows and let your gravel travel. Find some two lane country and see where it takes you.

Back road Shenanigans

We rolled down the windows and we took some old back road.  We put a little gravel in our travels.

We found a great new spot on the other side of the lake. 

To collect some new treasures.

And walk like a crab. 

Tied 2 Teaching STEM Activities Review

The girls love doing hands on lessons. So we are excited to Introduce you to this STEM Learning program from Tied 2 Teaching. They offer this great set called STEM Activities, Full Year of Challenges with Close Reading. First off this is a downloadable product so you will need internet access to at least purchase and get the package downloaded. Once downloaded you save the activity units to your computer and you can print each one when you are ready to use it. You will need internet if you want your child to utilize the additional reading resource links. You can print the reading passages ahead of time if you do not have internet. This is a large set of STEM projects, 65 in total. Each project is in the ball park of 18 pages.

We did several of the STEM projects but the Upcycled Bird House Challenge with close reading was a favorite. I chose to click the link and print the reading passage. I also printed the packet that I downloaded. The packet includes instructions and Q & A pages. So first I had the girls take turns reading the passage that was suggested it was about birds/habitat etc. Then they each answered the question with information they would have learned from the reading assignment. Next they read the directions for the challenge. They did the your mission sheet. It had them answer some questions to help them get started: Ask, Imagine, Plan, create, improve. This was very self explanatory and the girls knew just what to do just by reading the work sheet. They did a page where they showed the steps to building/designing there bird house. There were some pages that they could answer after they built the bird house. Thing like what worked best, what could I do better next time etc. They made the bird houses out of recycled juice and water bottles. Recycled hay from the garden and some left over yarn from a previous project.

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                 Some of the other STEM projects we tried from this set were the Design a Balloon Tower Challenge. Where your child builds a balloon tower with nothing but balloons and tape. This one set off a balloon fight so our towers never got very tall. But it had some great reading and it really was a fun challenge that kept them busy for an 

This Tied 2 Teaching package has so many great STEM challenges I just cant tell you about all of them. So I am going to encourage you to click the link blow and check out the projects that the other crew members have tried.

Social Media Links: 

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/tied2teaching/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tied2teaching/
Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/tied2teaching/

Here is a little up date on what’s been happening in the garden. We have lots of seedlings this year we managed to get a really good sprout ratio by placing the flat near a heater vent. The little guys are ready to transition to the green house this weekend.

For summer science the girls are learning about hydroponic growing with this super cool set up.


For those of you that don’t know hydroponics is a method of growing plants with out soil. We are doing an ebb and flow methods which means the tubes will be flooded with a solution full of all the victim and and minerals etc that plants need to grow for so long of a time then the pump shuts off and it’s allowed to drain for a period of time and the cycle continues. The plants go into a media or a special sponge if you are starting from seed. The roots then fill the basket and dangle down inside the tubes where they can soak up the fertilizers they need to grow. We are trying this method with some lettuce varieties as well as some strawberries and what ever else we decide to experiment with.