Thursday, May 28, 2020
Saturday, May 23, 2020
Thursday, May 14, 2020
Math Essentials Review
Disclaimer: I received a FREE copy of this product through the HOMESCHOOL REVIEW CREW in exchange for my honest review. I was not required to write a positive review nor was I compensated in any other way
My 7th grader is learning Algebra she is quickly discovering that this is not her area of expertise. I have decided that maybe we need to try a different approach and that approach is Math Essentials you can find it at https://www.mathessentials.net/. Pricing is currently $35.95 considering it includes videos I consider this a fair price. We are using Math Essentials No- Nonsense Algebra as a supplemental and this is how it went.
No-Nonsense Algebra is a complete algebra program that includes free online video tutorials. So every lesson in the book has a video lesson to go along with it. The lessons are taught by Richard W. Fisher. The book consist of 10 chapters:
Chapter 1- Necessary Tools for Algebra
Chapter 2- Solving Equations
Chapter 3- Graphing and Analyzing Linear Equations
Chapter 4- Solving and Graphing Inequalities
Chapter 5- System of Linear Equations and Inequalities
Chapter 6- Polynomials
Chapter 7- Rational Expressions
Chapter 8- Radical Expressions and Geometry
Chapter 9- Quadratic Equations
Chapter 10- Algebra Word Problems
The Goal of Mastering Essentials Math Skills No-Nonsense Algebra is to explain algebra in a way that is easy to understand with shot, concise, self- contained lessons.
Mastering Essentials Math Skills No-Nonsense Algebra explains algebra in a way that is easy to understand in short, concise, self-contained lessons.
The lessons take around 20 minutes a day to do. We are using this as a supplemental program to help with some of the topics she is having trouble with. We start each lesson off by watching the video. My daughter goes to the website and at the top she goes to the video library and click which ever video she needs for the lesson she is on. She can then watch a video for the lesson she is currently working on. The videos give her an explanation using an example problem. She says she really likes the videos and says that so far they are easy to understand but felt that they needed to go through more examples so she be sure she had the steps for doing the problem down.
We then move on to the workbook. She thinks the workbook is easy to follow and gives her plenty of questions to practice on. I love how the book is laid out. At the top of each page it tells the student which lesson they are on. At the bottom it gives the chapter. Then each lesson gives you an introduction with helpful hints on how to do the problems. Then down below it will give you some example problems, that are done for you. She calls these the remind me how its done problems. Below that are the practice problems and some review problems which are done to review things learned in previous lesson. I really like that it gives the student review questions so they are not forgetting what they have worked on in previous lessons.
At the back of the book you will find chapter reviews and chapter test as well as solutions to all the questions and test. You will also find some charts with important formulas and symbols, multiplication tables, commonly used prime numbers, squares and square roots and fraction/decimal equivalents. My daughter wishes the charts were made to be tore out so she could laminate them. That way she could look at them when needed with out having to flip to the back of the book.
I feel like both the book and the videos give a good coverage of the topics that are included in the curriculum. I don't think there it would be enough content to last an entire school year but it is a great supplemental program or even a great summer curriculum to fill in any gaps a student might have.
No-Nonsense Algebra is a complete algebra program that includes free online video tutorials. So every lesson in the book has a video lesson to go along with it. The lessons are taught by Richard W. Fisher. The book consist of 10 chapters:
Chapter 1- Necessary Tools for Algebra
Chapter 2- Solving Equations
Chapter 3- Graphing and Analyzing Linear Equations
Chapter 4- Solving and Graphing Inequalities
Chapter 5- System of Linear Equations and Inequalities
Chapter 6- Polynomials
Chapter 7- Rational Expressions
Chapter 8- Radical Expressions and Geometry
Chapter 9- Quadratic Equations
Chapter 10- Algebra Word Problems
The Goal of Mastering Essentials Math Skills No-Nonsense Algebra is to explain algebra in a way that is easy to understand with shot, concise, self- contained lessons.
Mastering Essentials Math Skills No-Nonsense Algebra explains algebra in a way that is easy to understand in short, concise, self-contained lessons.
The lessons take around 20 minutes a day to do. We are using this as a supplemental program to help with some of the topics she is having trouble with. We start each lesson off by watching the video. My daughter goes to the website and at the top she goes to the video library and click which ever video she needs for the lesson she is on. She can then watch a video for the lesson she is currently working on. The videos give her an explanation using an example problem. She says she really likes the videos and says that so far they are easy to understand but felt that they needed to go through more examples so she be sure she had the steps for doing the problem down.
We then move on to the workbook. She thinks the workbook is easy to follow and gives her plenty of questions to practice on. I love how the book is laid out. At the top of each page it tells the student which lesson they are on. At the bottom it gives the chapter. Then each lesson gives you an introduction with helpful hints on how to do the problems. Then down below it will give you some example problems, that are done for you. She calls these the remind me how its done problems. Below that are the practice problems and some review problems which are done to review things learned in previous lesson. I really like that it gives the student review questions so they are not forgetting what they have worked on in previous lessons.
At the back of the book you will find chapter reviews and chapter test as well as solutions to all the questions and test. You will also find some charts with important formulas and symbols, multiplication tables, commonly used prime numbers, squares and square roots and fraction/decimal equivalents. My daughter wishes the charts were made to be tore out so she could laminate them. That way she could look at them when needed with out having to flip to the back of the book.
I feel like both the book and the videos give a good coverage of the topics that are included in the curriculum. I don't think there it would be enough content to last an entire school year but it is a great supplemental program or even a great summer curriculum to fill in any gaps a student might have.
Social Media Links:
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/math.essentials
Sunday, May 10, 2020
Wednesday, May 6, 2020
Fermentools Review
Disclaimer: I received a FREE copy of this product through the HOMESCHOOL REVIEW CREW in exchange for my honest review. I was not required to write a positive review nor was I compensated in any other way.
We are trying something out that we have never tried before. We are going to try fermented food. Fermentools has sent us a Starter Kit to review. The Fermenttools' Single Fermentation Kit Includes: 1 Stainless Steel Lid- Made from 304 surgical stainless steel, 1 Glass fermentation weight- made to fit inside a standard widemouthed mason jar, 1 Air Lock, 2 Rubber stoppers,1 rubber canning gasket, Himalayan powdered salt, and 1 instruction guide with basic sauerkraut recipe.
So when I agreed to review this product I didn't know much about fermented foods other than my grandma used to make sauerkraut and my dad loved it. So basically fermentation is when you submerge your product under a brine (which is salt water solution) and away from air. When you do this you create an anaerobic environment. This specific type of environment is necessary for lactose fermentation to occur. This creates a pro-biotic rich rich preserved product. Fermentools use an airlock to keep oxygen and external air away from the submerged product trapping carbon dioxide and lactic acid. The more carbon dioxide that is produced, the more air that is pushed out of the container via the airlock.
You can ferment all sorts of foods, pickles, cabbage,vegetables of all sorts, sourdough starter's are fermented. Fruits and some dairy products can be fermented to make things like yogurt, sour cream, and raw milk butter. We are starting with sauerkraut and then we will attempt to make yogurt or maybe something else.
Our nifty little kit came in me and the girls took everything out of the box so we could get familiar with all the items in the kit. We took some time reading the instructions and decided to just dive into the project. The girls shredded the cabbage and stuffed it all into a bowl. We added the amount of pink Himalayan sea salt that recipe called for to the bowl of cabbage and the girls began to squeeze and smash the cabbage. When you do this the cabbage begins to ooze out its liquid once we felt like we had squished enough we packed it into the jar per the instructions. The brine needs to cover the cabbage completely and we were a little short so we mixed some up following the package instructions and added a little to the jar so that the cabbage was covered. We put the glass disk on top of the cabbage to hold it all down beneath the brine. Next you put the rubber seal the special cap and ring on top. Next you insert the rubber plug that has the little valve installed in the top into the hole that's in the cap. Now all that's left to do is to place it in a cool dark place like a cabinet and wait the recommended number of days. The longer it sits the stronger the taste. After 7 days it was time to give it a try.... My mom is the only one in the house that likes sauerkraut so she was brave and gave it a try. Guess what IT WORKED she reported that it taste just like the sauerkraut that her grandma used to make.
I have done some additional reading on fermenting foods and we think we are going to try some pickles and my mom is interested in trying to ferment some carrots when the garden starts producing in a few months. Fermentools is great for both new and experienced fermenters. They have lots of great information on the web site and a variety of fermenting kits.
We are trying something out that we have never tried before. We are going to try fermented food. Fermentools has sent us a Starter Kit to review. The Fermenttools' Single Fermentation Kit Includes: 1 Stainless Steel Lid- Made from 304 surgical stainless steel, 1 Glass fermentation weight- made to fit inside a standard widemouthed mason jar, 1 Air Lock, 2 Rubber stoppers,1 rubber canning gasket, Himalayan powdered salt, and 1 instruction guide with basic sauerkraut recipe.
So when I agreed to review this product I didn't know much about fermented foods other than my grandma used to make sauerkraut and my dad loved it. So basically fermentation is when you submerge your product under a brine (which is salt water solution) and away from air. When you do this you create an anaerobic environment. This specific type of environment is necessary for lactose fermentation to occur. This creates a pro-biotic rich rich preserved product. Fermentools use an airlock to keep oxygen and external air away from the submerged product trapping carbon dioxide and lactic acid. The more carbon dioxide that is produced, the more air that is pushed out of the container via the airlock.
You can ferment all sorts of foods, pickles, cabbage,vegetables of all sorts, sourdough starter's are fermented. Fruits and some dairy products can be fermented to make things like yogurt, sour cream, and raw milk butter. We are starting with sauerkraut and then we will attempt to make yogurt or maybe something else.
Our nifty little kit came in me and the girls took everything out of the box so we could get familiar with all the items in the kit. We took some time reading the instructions and decided to just dive into the project. The girls shredded the cabbage and stuffed it all into a bowl. We added the amount of pink Himalayan sea salt that recipe called for to the bowl of cabbage and the girls began to squeeze and smash the cabbage. When you do this the cabbage begins to ooze out its liquid once we felt like we had squished enough we packed it into the jar per the instructions. The brine needs to cover the cabbage completely and we were a little short so we mixed some up following the package instructions and added a little to the jar so that the cabbage was covered. We put the glass disk on top of the cabbage to hold it all down beneath the brine. Next you put the rubber seal the special cap and ring on top. Next you insert the rubber plug that has the little valve installed in the top into the hole that's in the cap. Now all that's left to do is to place it in a cool dark place like a cabinet and wait the recommended number of days. The longer it sits the stronger the taste. After 7 days it was time to give it a try.... My mom is the only one in the house that likes sauerkraut so she was brave and gave it a try. Guess what IT WORKED she reported that it taste just like the sauerkraut that her grandma used to make.
I have done some additional reading on fermenting foods and we think we are going to try some pickles and my mom is interested in trying to ferment some carrots when the garden starts producing in a few months. Fermentools is great for both new and experienced fermenters. They have lots of great information on the web site and a variety of fermenting kits.
Social Media Links:
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/fermentools/
Instagram: http://instagram.com/fermentools/
Pinterest: http://pinterest.com/fermentools/
Tuesday, May 5, 2020
Backyard Camping
With COVID19 our favorite campgrounds are closed. The girls have been disappointed that they cant enjoy camping while we are having cool weather. Me and the grandparents decided to surprise the kids with a little backyard camping this weekend. So we pulled the camper up to the yard dug out the campfire pit and camped out. The girls roasted hotdogs and then stuffed themselves on marshmallows and chocolate. We played kick ball and frisbee. We swan on the tree swing told jokes and played pranks on each other. We had a great time sitting around the campfire and telling stories from the past. If your stuck at home due to COVID19 I highly recommend backyard camping. Now is a great time put away your devices and connect with your kids and family again. I challenge everyone to go backyard camping.
FYI no photos for this post because we were device free for the weekend.
FYI no photos for this post because we were device free for the weekend.
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