Wednesday, August 31, 2016
HomeSchool Scholastics, WAY Comes Home Kit Review
There are 5 modules in this program. Each Module has three sections a Health Safari, Me Mysteries, and Innerspace Adventure. Module 1 is called getting started. Module 2 is called Where do you begin? Module 2 is Let's Get Active, Module 4 is The Nutrition WAY, and Module 5 is Health-It's Personal. We used the grade 2-3 workbook and the grade 4-5 workbook. The WAY me mysteries workbook is for grades 2-3 and the WAY Innerspace Adventure workbook is for grades 4-5. The workbooks are nice, they are colored and include some instruction and activities for you child to do. I found the workbooks to be easy to use. The teachers manual is a great help. It explains what you are teaching and just gives some really easy to follow directions for teaching this program to you kids. Each Module or activity has a Parent Prep section to help you make sure you as the teacher are ready to teach the class. There is a lesson at a glance section which gets you going on teaching the lesson. It tell you things like additional library books that you can get. What you need for the lesson. and a What to Do section which tells you the steps for teaching the lesson. This part is broke down by number so its easy to follow it even tells you what video segment to use with your child.
We used the video like instructed in the teachers manual. It ask us to start with the introduction and use each video before each of the lessons. My 2nd grader liked it but my 4th grader felt it was a baby video and got board with it a little easy I had to keep reminding her to pay attention. Over all it was decent video and helped them to get started with the days lesson. The video also has a physical activity section that has some fun easy exercises to get your kids up and moving. Both girls liked this section as they had one for each of grade level groups. The spent a lot of time giggling and having fun with it. This was our go to exercise video on rainy days.
I found the content of the program to be well rounded but a tad to simple for my 4th grader. Many of the things we had already covered in a lower grade. So if this is the first health class your 4th grader has ever done than it will most likely be a great program for them. If they have done a health class before than it will be more of a review. For my 2nd grader the content was just right. It covered the important things she needed to know in a fun way. She enjoyed the included stethoscope as well as the cool scales. The activity pages and other items helped to bring a hand on aspect to the class. Making it easier to remember the lessons. Both of the girls learned some great things with this program and they had some fun doing it. Don't forget to click the link below and see what all the other Crew members are saying about HomeSchool Scholastics. Everyone tried out a different level !
Friday, August 19, 2016
Thursday, August 18, 2016
Enlivenze LLC Tyrannosaurus Rex Review
We are testing out something new and completely different than we have ever tried before. This product comes from Enlivenze LLC and it is a self-contained Tyrannosaurus Rex puzzle called FlipStir. This is a self-contained, 10 piece 3D puzzle. Using this is so simple yet changeling. This puzzle comes sealed in a container that is shaped like a tube or bottle. It has a special wand with a hook on the end that you use to move the pieces around and get them in order. Instructions are simple Shake up the tube, Stir it around then solve the puzzle. The Tyrannosaurus Rex puzzle is a level 1 puzzle and it is designed for ages 7+. The FlipStir is MADE IN THE USA which is a big bonus in my book. I love made in the USA products.FlipStir has won a bunch of awards
- 2015 Dr. Toy Top Ten Best Active Toys
- 2015 Creative Child Magazine "Puzzle of the Year"
- 2015 Seal of Approval from The National Parenting Center
- 2015 Family Choice Awards Winner
- 2014 Tillywig "Brain Child" award
- 2014 Creative Child Magazine "Game of the Year - Puzzle Games Category"
- Toy Man News & Reviews - The Toy Man "Seal of Approval," The Toy Man "Award of Excellence," The Toy Man "Editor's Choice," The Toy Man "Award of Recognition," The Toy Man "S.T.E.M. Award," The Toy Man "Mom Approved" Award
My favorite part of this hole puzzle is that you cant loose the pieces. This is a perfect on the go puzzle. We love to use it in the car when we are on the road. One person gets to stir it up then they have to pass it on to someone else. We time each other to see how fast we can complete it. Then that person stirs it up and passes it on. There are no real rules for using the FlipStir puzzle. You can use the wand, gravity, you can shake it jiggle it what ever you need to do, to wiggle those pieces back in order. It is great for hand eye coordination and takes a little work to get all those pieces moved around and put together. We keep this one stashed under the seat in the truck and pop it when ever we start getting a little car board-um. We would like to get couple more so we can change up our puzzles every now and then.
Tuesday, August 16, 2016
Tooth Fairy Fun!
Cheese! Someone lost another tooth today. It's been loose for a while now and today big sis accidentally knocked it out while trying to cover her mouth so she could tell me something first. She is very excited to have two missing teeth at the same time. That smile makes a Momma proud!
Monday, August 15, 2016
Monday, August 1, 2016
CTCMath Homeschool Membership Review
We loved CTCMath so much last year that we are doing it again this year. We received a CTCMath Homeschool Membership. This year I am using the 4th grade level with my brand new 4th grader and the 2nd grade level with my second grader. But since ya'll know we already love CTCMath and there method of teaching. I want to focus on the updates to the program and the new features that we love the most. There have been some improvements and this teaching mommy likes what she sees.
First up I am still very pleased with the content that is taught for each grade level. From what I can tell it covers GLE for our state and in some areas a little more than would be required. That being said every child learns differently and every program works differently for each child. CTCMath happens to work very well for both my girls. One who loves math the other not so much. The short and to the point teaching method works for both of them.
My first favorite new feature is the ability to set TASK for each child. That's right teaching mommy's we can now assign tasks. No more guess and by golly about the days assignments. I now have the ability to assign task to each child for each day. You can even assign the assessments. When you assign an assignment you are given two choices A: Student needs to attempt all questions and reach their pass grade to complete the lesson(s) or B: Student needs to attempt all questions to complete the lesson(s) Since we practice mastery I almost always use option A. For things we are doing for review I will some times select option B. The Task section is probably my most favorite new feature. Because it makes my life easier on the days I have to work. The kids can just click the task tab and find what they need to do for the day. I also can set it to get a notification in my email me the Task Report when the task falls due. This hole Task feature gets an A+ in my book and I am so glad they decided to add it to the program.
I still love the reports you can get detailed reports or just simple ones. You can even download them as a PDF and save them or print them. I print for the sake of having hard copies for portfolios. The reports are easy to understand and look very professional compared to some I have seen.
I like the new lay out of the student accounts. I believe the font is a little bigger. My girls say it is easier to navigate. You click a grade then a topic then a lesson. It's straight forward but since we now have that handy dandy Task feature the kids just hit the task tab and click on the task with that days date on it.
I always try to ad something to the review that my girls LOVE about the product. This time they had a bit of a discussion on what they wanted me to say. They finally decided on the new ability to customize each students account. They now have color choices for the background. You can go with a pre-selected color combination or you can choose two colors of you own. For some reason the ability to choose there own color background and accent color makes this CTCMath a keeper. I wish I would have gotten a picture of the looks on there faces when I showed them they could choose a color. The colors really are fun and just make the class a little more enjoyable for them.
I want to give a big THANK YOU to CTCMath for these great new features. THANK YOU for making Homeschooling easier.
I would love for everyone to share my review so we can get the word out about CTCMath. I would also love for you to click the banner and see what other Crew Members are saying about CTCMath.
Social Media Links:
CTCMath (US and Canda)
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ctcmath?ref=hl
Twitter: https://twitter.com/ctcmathofficial
Periscope: https://www.periscope.tv/ctcmathofficial
Pinterest: https://au.pinterest.com/ctcmath/
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)