Orange Marmalade Mama

See-N-Spell Spelling and Vocabulary Quick Reference Guide by See-N-Read

2012-02-13T09:58:00.000-06:00

"Hey Mom! I am going to write a story!" 15 minutes later..."Mom, how do you spell library?" "Mom, how do you spell passenger? Is it 2 s'?" I can't tell you the number of times that my children's story writing has gotten interrupted because they weren't sure how to spell something. Sometimes, I tell them to sound it out and go on, other times I stop and help them spell it. Other times, they give up because they are frustrated that they don't know how to spell perfectly the first time. I was thrilled to have the opportunity to review "See-N-Spell"! I was very hopeful that having this would encourage them in their writing!

See-N-Spell is a 40-page booklet to help writers easily find the correct spelling of 300+ commonly used American English words. There are also helps to find the correct spelling and usage of homophones and includes information to identify the "part of speech" of those words for correct usage. You might be thinking, but why can't they just use the dictionary? We have the Webster's 1828 Dictionary and a Student Dictionary. The Webster's is *huge* and intimidating to my children. The student dictionary never seems to have the words that my kids are trying to spell! The See-N-Spell booklet is 8 1/2" x 11" and 40 pages long, so it is easy to tote around no matter where my children decide to start drafting a report or story. It is small enough to not be intimidating and it is very easy to use! Miss J grabbed it up as soon as we received it and I had to go searching for it to be able to write this review! I have observed her using it many times over the last few weeks as she has taken on some different writing assignments, so it has be very useful for our family!

We also received a See-N-Read tool with our See-N-Spell book. They are included for FREE with each See-N-Spell. Mr. Lego has really struggled with reading and we have now discovered that some of that is tracking issues and vision problems. We were told that using something to help guide the eye across a sentence would be helpful to him. I was so excited to discover the same tool suggested was included with the See-N-Spell! I have had Mr. Lego use it when he is reading aloud and I think it has made some improvement to his reading ability when reading aloud, especially!

See-N-Spell is only $9.99 and that includes the See-N-Read tool. This has been an incredibly inexpensive way to help my children help themselves as they are writing! I need to order a couple more of the See-N-Read tools so Mr. Lego can keep them in his books rather than trying to keep track of them all the time. My older two children used See-N-Spell the most often at ages 10 & 12, but this would be an excellent tool even for older students who struggle with spelling. While it doesn't solve the problem of learning how to spell things, it does solve the problem of not being able to write because of any spelling difficulties! I also think the more the children see difficult words spelled correctly, it will help cement those in their visual memory.

Be sure to stop by the TOS Crew Blog to see what my Crewmates had to say about their experience with See-N-Spell!

Pin It

**Any products reviewed by me as a member of the TOS Homeschool Crew have been given to me free of charge in order for me to provide you with an honest review of the product and/or how we used the product within our family. I do not receive any other form of compensation for the reviews posted on this blog.

What is your Design Style?

2012-02-11T15:29:00.000-06:00

I am not an interior decorator, nor do I have unlimited funds (or the desire) to make my house magazine ready. However, the longer we have been in our home, the more I want it to reflect our family and not look like a college dorm. We have always used hand-me down furniture and cheap pieces from flea markets to decorate. Not that there is anything wrong with that at all, but we haven't always made good judgement calls on what we really, really like; choosing instead to buy things just because they were cheap. No more - I am taking back our home and making thoughtful decisions about what comes through those doors. I will still buy at flea markets and thrift stores, but I won't bring home something just because it was $10 or less. I would rather wait to find a really great useful piece at a good price than buy a piece that is only o.k. but really cheap.

In making those decisions, though, I needed some inspiration for what my "dream home" would look like! What sort of style do I have? What sort of furniture or lamps or art pieces fit my style? What colors do I like and what do they go with?

I found this handy quiz online at Real Simple and thought you might enjoy it! Style Quiz

After taking the quiz I discovered that my style was "Cozy Casual". I couldn't have picked a better description of what I want my home to look like than Cozy Casual! It sounds just like us and how we live every day.

C. Cozy Casual: You’re about comfort and warmth, favoring warm, traditional rooms made for relaxing with family and friends. Your ideal decor draws on English and early-American furniture designs, as well as laid-back country, cottage, and farmhouse styles. Weathered, low-maintenance furnishings are easy, inviting, and built for daily life. Think golden retrievers, fuzzy slippers, and just about any movie by Nancy Meyers.

I am completely cracking up at the color choice for the sofa in the above picture though. There is no way that I will *ever* own an off-white sofa in this house of 5 kids and a dog! ;-)

After it gives the initial picture, it walks you through different suggestions of pieces that would work with the Cozy Casual style. This is awesome for inspiration of things to look for when I am out and about!

So, what is your style?!

Pin It

Math Rider - An Intelligent Math Game for Facts Mastery

2012-02-10T09:41:00.000-06:00

We have been using Math Rider, a math facts game, since last fall. I reviewed it for the Crew last year and we loved it so much we had to buy it to add to our homeschool! This year as we reviewed it though, my 1st grader finally got his own rider! He has been begging to use Math Rider since we reviewed it last time, but he wasn't quite ready for it. This year, he had his chance - and I can't get him off of the computer! He is spitting out math facts left and right and I owe that in large part to how much fun he has playing Math Rider.

This is the perfect math fact mastery program, IMO. It is fun, engaging and works! This intelligent math game "learns" how quickly your student is able to answer the math problems and his horse "Shadow" rides faster or slower based on that. I love this aspect of Math Rider - it eliminates the frustration of getting an answer wrong because the child isn't fast enough at entering things on the key board. If Mr. Fix-It missed a problem, then Shadow would stop riding and the problem would be shown and read aloud, then he would resume his Quest through the magical lands.

All four of the math operations are covered in Math Rider - each having 4 levels of quests - Easy, Medium, Advanced and Mastery. As your child completes his quests, he is rewarded with various things for his village. There is a really cool antique looking treasure map that gives a visual representation of where your child is at on each quest. Oh, another favorite - the music! It is beautiful music that is pleasant to listen to, so no one minds if a child is doing Math Rider and they are working on another project. Much better than the loud bells, pops and whistles I have heard in other programs!

Math Rider is done in a way that Miss J doesn't mind the storyline and enjoys using it as much as Mr. Fix-It - so it is good for a wide range of ages. Right now you can try it Free for 7 days or purchase it for $37. After February 15th, the price will be going up, so take advantage of the savings now!

Stop by the TOS Homeschool Crew Blog to see what my Crewmates thought of their experience with Math Rider!

Classical Astronomy "Celestial Almanack"

2012-02-09T09:44:00.000-06:00

We had the privilege of reviewing the February Celestial Almanack by Fourth Day Press. I will never forget one of the first things that we noticed when we moved to our home out in the country over 4 years ago - the stunning beauty of the night sky! The stars are so bright and the expanse is awe-inspiring. We've spent many an evening out on the trampoline gazing at the stars, but until now, we didn't always know what we were looking at - or what things we should be looking for! That is when having the Celestial Almanack comes in handy! Author Jay Ryan has created the perfect handbook for discovering the night sky with the naked eye! No expensive telescopes needed. He tells you exactly what to look for throughout the month!

This has been a fascinating resource and has taught me more about astronomy than I have ever learned in my life. Unfortunately, in the week that we've had this book, I have had a houseful of sick kiddo's, so we haven't been able to take them outside at night yet to show them all that can be discovered! I have had the chance to read it, though, and I can't wait until everyone is well enough to head outside so we can marvel at God's creation in the night sky. There are gorgeous full color pictures and descriptions of exactly what is happening throughout the month of February in the heavens. This makes it so easy to step outside and know what to look for! In the introductory section it discusses how the modern day calendar was created and how it was determined that we need a "leap year". It also gives detailed descriptions of how the sun and moon are moving through the sky through the month of February. The Celestial Almanack can be purchased at CurrClick for only $3! This is an incredible value. The Almanack is packed with information in an easy to understand, easy to use format! The January Almanack is on sale for $2 right now, too.

We haven't studied much Astronomy in our homeschool and after reading this nifty little Almanack over the last week, I can't wait to share more with my children! I will definitely be purchasing more of these throughout the year! Jay Ryan has also written an Astronomy curriculum called "Signs & Seasons". This looks like an excellent resource for teaching Astronomy to older students as well.

Be sure to stop by the TOS Homeschool Crew Blog to see what my Crewmates had to say about their experience with the Celestial Almanack!

Pin It

**Any products reviewed by me as a member of the TOS Homeschool Crew have been given to me free of charge in order for me to provide you with an honest review of the product and/or how we used the product within our family. I do not receive any other form of compensation for the reviews posted on this blog.

And the bookcases are cleared!

2012-02-02T20:22:00.000-06:00

Before:

You can see that we had two of those big bookshelves to create a division between the "school room" area of the basement and the "family room" area of the basement. They are so huge though and with everyone coming over this Sunday we were going to have to move one so people could see the TV. I am so glad to have it gone!!

After:

The last bookcase all cleaned out and organized! I have 3 tubs of books to take to our local used bookstore and another bin of things to take to Goodwill. Whew! I am so glad that project is done! Oh, I forgot to take pictures of my other bookcases! I totally cleaned those out as well!

Pin It

Super Bowl Sunday is upon us!

2012-02-01T11:49:00.000-06:00

My husband and I are hosting our 2nd Annual Super Bowl Party on Sunday! Normally, that would just mean cleaning the house and fixing good eats. This year however, it means that I am completely cleaning out the bookcases in order to get rid of one - so our guests can actually see the TV from the "schoolroom" half of the basement. Last year I just moved the bookcase out of the way (actually, Mr. D moved it because it was entirely too heavy for me!) This year I just want to get rid of it. This is good motivation to take care of the last "de-cluttering" frontier that I have been avoiding! Culling the bookshelves is such a hard chore for me - what if I need it later? What if I want to read it again? What if it becomes irreplaceable and I miss it? However, wanting a clutter-free home is becoming more important to me than hoarding books. It is still kind of painful though! ;-)

After I finish this project, then it is take care of some homework for my college classes, do some freelance work for TOS and then start fixing good eats! What kind of good eats are you planning for your party? Is anyone else taking on the crazy project of re-organizing 4 days before their party, too?!

Pin It

We Choose Virtues "Virtue Clues"

2012-01-23T10:12:00.000-06:00

I was so excited when our family was chosen to review the "Virtue Clues" from We Choose Virtues! I don't know about things at your house, but there are never an end to the opportunities to help my children learn how to use their virtues - like Patience, Contentment, Being Helpful, Forgiving and Obedient. There are plenty of opportunities for me to put into practice those same virtues - Patience probably being at the top of the list! We Choose Virtues was born out of Heather McMillan's desire to help children and their families learn and exhibit strong character in their lives. She recognized that without good character, many children will not make it far in their pursuits. She started creating cute catchprases to help children easily remember what was expected of them - and to help them instill lasting change in their life by using their virtues daily. We Choose Virtues has many tools for school and families that help parents and teachers instill this lasting change in their student's and children's lives.

We received the "Virtue Clues"($5.99) which are a business card sized reminders of the different virtues taught by the We Choose Virtues Program. They are full color sturdy cards and packaged in a cute little plastic sleeve for storage. We also received the Teacher's Handbook, Coloring Book and Family Character Assessment sheet. We Choose Virtues offers packages for both the family and school settings with a faith-based option that includes scripture teaching along with the virtues. The program is meant for ages 4-18, however the drawings and coloring books are more appropriate for the younger set. My older daughter didn't particularly appreciate the cute pictures, but she did like the catchphrases. My younger children really enjoyed the cute illustrations and the easy to remember catchphrases!

The catchphrases are my favorite part of this program. They are short and sweet and easy to remember. When on of the children was not exhibiting a virtue that we wanted to see, it was easy to say "I find things that need to be done and I do them!" for the "I am Helpful" virtue. There are also reminders of what we are not "I am NOT...selfish, lazy or unwilling to serve, and I don't have to be asked!" The first part is such a positive reminder of what we want our children to be - very affirming, which I love. The second part is a nice way to remind our children what we do not want to see, but also in a positive way. I tend to be a "no" and "don't" parent, so having affirming words to remind my children on what our expectations are is wonderful! Instead of just saying "don't do that" I can quote the catchphrase that is so much more positive!

I have really enjoyed using these Virtue Clues, so much so that I am excited about purchasing the full size cards and the Three Rules poster - Obey, Be Kind and Be a Helper! This program with its colorful illustrations and cute catchphrases has been exactly what I have been looking for to help our family exhibit the virtues that are so important for growing good character!

Be sure to stop by the TOS Review Crew Blog to see what my Crewmates had to say about their experience with the Virtue Clues from We Choose Virtues!

Pin It

**Any products reviewed by me as a member of the TOS Homeschool Crew have been given to me free of charge in order for me to provide you with an honest review of the product and/or how we used the product within our family. I do not receive any other form of compensation for the reviews posted on this blog.

The After Pics -

2012-01-19T08:53:00.000-06:00

And, it is DONE! This room has been cleaned out several times since we've moved here, but I've never been able to completely finish it. Or, I will finish it and then we find out we are expecting another baby and have to turn it back into a baby's room. Or, we end up with company coming or something comes up and I just take the few remaining boxes and shove them back in there until later. As you all may know - "later" never seems to happen!!

So - here it is! This is looking from the door into the far right corner of the room. Those big black things are speakers that we have listed on Craigslist. Please, please let someone buy them soon!! I managed to consolidate a 12 bin cubby of sewing supplies into those few plastic shoe boxes on the bottom shelf. The other shelves are all school supplies - notebooks, lined paper, glue sticks, 3-ring notebooks etc. The black totes to the left of the sewing table are what remains of my extensive Creative Memories scrapbooking collection. I pared it down to the essentials.

And this is the other corner of the room. I eliminated a 2ft. shelf and cleared off a 3ft. shelf. I was able to put my paper cutter on it with a cup for pencils and scissors. My sewing machine is out where my daughter can use it. The table is cleared off for scrapbooking and cutting fabric. It's a miracle! The opposite corner of this room is a blank wall and closet. I emptied 3 huge rubbermaid bins of fabric and consolidated them into one small 3 drawer cart in the closet. The rest of the junk in these rooms has either been trashed (4 huge bags!) or in boxes ready to go to Goodwill or has been given to friends. I am getting ready to sort bookshelves in the school room, next so I am hopeful that I'll be able to move some of those school supplies to cubbies in the school room. It feels so good to be able to walk into that room *and* have a table to start a project on. Like getting those thousands of pictures I have in boxes into albums. ;-)

Whew! I am so glad that project is *done*. Now, I can go through one last bin - the one with the supplies to create the "perfect" home management binder. That is todays project and then I have to start paying attention to my college classes! I feel like a huge weight has been lifted. My whole house feels lighter now!

Pin It

The Great Craft Room/Baby Room/Stash & Dash Room Clean-Out has begun!

2012-01-16T11:18:00.000-06:00

If I know one hears from me by later tonight - please send in a search party!!

I am going into territories unknown. The room that has become the catch all room from all of my other organizing projects. The room that we set stuff that we don't know what else to do with. The room that has been the craft/babies room. In short - the junk room!

Normally, I would *never* post such revealing pictures of our home for all the world to see - but I know I can't be the only one who has such a space. A place that just begs to be taken care of but looks so monstrous, it is easier to just walk on by. So, in an effort to be encouraging to other pack rats like myself - I'm going full disclosure on this mess!

Classes start tomorrow - so give me a couple of days to give you the "after" pics. If you don't hear from me - then send me an email and urge me to get the job finished already and post some pictures!!

Pin It

Maestro Classics: "The Story of Swan Lake"

2012-01-13T09:22:00.000-06:00

Last year our family was blessed to receive Maestro Classics "Peter and the Wolf" to review. We have listened to it more times than I can count since we've received it. This year I was so excited to receive Maestro Classics "The Story of Swan Lake" to share with my children! Maestro Classics strives to produce enjoyable and educational musical selections for parents and children to enjoy together. My children and I have listened to Thaikovsky's "Story of Swan Lake" in instrumental form many, many times, so they immediately recognized the music. Maestro Classics version however is narrated by Yadu, so they were able to hear the story behind the music this time. We have listened to this version as we've worked on various projects around the school table. This gives my children opportunity to be listening and doing and then we have a chance to talk about what we have heard. These CD's have been a wonderful way to add Music Education and Appreciation to our homeschool in a way that is easy to do! The CD's are available as an mp3 download for $9.98 or as a CD for $16.98. The activity booklet comes as a pdf download if you purchase the mp3 version.

After listening to the narrated version of "The Story of Swan Lake", Bonnie Ward Simon tells the wonderful story of Tchaikovsky's life. She shares about his other famous works and how he came to be one of the best known classical music composers of all time. This has been a great way to learn more about the composers behind the music for my children's music education!

Later, there is a Speed Metal version of Swan Lake, which at first was jarring after hearing the orchestral version, but it was really well done and kind of reminded me of Mannheim Steamroller. Then we talked about how classic music can be arranged differently to reflect our modern way of life with instruments that weren't available in times past. That some music is timeless and can be enjoyed generation after generation.

Stephen Simon, the conductor for "Swan Lake" then takes a few minutes to give some musical education about the different kinds of music used in a ballet - the part that will be danced to and the part that will help tell the story. This has been another excellent way to share how music works and why things were composed the way they are! Then there is a vocal ensemble that sings a song "Tchaikovsky Wrote a Great Ballet" and then the children are encouraged to learn it and sing along. We had a great time with this as well! There is a little activity booklet that is included with each CD with dot-to-dot's, information on different instruments and crossword puzzles.

Maestro Classics has an entire collection of CD's for you to enjoy with your children. They say they are for ages 5-12, but we all enjoyed these selections! Even Little Bit would stand in front of us and pretend he was conducting while we listened, so these have value for all ages in my opinion. I learned quite a bit about music, too, as we've listened to these CD's. I am writing more of these down on my wish list for curriculum next year, since these are something that will be enjoyed by all of us!

I highly recommend these for your homeschool, they are professional produced with excellent sound and have great educational content as well as just being fun to listen to.

My Crewmates also had the opportunity to review "The Story of Swan Lake", so be sure to stop by the TOS Review Crew Blog to see what they had to say about their experience! Oh, and be sure to "Like" Maestro Classics on Facebook, too. They are getting ready to do an awesome giveaway to a lucky Facebook fan!

It's a SNOW DAY!!

2012-01-12T20:40:00.003-06:00

I'll add pictures later - but we woke up to a gorgeous wintery white view today. And two boys who were already bundled up and out playing before Mr. D and I were even awake. They had so much fun playing out there! It is bitterly, bitterly cold though, so they didn't last long. Today we fixed Mr. D his favorite breakfast (homemade biscuits and gravy!) and shared the reasons why we were thankful for Miss J and Mr. D in our lives. You see, 12 years ago today, Mr. D and I welcomed our first baby girl into the world. At 1 a.m. when I went into labor we were all joking about Mr. D getting the best birthday present ever - at 11:00 p.m. that night - we were afraid she might not make it in time to be a birthday present!! But she made it at 11:35 p.m. and our lives have been so richly blessed every since!!

She is a delight and a joy and we are so very thankful to have her in our lives! She is so friendly, so thoughtful and such a dear, dear girl.

As for Mr. D - well, he is my best friend and everything I never knew I needed. He knows me best and still loves me, takes care of me, makes me laugh and I can't imagine a minute of my life without him!

Celebrating at home snuggled up at home with snowflakes falling around has been such a lovely day, spending it with my two birthday loves has made it perfect!!

Pin It

Z-Guide to the Movies for "My Side of the Mountain"

2012-01-11T10:40:00.000-06:00

My kids *love* movies, of course, so I was excited about the opportunity to turn their movie watching experience into more educational fare. Zeezok Publishing has provided the means to do that with their new series of "Z-Guides to the movies!" You can read even more about the Z-Guide to the movies here on their website. Zeezok also offers a free sample guide available here as a PDF.

We received the "Z-Guide to the movies" for My Side of the Mountain, which happens to be one of my daughter's favorite books! She was super excited to get started. The Z-Guides are geared for 3rd -12th grades. Each Z-Guide is $12.99 and available as a downloadable pdf ebook, or on a CD shipped to you. Because my daughter had already read the book numerous times, we went ahead and read the initial synopsis as suggested in the Z-Guide and the review questions before viewing the movie. If you haven't seen your particular movie before, then I would watch it through once and *then* read the synopsis and review questions before doing the rest of the activities - otherwise the synopsis will give away all the details!! Our Z-Guide had 10 activities to go along with the move - some were movie review questions, some were hands-on, some discussed different elements that were in the movie, such as learning more about Henry David Thoreau, Peregrine Falcons and surviving in the wilderness. They suggest that you watch the movie on Day #1 and do two activities each day for one weeks worth of work. We decided to spread it out a bit and do one activity every few days. On the Zeezok website, the Z-Guide to the movies are organized in chronological order making it very easy to pick movies and themes related to your history studies. There are also natural science, writing skills, research skills and critical thinking skills that are used by going through a Z-Guide!

We have really enjoyed our experience with the My Side of the Mountain Z-Guide to the movies and I have my eye on a few more for our historical studies next year!!

So, the next time you get ready to plan your family movie night - go ahead and grab one of the Zeezok Z-Guide to the movies to turn it into an educational event! My Crewmates on the TOS Review Crew also reviewed several of the other Z-Guide to the Movies so be sure to stop by the TOS Blog to see what they had to say!

Easy, healthy and delicious Zesty Butternut Squash Soup!

2012-01-10T09:55:00.000-06:00

I love Butternut Squash, but I wanted a new way to fix it for my family - this soup was born and it is delicious!!

Zesty Butternut Squash Soup

2 medium butternut squash
several tablespoons coconut oil
1 jalapeno - seeded and diced
2-3 cloves of garlic - minced
1 medium onion - chopped
2-3 tbsp. olive oil
1 32oz. container chicken stock (maybe more if you like a thinner soup)
1 c. italian blend shredded cheese (I use parmesan, reggiano, pecorino blend from Sam's)
1 c. or so shelled pistachios

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Split Butternut Squash in half and remove seeds then place in a jelly roll pan, split side up! Depending on the size of the squash, I can usually fit two into my pan. I dollop coconut oil into the recess and then spread some on the inside neck of the squash. Cover with tin foil and roast for about an hour or so. Remove from oven, let cool a bit and scoop out all the yummy goodness into a bowl. While that is cooling, you can saute your onion, garlic and jalapeno in a large soup pot. After the onions are translucent, add the butternut squash and chicken stock. I use my stick blender to puree the soup. If it is too thick, add more chicken stock.

To serve, pour soup into individual bowls, sprinkle with a handful of pistachio's and cheese blend. The jalapeno gives it a nice surprising kick, but it isn't "hot" at all.

Enjoy and let me know what you think!!

Pin It

Hi! I'm still around....

2012-01-09T19:15:00.000-06:00

Remember how I said I was going to blog about a ton of things over winter break? And we were going to get all of the basement painted? And I was going to organize the craft/baby's/junk room?

Yeah - well, I did a wee bit of organizing, no painting (yet) and obviously no blogging! But I have been reading a ton of books just because, playing outside in this gorgeous spring-like weather, going for nature walks and a run, taking naps, sleeping in and watching movies with my hubby while enjoying a nice glass of wine. It has been wonderful!

Next week classes begin for Mr. D and I, so things will pick up the pace dramatically...I am going to savor these last few days of relative laziness.

Pin It

R.E.A.L. Homeschool Spanish!

2012-01-06T10:27:00.000-06:00

"Hola! Buenos dias!" Our family has been trying our hand at learning Spanish with R.E.A.L. Homeschool Spanish over the last few weeks.

We received the eBook bundle ($59.95) which included:

R.E.A.L. Homeschool Spanish Book

Activity Book

Answer Book

Audio Files and

Daily Curriculum Guide

R.E.A.L. Homeschool Spanish is written by Dr. Karyn Williamson-Coria, a homeschooling mama of 3 who also has her doctorate in Expanded French Studies. Her husband is a native of Mexico, so with his help she began teaching herself Spanish. After giving birth to her first child, she began to teach French and Spanish part time - later R.E.A.L. Homeschool Spanish was born! R.E.A.L. stands for Relax, Enjoy, Aspire and Learn Spanish. From the book "Dr. Williamson-Coria decided to develop a program that enabled the parents to learn along with their child, a program that was easy to use and would enable the home educator to help his/her children use the language as well as guide them in their language learning. Dr. Coria wanted a product with ideas to help her incorporate language learning into her daily routine (as opposed to a “classroom”) without taking up all her weekly or daily prep time. She also wanted a product that could develop speaking ability. Most programs work on reading, writing, listening and pronunciation, but not on using the language in a conversational and creative manner. This program is built upon a conversational Spanish foundation. New material is always presented through speaking the language and soliciting responses from the children. As language is used through human contact in the real world, this program stresses the importance of interaction with others."

R.E.A.L. Homeschool Spanish consists of 10 Units, each covering various themes like greetings, colors, numbers, foods etc. I love that Dr. Williamson-Coria is familiar with how a homeschooling family works and has written a program to fit into that lifestyle. She gives great tips on how to incorporate language learning into your home, not just a 30 minute slot on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays! It is a conversational Spanish program, which I really love, since that is why I want to teach my children a foreign language. I know the extra benefits of vocabulary and grammar are important, but ultimately, I want them to be able to carry on a conversation!

We have only made it through the first Unit, but we have really enjoyed our time with this program! The audio files are great, although I wish there wasn't the copyright notice before each clip. They have the best The Daily Curriculum Guide was very helpful because it gave me reminders of ways to incorporate the language learning throughout the day. It is possible to do the program without it, but the added activities and reminders are well worth the $10 cost, IMO. I think that R.E.A.L Homeschool Spanish is an excellent value for homeschoolers, especially for families with several younger children as it could be spread out over two years or so! My favorite part of this has been the more conversational tone, we have spent more time learning our vocabulary words and using them in everyday language, instead of getting bogged down with grammar. From my perspective, helping them learn how to speak it at this young age will only make learning the grammar and such easier when they are older!

Be sure to stop by the TOS Review Crew Blog to see what my Crewmates had to say about their experience with R.E.A.L. Homeschool Spanish!

Pin It

World's Greatest Stories - The Prophets!

2011-12-21T08:44:00.000-06:00

I can't even begin to tell you how much my boys have enjoyed "The Prophets" in NIV told by George Sarris. I say my boys, because Mr. Lego nabbed the CD when we got it in the mail and I haven't seen it since then. I have, however, heard it playing nearly every afternoon during quiet time for the last several weeks. I have also noticed that the girls have drifted into the boys room to listen as well. When I asked Mr. Lego what he thought of these stories from the Bible, he answered "Mom, they are great! You need to buy the whole set!!" At only $7.95/CD - we will be doing just that.

George Sarris is an accomplished actor, narrator and spokesman. He also has a way with voices that has kept my boys captivated while hearing God's word. For some reason, probably because I am *not* a professional narrator or accomplished storyteller, when I read the Bible aloud to the children, they start to drift off. This hasn't been the case while Mr. Sarris has told the stories of Daniel, Elijah and The Blazing Furnace. He uses many different voices, some that have my boys in stitches, and background music and sound effects to enhance the recordings. When I've stopped in the boys room to listen, I have noticed that Mr. Sarris brings out the characters personality with the voices, so you can "hear" what kind of people they are. I love that these are not paraphrased versions of the best Bible Stories, but read straight from the Bible, word for word. We chose the NIV version, but the KJV version is also available. The way Mr. Sarris "reads" these stories is truly amazing though and make you feel as if you are watching the events unfold before you. The boys favorite story is "The Blazing Furnace", he uses a more distinctive voice for one of the bad guys that the boys find hilarious. All this means that my children are hearing the Bible, word for word, and they have loved every minute of it. We also received a sampler CD that contained short selections in both the NIV and KJV, these samples were just as good as "The Prophets" CD, so I feel confident that I will be happy with the rest of the CD's our family purchases!

These are great for quiet time, car rides and Bible Study. There are a total of 6 CD's, each running about one hour long. They contain 23 of the best Bible stories like David & Goliath, Joseph and His Brothers, the Battle of Jericho and stories from the life of Christ. If you purchase the whole set, then shipping is free. You can order them online at World's Greatest Stories or by calling 1-888-STORIES. You can also hear sample tracks on the website so you can see for yourself how wonderful these are!

Don't forget to stop by the TOS Review Crew blog to see what my Crewmates thought of their experience with World's Greatest Stories!

Vintage Remedies for Kids!

2011-12-19T10:35:00.000-06:00

I was so excited to receive "Vintage Remedies for Kids" to review in our home. Mr. D and I have started to implement many natural health solutions in our home over the past several years - some of them more easily and consistently than others. I am always excited to read and learn more about natural remedies and how I can prevent illness and disease in our family and if we happen to fall prey to something, be able to treat my children in the most natural way possible. Learning this for myself has been a journey that we've had to learn as we go along, but I want to arm my children with this same knowledge from a young age, so that by the time they are running their own homes it will be second nature to them. Vintage Remedies has provided and excellent way to teach this important subject of natural health and wellness to our children in an easy to use format.

I always love getting mail and opening new stuff for the kiddo's. I was completely blown away with how beautifully my books from Vintage Remedies were wrapped!

I received The Kitchen Herbal as a Thank You for my review of Vintage Remedies for Kids - what a blessing!

Vintage Remedies for Kids ($25) is a 200+ page spiral book with 3 sections to teach younger children ages 2-6 about health and wellness in a way that is easy and fun for them. It includes many hands-on projects to hold their interest. The 3 sections cover: Food & Drink, Health & Wellness and Healthy Lifestyles. Each chapter (there are a total of 18) has a Parent Section, Read to Me section, Additional Comments, Thinking It Over ( a series of question for the youngsters to think about), Leading by Example and then Featured Projects.

The Parent Section is background information to teach you, the parent, more about each chapters topic. For instance, in the chapter "Foods that are not Real Foods" there are about 6 pages about how to determine if food is "real" food or not. Does the ingredient list have more things that are unpronounceable than recognizable? Does it look like something you would find in nature? Is it's shelf life sometime in the next few days or the next few years? These are all ways to determine if what you are eating is real food or a manufactured version of real food. While this book is called "Vintage Remedies for Kids", this background information in each of the Parent Sections makes it great for parents who are just beginning to learn about natural health and wellness. In that same chapter, there is a small section to read to your child to help them determine if a food is a real food or a processed food. There are questions at the end that are useful for helping your child summarize what he has just learned. These were great discussion starters in our house. The next section "Leading by Example" is where the parent is given suggestions on how to make sure that what we are teaching becomes what we are *living* - it doesn't do much good to talk about our children making healthy choices and then eat a candy bar and drink a diet soda for breakfast in front of them. After reading the different sections, talking about what we'd learned with the "Thinking It Over" questions, we had the opportunity to do a hands-on project or two. Many times there were options for a craft type project and an opportunity to make something yummy in the kitchen. We made "real food" collages cutting pictures from magazine of "real food" and "fake food". Then we made a healthy alternative to a processed convenience food - Hot Cocoa Mix. This used organic powdered milk, powdered sugar and natural cocoa. The ingredient list on this homemade Hot Cocoa Mix is a *lot* shorter than any other I've seen and doesn't have any preservatives or fillers. There was also a suggestion for making an easy cheese by draining plain organic overnight in cheesecloth and then adding your favorite flavoring. We have done this often in the past and it creates a soft, spreadable "cheese" much like cream cheese. We have always added raw honey and a bit of vanilla to ours for a very yummy treat! Generally, this is a much less expensive alternative to flavored vanilla yogurts not to mention that honey is a much better sweetener choice than high fructose corn syrup found in many flavored yogurts.

While this is geared to children ages 2-6, I found many of the kitchen project were equally fun for my older children, too. My older children were able to help the youngsters with the projects without my supervision - so this ended up doing double duty at our house. Teaching for the youngsters with an opportunity for the older children to be good helpers!

Vintage Remedies has a full line of books and courses for children through adults. I have been extremely pleased with the information found in Vintage Remedies and am seriously looking at taking some of their courses for adults. There are many health and wellness books on the market, but I love that Vintage Remedies teaches prevention with a healthy lifestyle rather than just taking pills to fix illness. Everything I read in the Vintage Remedies for Kids fell in line with things I have read or learned elsewhere.

If you have a bit older children, Vintage Remedies has books for that age group as well. Several of my Crewmates were given the opportunity to review those books, so be sure to stop by the TOS Crew Blog to see what they had to say about those!!

Pin It

Fractazmic - Fraction Learning Game by I See Cards

2011-12-16T10:31:00.001-06:00

Our family received Fractazmic - a new card game from I See Cards to help teach fractions. According to the website, this game is meant for children in 1st - 8th grades, but in our family only the older children and I played it. Fractazmic is only $6.95, which I found to be a great value for a fun game to teach a not so fun math concept. I distinctly remember when I was in 4th grade that our teacher re-taught the entire fraction unit because there were so many of us that struggled with the concept. I couldn't help but think as we were playing this game how helpful it would have been to us way back when!!

The game is simple enough to begin playing, however adding up the fractions to equal "1" quickly, took a lot longer! The deck is split into three "suits" the Sixteenth suit in red, the Twelfth suit in blue and the Tenth suit in green. After shuffling the cards and dealing them out, there is a "stack" in the middle and the beginnings of a discard line. Each player sorts the cards in their hands into suits. The object of the game is to be the person who completes the most "hands" equaling one within a suit. The directions were clear and easy to figure out and the game plays quickly. I don't have the opportunity in my every day life to add up a lot of fractions and this game tested my knowledge. It was great for teaching the kiddo's and after a bit, they got the hang of it. This game is a great way to teach adding fractions and recognizing how they work together. I See Cards also has a free booklet "How to Succeed in Math with Games" that is available on their website.

We really enjoyed our experience with Fractazmic. They also have the games available online and several other great math teaching games, too. The Crew reviewed their game Pyramath last year and it won "Best Math Game" last year - I think I need to add it to my arsenal of math games, too.

Be sure to stop by the TOS Review Crew Blog to see what my Crewmates had to say about their experience with Fractazmic!

Pin It

Schoolroom Pics!!

2011-12-13T21:03:00.000-06:00

I've been doing a bit of sorting and organizing in an attempt to avoid studying for finals, so I thought I would post some pics before it gets all messy again! We are going to paint the basement and the trim during Winter Break, so I'll post another set of pics in January! I am so blessed to have a walkout basement and dedicated area for our school supplies and books. Our main area downstairs is a long narrow room that we have divided into two areas - the school area and the family room. I'll take you on a tour going clockwise around the room! You can check out my post from August for some before pictures!

First stop - the computer desk! We had a family heirloom roll-top desk, but it was not very conducive to working, so Mr. D found this perfect solid oak/wrought iron desk at a thrift store for me. I love it!! I actually don't use it nearly as much as the kiddo's these days, but it is perfect for them to be able do their math and other computer work and have an area to write! The door to the right is our craft/baby/stash everything that doesn't have a home room. The thread (that is broken) is for artwork. I'm going to replace it with picture hanging wire over winter break.

Next up are the toy bins, morning board and timeline! I bought the 10-pocket chart at Mardel during their back to school sales for our timeline pieces. It works great and takes up much less room. The morning board is for Mr. Fix-It and Miss Paya. I'll post more detail about it later this month. The bookshelves hold all of the easy readers so they are easy to find and the toy bins are for Little Bit to stay occupied while we are working on school!

Next up is the school table, the All About Reading posters and the *ah-mazing* bookshelves Mr. D built for me! Our school table is our old dining room table and is plenty big enough for everyone. The shelves (which need re-organized again) - well, I can't even begin to tell you how incredibly thankful I am to be married to a man who not only was able to build the shelves, but willing to do so - as they were *not* as easy as I had thought they would be. Bless his heart - he is such a trooper and does just about anything to make this mama happy!! I am going to re-sort them (again) over Winter Break. They are starting to get a bit unruly and unorganized! I need to do a major de-clutter, too, and get rid of more things that we just aren't using. There really isn't a reason to keep holding onto things I know I won't use (unless maybe I *will* use it, ya know, someday with someone...right?!)

Now, for my favorite part of the room - the window that lets in tons of natural light. There are two more windows on the other side of those bookshelves on the family room side. I did the chalkboard a few years ago - I painted on at least 4 layers of magnetic paint and then another 3 or so of the chalkboard paint. It is 5ft. wide and 3ft. tall! Except the chalk dust, I love having the chalkboard and the kids love it (especially the chalk dust!) Mr. D is going to trim it out when we paint over break. (Is is just me or is our to-do list over break getting kind of long?!) The timeline is from Classical Academic Press (it's a neat reference piece with cool pictures) and the maps are also from them - they are from their bible study program and are perfect for the ancients that we are studying! Then, you can see the dollhouse and barn (from when I was a girl), the play kitchen (thank you, Guidecraft!) and the steel storm door with AAS tiles! And then another 8ft. of bookshelves. These provide the dividing piece between the family room and the school area. They are also in desperate need of some culling and organizing.

So, that is our school room! After living in a tiny home shared with my Mother-In-Law (love her!!) and having a rolling cart and a few feet of bookshelves, this room is a dream come true for our schooling area!

Pin It

Pitsco Education - Medieval Machines Pack

2011-12-09T09:54:00.002-06:00

If you have a houseful of boys like I do, then you can imagine the excitement level that was reached when we opened the box from Pitsco Education!! Our family received the Medieval Machines Pack ($21.95) to review. The Medieval Machines Pack consists of a model catapult, a trebuchet and the Siege Machines book.

I can't think of anything much cooler than building model catapults or trebuchet's, unless of course you are attending the Punkin' Chunkin' and can build the real deal! My kiddo's had a great time building the machines! Miss J, Mr. Fix-it and Mr. Lego helped Mr. D put them together. They did a great job getting it figured out, but the adult supervision was necessary to make sure they were getting the pieces put together properly. Since you need to use a strong glue, putting it together correctly is really important. The directions to put together the catapult and trebuchet were easy enough to follow, although following the pictures was easier than reading the directions! ;-) The models are made from a lightweight Basswood, which at first didn't seem like it would be strong enough to create a model that would work, but we were pleasantly surprised by how well they work and how well they've held up! My kids have put these models through their paces and they are still going strong! Little Bit even got in on the fun!

All of this would be cool enough, just for the fun factor, but the included Siege Machines book kicks this activity up a notch! The book starts out with a brief introduction of the Siege Machines and an extensive description of their use in history. It talks about how the Greeks were the first to combine science and engineering needed to create new weapons of war and then how they were used in later years around the world. It was fascinating to learn about. We are studying Medieval history next year and these will be great to get back out again for our studies! The rest of the Siege Machines book discusses the science and math that is needed to use the catapult and trebuchet and gives many different experiments! One experiment that was given (and easy to do) is to take different weights of clay balls and then measure the distance that they flew! It was neat to see that the balls all flew different distances and then we discussed why this happens. There is also another experiment where you use different size rubberbands to give the catapult more or less throwing power.

We have loved the opportunity to build the catapult and trebuchet models. The materials are all good quality and the models are made in the USA in Pittsburg, KS. That isn't too far from my neck of the woods so I am happy to be able to support a more local business. I've been spending some time on the PITSCO Education website and have a pretty long list of things I want to get for the kiddo's in our homeschool!

Be sure to stop by the TOS Review Crew Blog to see what my Crewmates thought of their experience with PITSCO Education!!

Pin It

Amazing totally mindless crockpot meal....

2011-12-04T09:00:00.000-06:00

I was recently reading blogs and came across a great sounding mexican chicken crockpot dish and immediately had to try it out! And, of course, tweak it just a bit....

Salsa Verde Chicken and 2nd Day Chicken Tortilla Soup

6 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1 jar salsa verde
2 cans corn - drained
2 cans black beans - drained and rinsed
a couple of tsp. fajita seasoning or cumin, oregano, salt & pepper to taste.
1 8 oz. package cream cheese - wait to add until about an hour before serving
1 32. oz. can chicken broth - hold back for next day
2 small cans diced green chilies - hold back for next day
monterey jack cheese - hold back for next day
extra can of corn and/or beans (drained and rinsed) - hold back for next day

Put the chicken, salsa verde, corn, beans and seasoning in the crockpot and cook on low all day. About an hour before serving, add the cream cheese to give it a creamy sauce and break the chicken into bite size pieces. I served it poured over rice and it was a huge hit.

This made a *lot* of food, so we had quite a few leftovers - maybe 4 cups or so. I decided to up-cycle them into soup today.

In a stockpot - pour in leftovers, extra corn or beans if you want it, green chilies, and the chicken broth. I threw in some more seasonings, too. Stir over medium heat until heated through - serve with a dollop of sour cream and crushed tortilla chips and shredded monterey jack cheese. This was soooo good - the chilies gave it a bit of a kick, so I think I'll add those to the first dish next time. The creaminess of the broth was reminiscent of a corn chowder, but not as heavy. All in all - this one is going in the permanent "what's for dinner?" file! I love cooking once and getting two totally different meals. I'm going to try to freeze the leftovers next time so I can bring them out at a later date as soup.

Let me know what you think of it!

Pin It

I love productive kitchen days!

2011-12-01T16:07:00.000-06:00

We have been crazy busy lately, hence the reason why my blog looks like a Homeschool Convention Vendor Hall with reviews instead of anything about what else we do in our daily lives. Finals are next week, so I am hopeful to have a chance to get a *lot* of blogging done and scheduled over winter break.

Some things that I have been taking pictures of, but haven't yet posted :

Breakfast Yummies like Fraffles, Golden Delight Pancakes and Pumpkin Muffins.
Cuneiform Sugar Cookies
Pyramid Building
All About Reading pre-Level 1 fun with Miss Paya
Field Trip to the Pumpkin Patch
Feasts of Tabernacle (how is it possible that we have been home from that for nearly 2 mos. already?!)

Today, however, I went to the grocery store and picked up over 20lbs. of ground beef on sale with extra $2 off coupons. I had to come home and do something with it, so I have spend the last 4.5 hours making:

12 lbs. of browned ground beef with garlic and onions. This will be great for spaghetti sauce and tacos!
4 Baked BowTie Lasagnas with a cream cheese filling instead of ricotta - Yummo!
48 BBQ Meatloaves baked in muffin tins.

This little project has been a most excellent diversion from my previously scheduled activity of the day: studying for my algebra exam! Now, girls are working on a homemade mint project, boys have been playing outside because it is gorgeous here today, Little Bit is napping and now I must make a cup of coffee and get back to Algebra!

I will be back soon with recipes and pictures!

Pin It

The Reading Game

2011-11-28T00:40:00.000-06:00

I was so excited to receive The Reading Game. It was created by the author of the Wordly Wise books, Kenneth Hodkinson. The Reading Game is a learn-to-read program consisting of six storybooks with a coordinating word-match game. Each of the games are played in 6 stages with 5 words, so at the end of play your child will have learned 180 words and be able to read the accompanying 6 storybooks.

The Reading Game ($24.95) is for ages 4+ and meant for two players - the student and tutor. In our house, Mr. Fix-It (7) and I played this the most, although I am going to have his big brother play it with him, too. This will be excellent practice at fluency for both of them. The Reading Game is a sight-word learn to read program. By playing a memory game with the cards with the words, the student gets the words being learned hard-wired into their long-term memory. After completing the 6th stage of the memory game, your child can read their first storybook consisting of 30 words. The storybooks are beautifully illustrated and printed on glossy, heavyweight paper so they are very durable. The playing cards are smaller and each set of cards is numbered for each of the 6 sets that need to be learned. This makes it very easy to set up game play.

In our home, I prefer to teach phonics first, but The Reading Game is meant to teach words by sight. Mr. Fix-It has learned all of the 72 phonograms and many of the phonics rules, so it was easy enough to help Mr. Fix-It sound out each of the words in the game. The more we played, the easier they became and the more fluently he was able to read them. I chose not to use this with Miss Paya quite yet because I do not want to teach her sight words first. I have found it to be an excellent way for Mr. Fix-It to move from sounding out each word, to recognizing it immediately and being able to read it easily. While I feel phonics first is important, ultimately fluency is the goal and The Reading Game has been a great tool to help us meet that goal. I have been so pleased with Mr. Fix-It's progress as we have been playing this game! He has made it through the first book, skunk, and is anxious to move onto the next ones. I also appreciated that each game took around 10-15 minutes to play, so it was super easy to fit into our rather busy schedule a few times a week.

The Reading Game has 6 storybooks - skunk, snake, bear, penguins, unicorn, and zebra. Each of the books comes with a deck of 60 cards - 2 each of the 30 words. Each of the decks has 6 sets of cards to be played in order. The first set in the "skunk" book has 2 each of the cards for the words "can, cat, is, me, and not". After Mr. Fix-It was able to read these 5 words easily and fluently, then we got out the next set of cards, marked with a 2. After he read through these words, by playing the memory match game, he was given 2 test sentences. If he was able to read them easily, then he moved onto the third set of cards. If not, then we practiced them some more. This was an easy process and was very fun for Mr. Fix-It. He was always happy to play the game and is looking forward to being able to read all 6 books in The Reading Game. This will be around our house for a long time as I teach 2 more children to read!

Be sure to stop by the TOS Review Crew Blog to see what my Crewmates had to say about their experience with The Reading Game!

Pin It

Time Timer - 3" Timer

2011-11-22T09:00:00.005-06:00

Our family was pleased to receive the 3" Time Timer to review. This nifty little timer has the wonderful benefit of being able to visually show the passage of time! We use timers a lot around here: Book Basket Time, Computer Time, T.V. Time, Quiet Time, Wii Time...you get the idea. Oh, and "how much longer 'til we can eat?" Time! I don't know about you, but the younger children are always wanting to know "how much longer?", but they are also the ones who have *no* concept of time! 15 minutes to them might as well be 4 hours. The Time Timer has been the perfect solution! I was able to show my younger children exactly what 15 minutes looked like. Mr. Fix-It quickly figured out that 30 min. was twice as "big" as 15 min. Which meant that he was super excited when I told him he could play the computer for 30 minutes, but not so much when I told him he needed to read quietly for that long. "But MOM....that's a LOT!" Ha!

This has also been perfect for Miss Paya, who also needs the visual aspect of the Time Timer. This has been great for her when she wants to have computer time *and* when she needs some quiet time. It is easy for her to see how much longer she needs to rest or how much longer she gets to play!

The 3" Time Timer is $30. There are also larger sizes and an iPad app available! It has a protective covering that doubles as a stand when it is in use. The idea behind the Time Timer is *brilliant*, but the price tag is pretty steep. It is well made though, so I think it will hold up to all of various ways we use it in the house. The only thing that I didn't like is that the beep is so quiet. Very, very, very quiet. In a busy household with tons of kiddo's that just doesn't work! I need a timer that has a LOUD, LISTEN TO ME, STOP WHAT YOU ARE DOING BEEP. That repeats! I totally get why it is quiet since it could be disturbing with someone who is very sensitive to noise, but I wish they offered a couple of different sound settings - like off, quiet and sonic boom. ;-) The off setting was handy when I wanted Miss Paya to take a little "rest" (in the hopes that she would fall asleep). I would set the timer and tell her she needed to rest quiet for 20 minutes, but I didn't have to worry about the timer waking her up when she fell asleep! Whew....

This has been an excellent addition to our home and homeschool. It travels its way around the house on a daily basis and has been very helpful in eliminating the "how much longer?" question! Be sure to stop by the TOS Review Crew to see what my Crewmates had to say about their experience with the Time Timer!

Pin It

Math Mammoth Light Blue Series

2011-11-18T08:20:00.000-06:00

Math Mammoth math materials are written by Maria Miller - a math teacher with her masters degree in mathematics turned homeschooler. She started writing Math Mammoth when she saw a need for homeschool math materials that would teach the whys behind math in a way that would be easy for both parents and children to understand. She wrote her texts so that the bulk of the teaching is written to the student and very easy to undersand. We have used books from both the Blue Series and Light Blue Series over the last couple of years in our homeschool. This year, Mr. Fix-It is using Math Mammoth Light Blue Series 1A with great results.

Maria has a *ton* of information for math teaching, FREE SAMPLES, placement tests, videos and more on her website. She is incredibly helpful and willing to visit with you so you can get exactly what your child needs to be successful in math, too. I have emailed her a couple different times and was always pleased with her quick response and helpful suggestions!

Math Mammoth has several different options to cover math in your homeschool.

The Blue Series are topical worktexts. The books carry both the teaching and practice problems, so everything you need is in one book. These make an excellent supplement to a main math curriculum or can be very useful to help shore up any weak areas in a students math knowledge. I used the Addition 2B when my oldest daughter was struggling with carrying and borrowing. The explanations in the Addition 2B Blue series book were very helpful to her and got her over the bump of confusion and into understanding. These books are incredibly economical, too, starting at only $2 for some titles. They are available in downloadable or hardcopy versions.

The Light Blue Series worktexts are a complete math curriculum for grades 1-6. They cover all necessary math skills for those grades such as money, measurement, arithmetic operations, geometry, fractions, decimals and percents. Like the Blue Series, all necessary teaching is included in the text, so no additional teaching manuals are necessary. The Light Blue Series also includes cumulative reviews, tests, answer keys and an additional worksheet creator. Mr. Fix-It is using the Light Blue 1A this fall and Mr. Lego used nearly all of 2A/2B last year and is using parts of 3A/3B this year. Each grade level set is $34 for both A/B sections, tests, reviews and answer keys. They are available in both downloadable and print versions as well. The downloadable version makes for a very inexpensive math option for large families, though. Maria has bundled her Light Blue Series-grades 1-6 for only $136 in the downloadable version. That is just over $20/grade level - for as many children that are in your family!

The Green Series and the Gold Series are a set of supplemental worksheets that are either organized by topic (Green Series) or by Grade Level (Gold Series). These series of books do not teach the topics being learned, so are best used in a classroom setting as additional worksheet, practice material or to enforce what is being studied in the Light Blue series books.

Math Mammoth offers materials and/or suggestions for grades K-8th and Maria is constantly updating, improving and adding to her math resources. In fact, I have just received the updated version of the Light Blue series which has interactive PDF's! For those of you with iPads or other tablet devices, there is an app that you can load your Math Mammoth materials onto and then the child can work directly on the computer or handheld device. No more printing, but you can still save a record of their work on your computer for portfolio pieces. Yay for no more printing!

I have found Math Mammoth to be extremely easy to use in our homeschool. Except for answering questions or going over more difficult material both of my older children have been able to do a lot of it on their own. Mr. Fix-It needs more of my help because he is still learning to read, but at this age I expect to sit down with him and teach him math. I have really liked the picture stories that she uses to explain different math concepts. It has really helped take something very abstract and make it more visual and real for Mr. Fix-It. So far, he has really enjoyed our math time and I can usually get him to sit still long enough to complete a couple of pages. He likes that it is in color, but the pages aren't overly busy or filled with cartoons that have nothing to do with math. We are using Math Mammoth alongside another curriculum this year for the two older children. I love how it teaches them to approach math a bit differently and gives tons of links to games online or suggestions for games to enforce the skills being learned. It has been a valuable teaching resource as well as a math curriculum. The only thing that would make Math Mammoth any better was if Maria would come to my house and grade it for me! ;-)

Be sure to stop by the Review Crew Blog to see what my Crewmates had to say about their experience with Math Mammoth!!

Pin It