FlipStir Puzzle ~ Review

I loved to put puzzles together when I was younger. My children also like to put puzzles together. We having been having fun over the past month with our Solar System FlipStir Puzzle from Enlivenze LLC.

So, what is a FlipStir Puzzle? It is a ten piece puzzle that is contained inside of a tube with a stick in which to help you solve the puzzle.

When we received the puzzle, we all took a turn to try to put it together. There is a picture on the bottom of the tube that helps you as you are putting it together. On our first try, none of us could get the pieces in place. The FlipStir we received is a level two puzzle. The reason it is a level two is because the pieces are wavy. There are some level one puzzles that have straight lines and are easier to put together. I loved that we were able to review the solar system puzzle, because my 6th grade daughter is studying astronomy this year in science and I thought this would add some fun.

It did take several tries before I was finally able to solve the puzzle, but, with a lot of patience, I did it and have put it together a couple more times. My kids have not yet tried again, but I will get them to try it again. It is a lot of fun once you get the hang of it. I love that the pieces are contained and they won't get lost.

I would actually like to buy some of the other puzzles that are available- maybe as a Christmas gift.

Foreign Languages For Kids By Kids ~ Review

My youngest son, who just started 8th grade, has been asking me for a while if he could learn Spanish. I had been looking at different curriculum trying to find a good one for a middle school aged child. The opportunity came up to review the Starter Set 1 from Foreign Languages for Kids by Kids. I had planned to use this for my 8th grade son as an introductory Spanish curriculum before he starts high school next year. But, all of my kids (ages 5, 10, 13, and 14) have really enjoyed this curriculum and they have learned something.

What is Foreign Languages for Kids by Kids?
Kit Strauss, who was having a difficult time finding a good, quality foreign language program for her three sons, created the program. The program was created as a fun and easy way to learn Spanish. This program is designed for children as young as three all the way up to adults.

What is included in Starter Set 1?
The starter set comes with everything you need to get started on your journey to learning Spanish. The set includes the following;

• DVD with videos for levels 1-3
• Three parent - teacher guides (gives a detailed lesson plan, with a suggested viewing schedule, and a variety of fun activities to do - supplemental and hands on activities to choose from)
• Flash cards and game cards for each level
• Student workbooks for levels 1-3 (contains activities, culture facts, and answer key)
• Stickers for levels 1-3

How we used Starter Set 1:
We are working through each level in order. The first level, Basketballs aren't for Breakfast, was fairly easy for my son and he learned many Spanish words in this level. He has started the next level, The Little Magic House, but it has been a little bit harder (as expected) and he has taken a slower approach with the level. Since he is in 8th grade, I've given  him the choice of how fast or slow he wants to work through each level. He has chosen to go slower through level 2 and has even re-done some of the lessons. We have been going through the the workbooks orally after watching the appropriate video. Doing the workbook orally has helped to be able to go through the lesson again and re-do the workbook pages. We spend around 20-30 minutes each day going through the lessons.

What we thought of Foreign Languages for Kids by Kids:
We have all enjoyed it very much. I though my 8th grade son might think it was childish, but he has enjoyed it very much. He will just start talking in Spanish phrases at random times. I know he has been able to learn so much and will be ready to start high school Spanish next year. My other children also love watching the videos and my 5 year old has picked up on many Spanish words. She will also start saying Spanish phrases at random times. They love watching and interacting with the kids on the videos. We definitely give this program 5 stars!

Beric The Briton ~ Review

You all know from my past reviews that my children and I love audio dramas. I love when audio dramas come up for review and pray that we get picked to review them. We especially love audio dramas produced by Heirloom Audio Productions. Their newest drama is Beric The Briton.

To be honest, I had never heard of G.A. Henty before I started listening to the Heirloom Audio Productions of his books. I never would have thought to introduce his works to my children if it had not been for the dramas.

About G.A. Henty:
Born in 1832, Henty became an exceptional English author and war correspondent. His stories are historical and adventurous. They became popular in the late nineteenth century and are still widely read today.

About Beric The Briton:
This story takes place around 60 AD during the Roman invasion of Britain. Beric is a young man at this time. He fights with the Iceni tribe which is led by Queen Boadicea. Even though he defeats the Romans, he is eventually captured and sent to Rome. There he is trained to become a gladiator. He gains fame when he defeats a lion with bare hands and is then sent to serve in Nero's palace. He does eventually get back home to Britain after Nero dies, but he is not as welcomed as he thought he would be.

Beric The Briton audio drama is recommended for children age six and up. There is over 2 hours of listening time which is a great way to have fun while learning some history. The cast of Beric The Briton includes some well known actors such as Brian Blessed, Tom Cox, Cathy Sara, and John Rhys-Davies.

Not only do you get to listen to a great story, but you are able to expand on the story with the included 48 page digital study guide. Your children learn historical facts from listening to the story and also from answering the questions provided in the study guide. They are also able to learn the meaning of different words throughout the story. And while reading through the study guide, I found a recipe for Roman Noodle Bake. Sounds good.

I also like how they incorporate the Bible in the study guide by offering several Bible Studies.

Some of the other digital freebies I received are as follows:

• Beric The Briton MP3 Set
• Beric The Briton E-Book
• Official MP3 Soundtrack
• Printable Cast Poster
• Inspirational Verse Poster
• Behind the scenes video

What we thought of Beric The Briton:

We loved it! This series is so well produced and it really does bring history to life. This is the fourth Heirloom drama we have listened to and we look forward to hearing more audio dramas produced by Heirloom Audio Productions. We try to spread out our listening time, but we always seem to get hooked and just have to listen to more. We did manage to spread out our listening this time to a few days. We did not use the study guide at this time, but if we listen again, I will probably go through some of the guide with my older children. 

5 Stars for Beric The Briton!

ArtAchieve ~ Review

Having children who love art, but not being able to draw anything myself, I am always on the lookout for good art programs for our homeschool. For the past few weeks, we have been using the Entire Level I from ArtAchieve.

What is ArtAchieve?
ArtAchieve is a series of online courses that was developed by John Hofland. The project was created when John and his wife were homeschooling their children. He had a career in arts and language arts and has visited over 30 countries which helped in the development of the program.

What is included in Entire Level I?
There are eleven lessons included in level I. The first two lessons are free on the website for any one to try out before buying. The lessons include:

• Simple Lines (free)
• The Czech Cat (free)
• The Hungarian Insects
• The Haitian Gecko
• The Dragonfly from Ecuador
• The Chinese Dragon
• The Owl from Bali
• The Kitenge Tree Wall Hanging from Tanzania
• The Plate from Nepal
• Four Suns with Four Faces
• The Sheep from Wales

Not only do you learn how to draw in the lessons you also get a history lesson. For example, in The Hungarian Insects lesson, we were given some background about these insects in Hungary. We were also given facts about insects.

You are given the choice to watch a video of the lesson or to go through a power point of the lesson. We chose to use the power point for each lesson. Each lesson starts off with learning about the country or object you are drawing.

Then, it tells you what supplies are needed and gives some relaxation tips. For the warm up, you print off a warm up page to become familiar with the lines in the drawing.

After doing the warm up, the slides go through each step to create your masterpiece. When you are finished drawing, you are to add color to your drawings.

The supplies needed for level I are simple. A fine point permanent marker, markers, watercolors, oil pastels, and liquid acrylic paint to name a few. You can click here and then click on each lesson to see the needed supplies. Each lesson takes about 60 minutes to complete from start to finish. The videos last about 25 minutes. It can be more or less depending on how fast or slow you want to go through the lesson.

A sample of our drawings:

What we thought about ArtAchieve:
We loved it.  We loved learning the background behind each drawing. We loved learning the facts about the insects and geckos. And, we loved our drawings and how simple and easy these lessons are to follow.

Several things I like about this art program:

• I, the teacher, do not have to know how to draw. In fact, I did the drawings with my kids and I think my drawings came out good. See my gecko below on the right.

• It really is a relaxing experience. My kids did not become frustrated with not knowing how to do the drawing. They loved the step by step directions.
• It is planned out. You only need to buy the supplies before hand. 
• Your child can work independently.
• You are given a 1 year license for each lesson you purchase. You can go through the lesson as many times in a year as you want and create it differently each time.

We definitely give this art course a 5 star rating!

Laurelwood Books ~ Review

My youngest is just starting her kindergarten year . She needs some practice with writing manuscript and Patriotic Penmanship, Kindergarten (manuscript) from Laurelwood Books has been a great summer project for her. She already loves school and she needed something during our time off to keep her occupied.

The Patriotic Penmanship is a complete series of books that are available for kindergarten all the way through high school. It starts out with writing manuscript in the lower grades and eventually transitions over to cursive in the upper elementary grades. There is a transition book available to help your child transition from manuscript to cursive.

Laurelwood Books offers new and used curriculum on their site. They also offer many workbooks and readers written by Mary Ellen Tedrow. The Schoolhouse Crew was able to review her books ranging from penmanship to Latin to  state facts.

There are many things I liked about this penmanship book which I will list below:

~ There are twenty four lessons. Each lesson is designed to be covered over one weeks time. You are able to use this by itself for one school year. I think it can also be used as a supplement with another writing program. This is what I will start doing now that we have started back to regular school lessons. There are actually no lesson numbers, so the child can do as little or as much as they (or you) want.

~ This book starts by introducing the vowels before the consonants. Since other programs also introduce letters this way, it helps the child especially if you are using this book as a supplement. It does introduce the consonants in alphabetical order. Since I am using this as a supplement and my daughters curriculum does not introduce the consonants in ABC order, I can just skip to the letter we are working on that week. This book has a lot of flexibility which I really like.

~ As the consonants are introduced, it also has the child write the blend (consonant, vowel) before moving onto writing full words.

~ There are mostly short vowel words in the book for the child to copy. My daughter is not reading yet, but writing the short words has not been a problem.

~ Each letter or blend has a full row of tracing and a full row of writing their own. The words are only traced once and written once. I like that the words are only traced once and written once, because, from experience, the child can get frustrated with having to trace and write the words multiple times. (Or is that only my children?)

~ There are also Bible verses throughout the lessons.

During the review period, since we were not using our regular school curriculum, I had my daughter work on this book about three times each week. There were some days that she would only finish 1 row and other days where she would do 3 or 4 rows. She and I both liked this book. It's not colorful like other books, but it didn't matter to my daughter. I actually think it helped her to focus better without all of the colors. We will continue using this book and possibly others in the series over the years.

LearnBop ~ Review

For the past several weeks, I have been reviewing a math program from LearnBop, LearnBop for Families. I chose to use the family plan, which gives you access for 2-4 students. My original plan, if I was chosen for the review, was to allow my soon top be 9th grader and soon to be 6th grader to use the program to get them ready for the upcoming year. It didn't work out with them using it, so I have used both of their levels to try to get a feel of the program.



















What is LearnBop for families? 
LearnBop is a self paced, online math program. It is geared for children in grades 3rd through 12th. Parents are also able to use the program to help them to better teach a math program to their children. After going through an assessment, LearnBop provides an immediate personalized program for your child (or you).  LearnBop for Families is for children who need to catch up or get ahead in math. It also helps to prepare them for exams and builds confidence in math. LearnBop for Families is for parents who need some help in teaching (or helping) their child with math concepts. LearnBop is built for families with a step by step help in different math levels.

How we used LearnBop.
I stated above that this program did not work out for my 9th or 6th graders. I had them sit down and take the assessment for their grade level. Since the 9th grader is going to be starting geometry in a few weeks, I thought it would be great if he could get a head start on it. After doing the warm-up (assessment), he said he did not know anything and it was really difficult. He also said it was a different style of learning than what he was used to and did not think it would help him. After he told me that, I decided to sit down and go through the geometry steps. Wow, it is difficult! I thought I would remember at least some geometry from high school, but according to this site, I did not. I continued on even though it was difficult and have not been able to make it past the first unit. I keep getting stuck and even though it shows you step by step how to solve the problem, I am just not getting it. I may try to continue if it helps me be able to help my son in geometry.

Now, on to my daughter. I had her start on the 6th grade, but it was too difficult for her. She struggles in math and gets frustrated very easily. So, when she started crying, I bumped her back down to the 5th grade level thinking it would be easier. For her, it was not. She was just as easily frustrated. Then, I had to make a decision to be able to review the program. I decided that I would sit with her and help her through each step. We would sit down and go through a concept one at a time. The first unit was multiplication and division. The one thing she struggles with all of the time. I had her watch the videos (there were about 3 for each step), then I would sit down with her and go through the problems and help her. The goal is set to be a 90% mastery and she was able to get around 95% with me helping her through the program.

Final thoughts:
While this math program may have not worked out for our family at this time, I think it may be a good program for learning math concepts for other families. The videos are short and help lay the foundation to each step. The child (or parent) is able to take a concept step by step if needed if they do not know the answer right away. After going through several geometry bops, I can't say that the concept has stuck with me. I probably would not be able to solve them again. I'll be keeping this program in mind if my son does need help with his geometry later on. I do think some of the videos would be helpful for him.

Check out what other crew members thought of LearnBop.

The Glass Castle ~ Book Review

I love to read and have tried to instill that same love in my children. The latest book that we read together is The Glass Castle by Trisha White Priebe and Jerry B. Jenkins from Shiloh Run Press.

About the Book:
The Glass Castle is a story that was written for middle school age children. The book is a beautiful hardcover book, 250 pages long.

Avery has been kidnapped! Why? Where is she going? What happened to her father and brother? When she gets to the castle, she learns a little bit about why she may have been kidnapped. The king is growing old and needs an heir to the throne. He has remarried, but thirteen years ago, the king's wife had a child. She died, but no one knows what happened to the child. The new queen's solution? Dispose the kingdom of all the thirteen year olds. But, it won't be easy. Avery teams up with Kate, Tuck, and Kendrick to try to find out more. Along the way, Avery discovers that her mother may have a connection to the castle. She remembers her mother telling her stories about a castle, but she thought they were made up. Avery is also able to get out of the castle, but when she gets back to her home, where is her father? After learning that her father is no longer living in her house, she reluctantly goes back to the castle. She is determined to help the other children.  She needs to find out more. More about her mother's "stories," more about why she is in the castle.

What we thought:
I read this book aloud to my children, ages 14, 12, 10, and 5. I would read through a couple chapters at a time. The older kids enjoyed hearing the story. They wanted to know what is going to happen next. At the end, they said that it was a good book and they were disappointed it ended they way it did (as a cliffhanger). They said they cannot wait until the next book comes out, because they can't wait to hear what happens to Avery. I thought thus was a good book. I also disliked that it ended in a cliffhanger and we didn't get to learn everything. We can't wait to get the next book in the series that comes out in October. We are looking forward to learning more about Avery and her friends.

Essential Skills Advantage ~ Review

Over the past month and a half, my 5 year old daughter has had the chance to review the Complete Home Learning Suite from Essential Skills Advantage.

What is Essential Skills Advantage or ESA?
 ESA is an online curriculum for children ages 5-12 (K-6th grade). It is a self paced online learning tool that is fun and engaging. It is a supplemental program for children that need some extra practice. There are thousands of activities for children in the following subjects:
Math (K-6th)
Reading (K-6th)
Language and Grammar (K-6th)
Science (K-3rd)
Geography (4th-6th)
Purchasing a subscriptions allows you access to all grade levels. You are able to mix and match to your child's needs.

What is the Complete Home Learning Suite?
It's exactly as it sounds. You have access to all subjects in all grade levels. You are also able to keep track of your child's progress. And your child has access to a lot of fun!

How did we use ESA?
I used this program with my newly turned 5 year old (March 2). She will be starting kindergarten this fall. She did some K4 things this past year, but I felt she could use some practice in a few areas, specifically reading, to help prepare her for K5 this fall. She will be home-schooled using a box curriculum that I have used with my older three children. So, how did we use ESA? I set up her account and had her "play" (her word) at least three times a week. She always wanted to do more and I let her.  Although I had her working on the reading portion of the curriculum, I did let her try out the other subjects to see how they were and how I could use them with her. She worked through the reading portion starting at the very beginning and has been working through each segment. She also worked though some of the math and a section on Earth and Space science. She liked the reading part the best, so that is what we mainly reviewed.

What we thought of ESA:
As you can see from the short video posted below, she had a lot of fun "playing" on the computer. Since, she has not used a computer yet, I did have to help her in the beginning with using the mouse. She is used to using a tablet and we did load it up on the tablet (Kindle Fire) one day, but the screen is too small and she didn't know how to scroll to get to the next section. I had heard of ESA, but did not know much about it. I am glad to have been able to review the program with my daughter. It has helped her so much, not only with reading or math, but also with computer skills. I allowed her to get on the computer by herself which is a big milestone. The program has also helped her with her phonics, letters, numbers, and listening skills. She has had so much fun and I will have her complete the kindergarten portion over the next year as a supplement to our main curriculum.

Screen shot from Kindle fire

Times Tales ~ Review

My daughter has always struggled with math. She has had a difficult time with multiplication especially. I have tried everything to help her and nothing she has done has helped her to learn her multiplication facts. For the past weeks, we have been using Times Tales a great, fun product from The Trigger Memory Co. to help her learn multiplication.

What is Times Tales?
Times Tales is a visual mnemonic way to learn the more difficult multiplication facts. It uses stories to help the child remember the facts. There are several number characters that are introduced in the beginning of the story. After being introduced, the number characters are put together to form a multiplication fact. Here are some examples:
Mrs. Snowman (8) stood on a chair (4) to reach her 3 buttons and 2 mittens. (8 x 4 = 32)
A butterfly (3) flew by the tree house (9) and discovered 27 cents. (9 x 3 = 27)
The facts that are put into stories are 3x6, 3x7, 3x8, 3x9, 4x6, 4x7, 4x8, 4x9, 6x6, 6x7, 6x8, 6x9, 7x7, 7x8, 7x9, 8x8, 8x9, and 9x9. The reason these are used is because these are the more difficult facts to remember.
The downloadable (digital) version comes with two videos and three pdf's (part 1 printables, part 2 printables, and an answer key).

How we used Times Tales?
We were given the download (digital) version to try out. It is recommended to wait one week between each video lesson. After downloading the videos and the accompanying pdf's, my daughter then started. I had her watch part 1 for two days in a row. The next days she spent working on the printables. The printables include a crossword puzzle,  practice test, test, flashcards, and a cube game.  Each day she did something different. One day she worked on the crossword puzzle, the next she did a practice test. At the end of the week she took the test and did a great job. After waiting the recommended week off, she then watched the part 2 video for a couple of days in a row and worked on the printables the rest of the week. I watched along with her the first time on each video, just so I could get an idea of how the program worked.

What we thought about Times Tales:
At first my daughter didn't believe that this was going to work. She watched the video anyway, and when she started working on the printables, she realized that she actually remembered her multiplication facts. These videos and worksheets have helped her tremendously! She is more confident with her multiplication than she was before. She told me that she will definitely want to review the videos every few months to make sure she can remember her facts. I was amazed at how quickly she learned her multiplication facts. It has been a struggle for her, but now she has confidence. I look forward to re-using this in the future with not only my older daughter, but also my youngest daughter.

Be sure to check out The Trigger Memory Co. Facebook page.

Grapevine Studies ~ Review

Finding a Bible curriculum that is fun and engaging is sometimes a difficult task. I had heard of Grapevine Studies in the past, but never used their product. I wasn't sure it would be fun for my older three kids. So when the opportunity came up to review Grapevine Studies, I chose to go with something my five year old daughter might like. Little did I know how much of an impact it would have on her. I chose to review New Testament Overview Part 1 (Beginner: John to the Apostles). I received the physical product of both the student book and the teacher book.

What is Grapevine Studies?

Grapevine Studies is a method that is used to engage the student by helping them to remember the stories through a stick figure drawing. This method "sticks" with the child as they hear or read the story, draw the story, and review the story. They can learn and retain so much by this method.

What is New Testament 1: Beginner John to the Apostles?

This study takes a preschooler or kindergartner through the New Testament. The story is chronologically presented from John's birth to the beginning of Jesus' ministry.  You are able to choose how to do the Bible study, either weekly or daily. The lessons are short and only take about 15 minutes each day to present. The supplies needed for the student are student book, Bible, and colored pencils. The supplies needed for the teacher are the teacher book, Bible, Bible dictionary, and dry erase board and markers.

How we used the books:
We received the physical books from Grapevine Studies. The books came already hole punched which I was surprised when I saw that. It helped make it easier to add to a notebook. I did the lessons three times a week with my (just turned) five year old. I didn't know if she would be able to do the drawings by herself, but they are simple stick drawings and she has done a great job so far. I sit beside her and let her look at the teacher copy. Each time we did the lesson, I would read the Bible passage for the day to my daughter. We then discussed the story and the people who were in it. Next, my daughter would draw the figures into the student book. And lastly, we reviewed the lesson for the day. It is fun, short, and simple. And my daughter is remembering each person when we do the reviews from the day before.

So, want to know what we think about Grapevine Studies?
My daughter and I give this Bible curriculum five stars! We love it! My daughter loves it and looks forward to Bible class each time. She has learned and retained so much through these lessons. I will continue on with Grapevine studies and will order some of them for my older children as well.

Wrap-up:
We reviewed the physical copies of the student book ($12.50) and the teacher book ($22.50). The physical copy of the student book is for one child only. If you have more than one child you want to use this curriculum with, they offer a family ebook that can be used for more than one child in your own family.

Be sure to read what other crew members thought about Grapevine Studies by clicking on the image below. There are different levels of different products that were reviewed.








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The Dragon And The Raven ~ Review

My children love to listen to audio dramas. On Saturday mornings, instead of getting up and watching television, my children turn on the radio and listen to the audio dramas on the Christian channel. I have done several reviews for audio dramas in the past. I have also done a review of Heirloom Audio Productions, Under Drake’s Flag. I was so excited to have the opportunity to review another Heirloom AudioProductions. We have enjoyed listening to The Dragon and the Raven over the past month.  I love them just as much as the kids do. 

The Dragon and the Raven is a Christian audio drama based on the novel by G. A. Henty. This drama takes you on a wonderful adventure back to the days of King Alfred. The story takes us back to the days before England was a country. Back to when the Saxons were being overtaken by the Vikings (Danes). In this fictional story that is based on historical events, we are introduced to Edmund, a young Saxon who becomes a hero. Kind Alfred was a young king. He had incredible Christian faith. How will he fight off the Vikings? Will he win the war against the Vikings? If you know your history, you may already know the answers. If not, you can find out by listening to The Dragon and the Raven.

When we received this, I had decided to try to spread out this drama over some time. My kids would rather listen to it all at once, but I’d rather take some time to listen to it. I put the cd in the car, so we could listen to it whenever we were in the car. It keeps them quiet on car trips because they don’t want to miss anything. These audio dramas are always very interesting and entertaining. I also enjoy listening to the dramas and can’t wait to hear the next part of the story, because the quality of the production is outstanding.

I also received a few extras with the two CD set. One of the extras is a study guide. The study guide gives a brief biography of G.A. Henty and King Alfred the Great. The study guide has a set of questions for each track on the disc. Each set of questions has three parts- listening well, thinking further, and defining words. I had planned to use the study guide, but since we listened to the CD in the car, I did not use it. We did discuss the story after each car ride though. 

This is the third Heirloom Audio Productions CD that we have listened to and I cannot even begin to express how well produced these CD's are. The music that is used is perfect. The actors that are chosen are perfect. You can tell by listening to them that they love what they are doing.  I also love that the kids are getting a history lesson while listening to the CD. G.A. Henty wrote some great works of fiction that have many historical facts in them, but also added in some fictional characters to help with telling the stories. Be sure to check out a sample of The Dragon and the Raven and order your copy today. The two CD set with three bonuses is $29.97 plus shipping. 

Want to hear what other Schoolhouse Crew reviewers thought about The Dragon and the Raven? Click the banner below.