The Fascinating World of Insects DVD from BrainFood Learning (Homeschool Crew Review)

We received The Fascinating World of Insects DVD from BrainFood Learning for review purposes.

                           

Product link: The Fascinating World of Insects

Vendor Contact Information: BrainFood Learning

Age Appeal: All ages, but primarily preschool to younger grades

Format: paperback (ISBN: 978-0-9890606-0-8, copyright 2011)

Price: $14.99

Does your family like learning about insects?  The Fascinating World of Insects DVD features the grasshopper, ladybug, rhino beetle, firefly, mosquito, honey bee, water strider, praying mantis, dragonfly, and butterfly.  It is filled with videography, photography, and information about each insect.  At the end of each insect description there are fun scientific words to learn, like species.

This video is appropriate for all ages.

Our Experience:

When The Fascinating World of Insects DVD arrived in the mail the children opened the package and decided they wanted to watch the video right away, so we watched it together.  We all thought that the photography and videography was wonderful.  We just wished that there had been more information about each insect.  Both B and C thought the review questions were too easy, but I could tell they had fun answering them. 

C has watched the video another time.  This time it was on the computer and she enjoyed it.  She had a more difficult time answering some of the vocabulary questions, so I think that children her age can learn a lot.  It would especially be true if they had not studied insects before.  B and C had previous knowledge of these insects.

I Liked:

• The videography and photography was excellent.  We originally watch the DVD on the t.v.  The second time C and I watched it on the laptop.  The widescreen really made the photos spectacular.
• I think this video is perfect as a beginning point for older elementary school children.  They would be able to pick an insect, then use the library or the internet to learn more about it.  Younger children can learn more facts about the various insects each time they watch the DVD.
• In the menu it is easy to pick which insect to watch or review questions to do in the menu.
• I thought the review questions were really helpful.  I could tell what the children had learned.  The different levels were perfect for different ages of children.
• I liked how there was an entomology consultant from Washington State University.  It was very encouraging seeing that one of the writers had a M. Ed.

I Disliked:

• While the sections on each of the insects was very informative, I thought they could have been longer.  There was almost as much time dedicated to the review questions as there was to the insects.

What B (boy, age nine, officially in fourth grade) Liked and Disliked:

I didn’t particularly like it.  My favorite part was about the praying mantis.  I like the praying mantis.  I also kind of liked the mosquitoes.  I don’t know why I liked them.  I liked the ladybugs, because I like ladybugs.  It’s better for those younger than I am.

What C (girl, age seven, officially in second grade) Liked and Disliked: 

I liked the photos and video.  The review questions were easy.  I liked the multiple choice.  My favorite insect was the ladybug.  I liked it because it eats other insects that are bad.  The Fascinating World of Insects is good for kids my age.  It is also good for kids younger than me.

Dad’s Call: 

Dad was unavailable for this review. 

Mamma highly recommends The Fascinating World of Insects from BrainFood Learning.

Read for The Heart by Sarah Clarkson

 

Product: Read for the Heart by Sarah Clarkson

Vendor Contact Information:

Apologia Press

Apologia Educational Ministries

1106 Meridian Plaza Suite 220

Anderson, IN 46016 US

Phone: 1-888-524-4724

Age Appeal: Adult

Format: paperback book, copyright 2009, 384 pages, ISBN 978-1-935012-97-2

Price: $17.00

Are you sometimes at a loss at what books you should be choosing for your children?  Read for the Heart contains chapters about picture books, golden age classics, fairy tales, history, biography, poetry and more.  And the first four chapters contain discussions on how to begin reading and how to use the book.  There is a section at the end of the book that lists Caldecott Medalists, Newberry Medalists, plus others.

To read a sample chapter just click on the picture.

Sarah Clarkson is a freelance writer and blogger who is working on a children’s novel.  She travels with Whole Heart Ministries.  When reading this book you will know her love for books and reading.

Our Experience: I really enjoy reading books and I want to be able to pass on the love of literature to my children, so I was really excited to receive this book.  As soon as I got it in the mail I sat down to read it and study it.  

I have read too many books to remember since first I began reading and this book is excellent for helping to guide me in picking books both for me to read to my children and for them to read to themselves.

My favorite chapter in this book was, “Music, Art and Nature.”  This chapter had a lot of useful books/CD’s for us to use during school.  I was really excited that our local library system had the items so we were able to check them out.

This is a book I am going to keep on hand for many years to come.  I am going to make sure my children read it when they are older. 

Other Products Available:  books about homeschooling

I would highly recommend Read for the Heart. For more reviews please go to The Homeschool Crew review page.

Disclaimer: I received this product for free for review purposes through The Homeschool Crew. All links were current when posted.

Considering God’s Creation (Eagle’s Wings)

 

Product: Considering God’s Creation  by Eagles Wings Educational Materials

Vendor Contact Information:

www.eagleswingsed.com

Eagles Wings Educational Materials

PO Box 502

Duncan, OK 73534

phone- (580) 252-1555

e-mail- Info@EaglesWingsEd.com

Age Appeal: Adaptable for 2nd to 7th grade

Format & Price: $29.95 for the Teacher’s Manual, Student Workbook & CD (with songs to use with lessons) 

Considering God’s Creation is adaptable to many different grade levels and uses notebooking pages to explore natural science from a Biblical point of view.  There is little for the teacher or student to prepare for.  There are different lessons for the universe, Earth, weather, mammals, physiology and more.  Each lesson contains vocabulary words, introduction, song/poem, activity, Bible reading, notebook, evolution stumpers, review and digging deeper.  Here is a link to Sample pages of the notebook.  If you have more questions here is a link to Frequently Asked Questions.

Our Experience: I was really excited to receive this, because I had been wanting a science program that taught about Biblical creation.  I was very impressed when my package came in the mail.  I looked at the teacher’s manual and it included everything I would need to say to the children and since each lesson was divided into sections it made it easy adapt to their grade levels by leaving out the digging deeper section.  B and C were very interested in starting the program so we started right away doing lesson one.  Making the notebook pages were a lot of fun.  The kids enjoyed cutting, coloring, gluing and then reading what we have learned about in the lesson.  We have been working on one lesson per day and we are now getting ready to study about the weather.  We just finished learning about the solar system and the Earth.

 

What I Liked: 

• The kids ask at least three separate times every day to do Considering God’s Creation.
• The teacher’s manual is very complete.
• The integration of Bible verses with explanations.
• The notebook pages were very complete and the kids had fun showing their dad what they did.

What I Disliked:

• Absolutely Nothing!

What B (boy, age seven, officially in first grade) Liked and Disliked: I love Considering God’s Creation!!!!  My favorite so far has been making the notebook pages for “The Rock Cycle,” because I liked making three small booklets.  There is also a bigger booklet with a pop-up rainbow on another page.  I think considering Considering God’s Creation is great for kids my age.

What C (girl, age five, working on kindergarten) Liked and Disliked: I liked it.  It was fun, because we got to make a pop-up rainbow!!!!  I liked learning and singing the songs.  So far they have all been my favorites!  Considering God’s Creation is good for kids my age! 

Other Products Available: Alphabet Island Phonics, Kinder-Math, Capital Game and more

I would highly recommend Considering God’s Creation. For more reviews of Considering God’s Creation go to The Homeschool Crew review page.

Disclaimer: I received this product for free for review purposes through The Homeschool Crew. All links were current when posted.

Mad Dog Math

Product: Mad Dog Math

Vendor Contact Information:

www.maddogmath.com

Mad Dog Math

4562 Ocana Avenue

Lakewood, CA 907013

Contact us page

Phone- (562)533-5772

Age Appeal: kindergarten to 5th grade primarily and up

Format: Downloadable Software, Windows Format

Price: 1 Year License ($19.99), 2 Year License ($29.99), Perpetual License ($39.99)

From the website:

The Essentials of Mad Dog Math

• Enables children to master their +, -, x, and ÷ facts in a fun challenging, exciting, and motivating way

• Math supplement for any math curriculum

• For grades K through 5th; remedial middle school and high school

• Standard, daily 10 minute time commitment from start to finish

• Huge body of math facts broken down into bite-sized pieces any child can master

• Applied system that works in every classroom and in every home

• Students, teachers, and parents LOVE it

A Free Trial is available in Windows 32 bit Version or 64 bit version.  Only the first fact family in each of the levels is available in the free trial version.

Our Experience:  The website recommends doing Mad Dog Math for 10 minutes per day, so that is what we strived to do. 

This was a program that B had a bit of problem for some reason.  I think it was because he has never practiced addition and subtraction by families before.  He was also stressed with solving 20 problems in two minutes, when it was timed.  B and I butted heads a bit and so he did the program with Dad.  It helped out a lot and he ended up having a lot of fun.

C worked on doing the program without being timed until she felt comfortable timing it.  She seemed to have a lot of fun and was always eager to work on her problems.

What I Liked:

• The problems were divided up into small fact families.
• There were three levels which helped reinforce the fact families.
• Good instructions with the software, explaining how to do the program. 

What I Disliked:

• For example, you had to know all the fact families of addition, before you got the club sticker for each time level.  For some kids they need to be rewarded more often.  It makes the game more rewarding. 

What B (boy, age seven, officially in first grade) Liked  and  Disliked:  It was very fun.  I am all the way up to “9 to 11 Subtract.”  Some parts were tricky.  In the parts that were really tricky, I did not use “Time Me.”   I couldn’t move on until I used the “Time Me” button.  I think Mad Dog Math is good for kids my age.

What C (girl, age five, working on kindergarten) Liked and Disliked:  It was fun.  Most of the time I got them wrong, but I tried all over again.  I did it with no timing and with timing.  It was good for kids my age.

What Dad Liked and Disliked:  I liked what Mom liked.   The only thing I disliked is that when you complete the 20th problem the test automatically stopped. You do not get a chance to review your answers before being corrected. It would be helpful if you could manually stop the test when you are done in addition to the test stopping at the 2 minute mark.

Other Products Available:  Please go here to see more products for both the classroom and homeschool.

I would recommend Mad Dog Math for kids who need to work on math drills and need to do it in small fact families. For more reviews go to The Homeschool Crew review page.

Disclaimer:  I received Mad Dog Math for free for review purposes through The Homeschool Crew. All links were current when posted.

GoTrybe- Zoodoos level

Product: GoTrybe

Vendor Contact Information:

GoTrybe, LLC

P.O. Box 1853

Johnson City, TN 37604-1853

Phone- (423) 926-1583

www.gotrybe.com

Age Appeal: kindergarten- 12th grade

Format: Online experience, computer needs Adobe Flash player, high speed internet the best for videos

Price:  Use the GETFIT promo code for a free one day trial.  The cost of a one year membership is $19.95 (regularly $39.95).

GoTrybe is where students, teachers and parents can go to get daily exercise.  They can also get nutrition, wellness and motivation tips. 

The following video does a wonderful job of explaining the program, but the link mentioned is no longer current.  If you want more information please go to www.gotrybe.com

Our Experience:

While I was unsure of doing an exercise program, B and C were very excited.  I enrolled them in Zoodoos (k-5th) and we selected our first workout.  We had a choice to either select a pre-made workout or build one ourselves.  We have mainly focused on the workout for k-2nd, but we have also tried the 3rd-5th workouts.  The workouts lasted between 14-20 minutes and left the kids wanting more.  After the workouts the kids watched short videos and/or answered questions about nutrition, motivation and wellness.  They  were able to earn points to add clothes or accessories to their avatar.  B and C have had a lot of fun providing their avatar with shoes, pets and watches.

What I Liked:

• How excited B and C are to do it every day.
• You can either build your own workout or do one they have built.
• That each workout had warm up, cardio, strength and flexibility.

What I Disliked:

• I could not enlarge the video to fill my computer screen for easier viewing.

What B (boy, age seven, officially in first grade) Liked and Disliked: We have done some k-2nd workouts and one 3rd-5th workout.  GoTrybe was very good, because you got to exercise a lot.  I like exercising.  We did squats, jumping jacks, the swimmer and jogged in place.  My favorite was running in a triangle, picking up bean bags and putting them back.  If you want to learn more about what we did, try the free one day trial.  I think GoTrybe is great for kids my age!  I think Momma liked it  too!

What C (girl, age five, working on kindergarten) Liked and Disliked: It is good for kids my age, because it had tricky workouts.  I liked doing the swimmer in one of the k-2nd workouts.  It had jumping jacks.  It was fun.  It is only available on the internet, unless you went to Tennessee where they are, which you can do if you send them an e-mail.

Other Products Available:  GoTrybe merchandise

I would highly recommend GoTrybe. For more reviews go to The Homeschool Crew review page.

Disclaimer: I received this product for free for review purposes through The Homeschool Crew. All links were current when posted.

Circle C Beginnings- Andi’s Fair Surprise

Product: Andi’s Fair Surprise by Susan K. Marlow and illustrated by Leslie Gammelgaard, copyright 2011

Vendor Contact Information:

www.andiandtaffy.com for activity and coloring pages and more information about the other books, purchase personalized books through paypal

www.kregel.com

Kregel Publications

733 Wealthy Street, SE

Grand Rapids, MI 49503-5553

Phone- 1-800-733-2607

E-mail- customerservice@kregel.com

Age Appeal: 6-8

Format: paperback book, ISBN 978-0-8254-4184-4

Price: $4.99

1874 California, is where Andi Carter lives on the Circle C Ranch with her family.  It is time for the state fair, but she can’t take her pony, Taffy.  Will the fair be fun?  How can it be if she can’t win a ribbon like the rest of her family?   Read the book to find out about the train ride to Sacramento and Andi’s fun at the fair.

Please go here for a link to chapter one and on the cover of the book to see the activity pages!

The author, Susan K. Marlow, enjoys teaching writing workshops.  She lives in Washington state.

The illustrator Leslie Gammelgaard also lives in Washington state and is artistically inspired by her granddaughter.

 

Our Experience:

B was excited to to read this book.  He had read the first chapter and he couldn’t wait to finish the book.  After B finished the book, I read the book to both of them as a bedtime story.  Both B and C enjoyed the story.

I then printed out the activity sheets and we spent a couple of days working on the activities and coloring the pictures.  B and C enjoyed learning more about the parts of a train engine and different exhibits at the fair. 

What I Liked:

• The book has large print with pictures, so it is fun for beginning readers to read.
• The activity books that go with the books.
• This book is about character building.

What I Disliked:

• The negative attitude towards sheep as Andi’s family had cattle.

What B (boy, age seven, officially in first grade) Liked and Disliked: I liked Andi’s Fair Surprise.  There were activity pages available from the internet that contained information about steam engines.  In the book, Andi wants to take Taffy to the fair and Chad, her big brother says she can’t.  At the fair she does the ring toss, hoping to win a hat with a red feather.  I think this book is very good for kids my age, because Andi gets a surprise.

What C (girl, age five, working on kindergarten) Liked and Disliked: I loved Andi’s Fair Surprise!  It was fun to listen to Momma read it.  I liked that Andi almost got the black sheep and went on a train ride.  They got to sleep in a hotel.  The activity sheets and coloring pages were fu-un.  I had fun giving the character ribbons, from the activity pages, to my family.  This is a good book for parents to read to kids my age.  

Other Products Available: Other books in the Circle C Beginnings series and also Circle C Adventure series, and more

I would recommend Andi’s Fair Surprise. For more reviews go to The Homeschool Crew review page.

Disclaimer: I received Andi’s Fair Surprise for free for review purposes through The Homeschool Crew. All links were current when posted.

See the Light

Product:  See the Light

Vendor Contact Information:

www.seethelightshine.com

e-mail- info@seethelightshine.com

92 Saddlebow Rd.

Bell Canyon, CA 91307-1136

Age Appeal: Age 6 and up or grade 1 and up, could be used for middle school age if a child has had no drawing lessons

Format:  DVD

Price: $99 for 9 volumes, 36 lessons (1 year)

 

 

If it difficult to get your children to drawing lessons, then bring the teacher to you with the DVD Art Class series produced by See The Light. 

• You will find the basic supplies around your house.
• There are short lessons.
• Art history and Bible knowledge are included.
• Each lesson will build on the ones before; Volume 1- The Basics, Volume 2- Shape and Space, Volume 3- Value & Color, Volume 4- Color Blending Techniques, Volume 5- Proportions for Composition, Volume 6- Texture & Form, Volume 7- Perspective for the Landscape, Volume 8- Balance & Foreshortening, Volume 9- The Portrait

Our Experience: 

We were given Volume 1 (art lessons 1-4).  This DVD was all about the basics:

• Lesson 1- Tools Of The Trade
• Lesson 2- It All Starts With A Line
• Lesson 3- Contours & Composition
• Lesson 4- Draw What You See
• Bonus!- Chalk-It-Easy Chalk Art Lesson 

B and C were really excited about having drawing lessons, because art is one of their favorite subjects.  We made a special trip to the store to buy them their own special drawing tools and then got to work learning the lessons.

The children had fun watching the lessons and learning how to draw lines on the paper.  Next they learned contour drawing with apples.  They had to draw at least ten apples, before they started.  When they drew two apples together they were able to use pencil, charcoal and black marker.  In their own sections you can see how their contour charcoal drawings of apples turned out.

The lesson that proved to be the most difficult was Lesson 4, because it was very hard for B and C to do contour drawings of a shoe.  They became very frustrated and we needed to stop doing it.

We have also done the bonus chalk art lesson.  The kids had a lot of fun using the chalk.  The benefit of using chalk was that perfection was not required.  The pictures they did of Cross Hill are below.  It did take us two hours to do it, so plan on lots of time when you do this lesson.

What I liked: 

• I never took drawing lessons, so it was great to have step by step lessons.
• The kids were really interested in learning more.
• They liked being able to draw with different tools.

What I Disliked:

• Lesson 4 was about drawing the contours of a shoe and was too difficult for B and C.

What B (boy, age seven officially in first grade) Liked and Disliked:  It was tricky to learn how to draw an apple, but I learned how to do it.  There was only one thing I disliked.  In Lesson 4, I had to draw a shoe.  And drawing a shoe was very tricky.  I liked the bonus chalk lesson of drawing Cross Hill.  It is a beautiful picture.  I think See the Light is great for kids my age!   

       

 

What C (girl, age five working on kindergarten) Liked and Disliked:  I loved the art lessons!  I did all the lessons.  The Chalk Art picture was fun.  And smudging the charcoal was fun.  It was good for kids my age.

         

 

What Dad Thought: "See the Light" art program had some ups and downs. I liked that in the first lesson they taught you to draw what you see not what you know. For example, you now that a coffee mug has a handle but if you turn it just right you won't see it. If you don't see it, even thought you know it's there, don't draw it. The chalk lesson was presented exceptionally well so that B & C picked up on the ideas to create a chalk picture. Adding scripture relevancy to the art was a nice touch.

What I didn't like was in the 2nd part of the fourth lesson was the drawing of the shoe. It seemed a bit complex for a 5 & 7 year old. I remember beginning with basic shapes and shading. Going directly to a shoe was a big step. Also, the concept of learning to draw was nullified as the presenter was drawing a shoe that had already been traced out on the piece of paper. My kids already know how to trace. It should have been a new, free-hand drawing to really be a teaching tool.

Overall, the program seemed advanced for B & C with the exception of the noted things I liked previously mentioned. Using a traced outline to teach free-hand drawing is contrary to what they were trying to teach and therefore I do not recommend this product.

Other Products Available:  $10/month for online access of 4 lessons per month, The Crossmaker DVD, The Gift of Love DVD, books for parents and kids, and more

I would recommend See the Light art classes for learning how to draw. For more reviews go to The Homeschool Crew review page.

Disclaimer: I received this product for free for review purposes through The Homeschool Crew. All links were current when posted.

Kinderbach

Product: Kinderbach

Vendor Contact Information:

www.kinderbach.com

Kinderbach LLC

P.O. Box 181

Le Claire, Iowa 52753

e-mail- info@kinderbach.com

phone- 1-563-332-0587

Age Appeal: ages 3 to 7

Format: Online videos and PDF downloads

Price:  30 day free trial, $19.99 per month or $95.88 (one time annual payment, savings over 60%), credit card only

This video does a wonderful job of describing the program!

Karri Gregor is the founder of Kinderbach.  She began developing the program when her daughter was born, so her children could have a solid music foundation as she had as a young child.

Dodi the Donkey, Frisco, Carla the Caterpillar, Edward the Eagle, Felicity the Frog, Gracie the Gorilla, Alan the Alligator and Bob the Bear are the characters that help the children learn the keys on the staff and keyboard. 

Each week has an introduction and four lessons.  Each lesson takes five to ten minutes and they all build on each other, so the child learns the material.

There are six areas of music development that will be learned in different lessons: ear or listening skills, sight or note reading, rhythm, hand position or technique, singing and composition.

Currently there are six levels with a total of 60 lessons.  Level Seven will be out in August of 2011 with more fun lessons!

Our Experience:  We were very excited to be able to review this program, because we have a piano and the children have been wanting to learn how to play.

I watched a couple of the lessons and decided that we could do one week per day as the daily lessons did not take much time and there was so much repetition.  This method has worked very well so far, but I know that soon it will change, because the daily lessons are getting longer.

The kids had fun finding their rhythm instruments at the beginning of each lesson and then banging to the beat during the songs.  Coloring sheets were also a lot of fun for C, but B was not as interested in coloring them.  They both had fun playing on the piano with the new songs they were learning.

What I Liked:

• It was nice that there were PDF downloads for each of the lessons so I could print off as many copies as I needed.
• The kids were excited each time we did a lesson.
• I liked the list of curriculum, so I knew what each level contained.

What I Disliked:

• I thought there was too much repetition.  I didn’t think that 14 weeks of lessons were necessary to learn where the D key was located.
• It was difficult for us in the beginning to play the songs with the background music, because we could not hear the beat.
• The audio was not level.  Some parts were very loud and some were so quiet that we needed external speakers for my laptop.

What B (boy, age seven, officially in first Grade) Likes and Dislikes:   I like Kinderbach.  You learn how to play the piano.  Right now we are working on Carla, Dodi and Edward, notes C, D and E.  It is really fun learning the piano.  There are coloring pages and other fun pages like, making your own song!  I think this program is very good for kids my age. 

Below is one of my favorite parts of the lesson!    

What C (girl, age five, working on Kindergarten) Liked and Disliked:  I liked Kinderbach!  I liked the Finger Number Polka, because it was fun country singers and gluing them on the paper hands.  And then possibly cut the hands out and stick them on our own hands.  I playing the songs on the piano.  Jake was a funny dog.  There were crazy voices.  It is good for kids my age! 

What Dad Said:  What I liked about Kinderbach is that they focus on building a strong foundation in the basics of music. While it is primarily applied to the piano it can be carried over to other instruments. B & C enjoy the lessons and variety that Kinderbach provides.

What I disliked was that the lessons seemed to move slowly while building the basic foundation. As an adult I do expect information and results to come at a faster pace. However, B & C really enjoy this program and are showing tremendous progress. The program works despite my impatience. 

Overall, if your child (or children) really like Kinderbach and show progress, stick with it.

Other Products Available:  DVD’s of the program along with CD’s with copies of the PDF’s and activities are available.  Songbooks are also available.

I would recommend Kinderbach to families with young children, so they can have a solid foundation for music.  For more reviews go to The Homeschool Crew review page.

Disclaimer: I received this product for free for review purposes through The Homeschool Crew. All links were current when posted.

Song School Latin- TOS Homeschool Crew

Product: Song School Latin

Vendor Contact Information:

Classical Academic Press

www.ClassicalAcademicPress.com

3920 Market Street

Camp Hill, PA 17011

Phone: 1-866-730-0711

Age Appeal: Kindergarten through 2nd grade

Format: Song School Latin workbook with CD (one time use) and Song School Latin Teacher’s Edition, there is also a website www.HeadventureLand.com with games (free)

Price: both books are $22.95

Quid agis?  Sum optime!  Is your family interested in learning a foreign language that will help them in learning now and in older grades.

Song School Latin has

• 31 lessons including 7 review lessons
• Option of learning the Classical or Ecclesiastical dialects
• CD with the featured songs
• More than 100 vocabulary words for classroom, family, body parts, seasons and animals

Here is a direct link to more information about Song School Latin.

Our Experience:  We were very excited to review Song School Latin, because my sister is fluent in Latin.  And this was a wonderful way to help our family begin to learn the basics. 

We chose to do a lesson a week.

• Day 1- learn the vocab and songs
• Day 2- Work on coloring sheets and listen to songs
• Days 3 and 4- complete the workbook pages
• Day 5- review current and past lessons through the songs

This method has worked very well for us and the kids are enjoying learning new words and phrases that they can use in their every day world.

What I Liked:

• The songs were fun and it helped B and C to learn the vocabulary.
• I thought the teacher’s edition was helpful, because it had the answers and extra worksheets that could be copied.
• Each chapter had the perfect amount of vocabulary, songs and workbook activity to make it perfect for a week.
• Having a review section every couple of chapters, really helped to reinforce the vocabulary.

What I Disliked:

• It would have been nice to learn numbers and colors.
• The kids would have also enjoyed learning aunt, uncle, grandmother and grandfather.
• An e-book option of the workbook would be nice, so multiple copies can be easily made.

What B (boy, age seven and officially in first grade) Liked and Disliked:  Salve!  Quid est tuum praenomen?  Meum praenomen est B.  Quid agis?  Sum optime!

I like learning new languages.  Right now we are concentrating on Latin.  We are having fun doing Song School Latin.  My aunt knows Latin and we are going to have a secret club.  In our secret club we are only going to speak Latin.

We learn a few new phrases or words in each chapter.  There are coloring sheets you can download from the website, then color.  Here are some words we have learned; casa, porta, murus, fenestra, frater, soror and mater.  There are songs to go with each chapter.  I like the songs. 

I think this product is good for kids my age.  I can’t wait to learn more Latin! 

What C (girl, age five working on Kindergarten) Liked and Disliked:  It was fun!  I liked singing the songs and coloring the color pages.  I like learning new languages.  My aunt knows Latin, now I will be able to speak with her.  I liked all of things in Song School Latin.  It is good for kids my age.

What Dad Thought:  I liked that the Song School program used simple ideas to teach Latin to kids. It was fun and easy to do. B and C both enjoyed it and used what they had learned at various times of the day when talking with each other.

What could have been better was to teach manners, colors and numbers after learning basic greeting dialog.

Overall Song School Latin is a good program and we'll keep teaching it to B and C.

Other Products Available: Latin Monkey Match, Latin for Children (3rd grade and up), Latin Alive! (7th grade and up), there are also products for Greek and Spanish, and many other products

I would definitely recommend Song School Latin for young kids.  For more reviews go to The Homeschool Crew review page.

Disclaimer: I received this product for free for review purposes through The Homeschool Crew. All links were current when posted.

Reading Kingdom

Product: Reading Kingdom

Vendor Contact Information:

www.readingkingdom.com

The Reading Kingdom

12405 Venice Bl., Suite 342

Los Angeles, CA 90066

Age Appeal: 4 to 10

Format: Online only program

Price: There is a 30 day free trial! After that it is $19.99/month or $199.99 for 12 months. For each additional child it is $9.99/month.  You can cancel at any time.  There is also a scholarship program available.

Reading Kingdom has been developed by Dr. Marion Blank and two others.  Reading Kingdom is different from other programs as it does not focus on phonics. 

Your child will be learning sequencing, motor skills, sounds, meaning, grammar and comprehension.

Since Reading Kingdom customizes itself to your child they will never have anything too challenging or not challenging enough and each session lasts 15-30 minutes.  There are five levels, which will take the average child 12-15 months to complete.  If your child can already read it may take less time for your child to read and write at a third grade level.

Please go to the website where there is a lot of helpful information, which will help you decide if Reading Kingdom is for your family.

Our Experience:

Since B is seven and C is five I knew we did not need to practice using the mouse and keyboard, so the first thing they did was take the “Skills Survey” to learn where they were going to be placed.  C was placed in both “Seeing Sequences” and “Letter Land.”  B was placed in “Letter Land” where he was going to be practicing keyboarding skills.  C was going to practice sequencing and keyboarding skills.

It took B about a week to finish “Letter Land” and it took C about two weeks to finish both of her activities.  After that they took another “Skills Survey” that placed them both in level 1.  They are learning words such as kids, eat, fly, can, and fly.  As they learn and master new words they are given books to read.  In level 1 there are six books to be read.

 

Both B and C are working hard on Level 1 and I think B will be moving on to Level 2 soon.

What I Like:

• I receive e-mails telling me the progress the kids have made.
• I am not to help the kids.  That is helpful, because then I can work with B on math while C does Reading Kingdom and vice versa.
• (checking on progress)
• B can read well, but this helps him learn how to spell.

What I Dislike:

• Sometimes it seems as if C is not really learning, because the program can read the words to her.
• Picking more than one of the extra activities at the end of the lesson made it very long for both of the kids.
• I think it would be helpful if they were learning proper keyboarding techniques, so they wouldn’t hunt and peck.

What B (age seven, officially in first grade) thinks:  I think Reading Kingdom is very fun.  The first part of the lesson, in the section that I am doing, I can do one of three things; read a book, type a new word or write in a book.  And the books are short, so on those days I do two lessons.  There is also a section that has two parts learning new words in a notebook or typing new words with no help.  The second part of the lesson is a part where you click on a word that has missing letters then you type in those missing letters.  I think Reading Kingdom is great for kids my age, because you learn new words and how to spell them.

What C (age five, working on kindergarten) thinks:  It is fun.  I like doing it every single day.  I like reading the stories.  I like the part where I have to find specific words in order.  And the space part where I clicked on the words that I was supposed to type.  I liked everything and it is good for kids my age.

What Dad Thought:  As I observed B & C doing their Reading Kingdom lessons I was impressed with the content and the timing. It’s kept simple by focusing on one subject for the entire lesson. The amount of time given is enough for B & C to complete each task without being rushed or bored by waiting for the lesson to move on. Each lesson is about 5 – 10 minutes long and that works really well for the kids. Reading Kingdom is a great program.

Other Products Available: Reading Kingdom Story Smarts (books to complement the online program), The Reading Remedy by Dr. Blank, and Letter Land by Hand (learning handwriting within a few weeks)

I would recommend Reading Kingdom. For more reviews please go to The Homeschool Crew review page.

Disclaimer: I received Reading Kingdom for free for review purposes through The Homeschool Crew. All links were current when posted.