3P Learning Mathletics (Review)

We received a free 45 day trial membership to Mathletics to review. Olivia enjoyed getting to pick and change the appearance of her Avatar. The graphics are fun and colorful and the problems increase in difficulty as the child answers questions correctly.

I like the fact that on the 1st grade addition and subtraction pages there is a number line. After the child enters their answer and hits submit, the program then moves the correct number of places to help the child to visualize the answer. For example if the question is 7-2=? You'll following the bouncing ball as it hops back 2 spaces to land on the 5. As you complete each section you earn points and certificates. Once you earn enough points you can buy new items for your Avatar to make it more unique.

One thing I didn't like is the money counting portion of the 1st grade level. The child is to count the amount of money based on the coins shown in the piggy bank, which is ok (obviously). However, instead of having quarters, nickels, dimes and pennies the coins are varying sizes with a number on them (still ok) except for the 20 cent coin that TOTALLY bewildered Olivia because she already knows all the coins and how to count money and couldn't figure out why they had a 20 cent coin. Dollars are done in coins as well, in odd denominations on each...you may have a $1 coin, a $2 coin and a $3 coin to add together for the correct answer of $6.

There is also the option of playing Live Mathletics, allowing the program to pick an opponent from around the world for you, or you can play against the computer if you prefer. There is also an option to get a report on your child to see how well they score, their improvement level and their time.

Olivia is thouroughly enjoying this product. The vivid colors and graphics are very engaging. The little sound effects are cute as well.

A subscription to Mathletics is $59 (accessible 7 days a week, 24 hours a day for 12 months) per student. Mentioning the Human Calculator’s favorite number (9) when you sign up gets you $10 off. There’s a 10-day money-back guarantee as well.

Computer requirements for Mathletics is Windows XP/Vista or Mac OS 10.4 and above.

To read more reviews from Crew members, click here.

Disclosure: This product was provided to our family for free as members of the 2009-2010 Old Schoolhouse Magazine Homeschool Crew. Reviews and opinions expressed in this blog are our own.

Happy Thanksgiving!

I want to wish everyone a very blessed Thanksgiving! We'll be seeing my family on Thursday and then the in-laws on Saturday, so we'll spread out our feasting a bit!

We did spend Monday - Wednesday doing our regular school things. On Monday, we spent time learning about the 5 senses. I found this really cool game at a discount store, for about $1 and we're using it for games we're making up as we go. It has two spinners, and bingo shaped cards and then various picture cards as well....on a very sturdy platic that I LOVE!

I figured since we were working on the senses, I'd incorporate that in as we made homemade pumpkin spice play-doh.

We worked on smelling....

...tasting..

...touching...

....more smelling....

...and a LITTLE more touching!

Seeing was as the dough started to thicken and form while I was cooking it, but I couldn't stir and take a photo at the same time. Hearing was listening to the directions as I gave them the amounts of things to add to the mixture.

Here is the recipe (courtesy of Jolanthe at Homeschool Creations) if you'd like to make your own batch!

~ 2 cups of flour
~ 1 cup salt
~ 4 tsp. cream of tartar
~ 1/4 cup cinnamon
~ 2 Tbsp. cloves
~ 2 Tbsp. nutmeg
~ 2 tsp. ginger
~ 2 cups water
~ 2 Tbsp. oil
To Make:
1. Mix the flour, salt, cream of tartar, and spices together in a mixing bowl.
2. Add the water and oil to the dry ingredients and mix together well.
3. Transfer mixture to a medium sized saucepan and heat over medium heat, stirring constantly.
4. The dough will begin to thicken and form. When it becomes difficult to stir and is more solid, remove from heat and carefully knead the dough. {Note: dough will be hot!}
5. When dough has cooled, have fun playing. Store in the fridge to help the dough last longer ~ this is great for the holidays!

This was the final week of ballet until January. Lindsey's little class did a presentation for the parents on Monday night, so here are a few OH.SO.CUTE photos!

Here is Jayden, Gracie and Lindsey, her "bestest friends in the whole wide world EVER!" I love how their pesonalities came out in this photo!

The 23rd Psalm

Olivia is memorizing Psalms 23 for her Awana class. I thought I'd let Lindsey say it with her, just to help her get a head start, and to give her a little harder work.

So...here is Lindsey's version:

"The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. He made me lie to all the green pastors, and He made me steal water."

Needs a LITTLE work!

Wright on Time (Blog Tour)

Lisa M. Cottrell-Bentley and her daughters spent countless hours searching for children's books about homeschoolers.   Their search was relatively futile, so in true homeschool mom fashion, Lisa decided to create what was missing, and TADA!  along came Wright on Time Books!

The Wright on Time series follows the Wright family on their homeschooling adventure.  Why an adventure you ask?  Simple, the family lives in an RV, travels the country and lives, learns and  explores together.

In Arizona, Book #1 in the series, the family of four spend the day exploring caves.  I LOVE the way the author works learning into the storyline!  The family discuss the rocks, minerals, rock formations and cave dwelling creatures in a fun and engaging way.  There is enough information to pique the interest of young readers to want to know more...but not in a boring textbook sense!

The front of the book contains a state map, state facts and lovely illustrations. In the back of the book you'll find a glossary for terminology used in the book; as well as more state factoids.

Olivia (6 years) sat down and read the entire book (her very first chapter book of her own choice).  She did have to get some assistance on some of the words, such as stalactite and stalagmite for example.  But like I mentioned, it made her curious and we had to dig out the encyclopedia's to find photos.

I love the book, and so did both of my kids!   One of children in the story uses the term "freaky" a lot.  Such as "freaky awesome", "freaky cool", "freaky weird" and my favorite "freakociously".    This is his excitement statement, and not used in a derogatory way, but I thought I'd mention it knowing that some folks may not care for the phrase.

You can purchase the book directly from the Wright on Time site!

This book was provided to me, free of charge by the author, Lisa M. Cottrell-Bentley.  The opinions in this review are mine alone, and I did not receive any compensation for my review.

HP TouchSmarth 600 PC Giveaway!

Michelle over at Scribbit has the grand-daddy of all give aways going on right now!!  Just by entering (no strings attached) you can win this incredible HP TouchSmart 600 PC!!   In case you have no clue what that means (like me for example)...here are some of the features.

The HP TouchSmart 600-1055 is a desktop PC where you can touch the screen to manipulate information. It comes with all the features you normally get, with the bonus of being able to pinch, rotate and drag things anywhere you want with your own  fingers.

• built-in adjustable webcam, wireless modem, microphone and premium speakers
• wireless keyboard and mouse
• HDMI gaming console so you can play your Playstation, X-box or Wii in HD
  23" HD 16:9 screen plus HDTV tuner with a remote
• capabilities for viewing Blu-ray discs plus viewing or burning DVDs
• 750 GB hard drive
• TouchSmart Live TV, Windows Media Center and Windows 7 software

For your chance to win, simply head over to Scribbit and enter.  You may do so by clicking HERE!

Pilgrim Wrap Up

We spent the week being Pilgrims; doing things the old fashioned way and learning some new ways of doing stuff (or in some instances, attempting to do new things).

On Monday we made a drop spindle from a cd, pencil and paper clip.  I was told by a spinner that you could make this contraption and then spin dryer lint into thread/yarn.  Yeah...well ours kept bunching up, tearing, falling apart etc.  I finally added some shredded cotton balls to give some longer fiber to the lint and that seemed to help a wee bit.  

I taught the girls how to make homemade yeast bread as well.  We attempted this last year, and the girls worked OH.SO.HARD on it, only to find that my yeast was a dud and the bread didn't rise.  So this year I bought fresh yeast, and set them to work.

We also made homemade butter by using heavy whipping cream.  The process is simple, if you'ld like to give it a try.  First set the cream out and let it come to room temperature.  Pour the cream into a glass jar (with a proper fitting lid) and then shake like crazy for 15-20 minutes.  It seems as though nothing is happening and then suddenly POOF a large lump of butter forms and the excess water begins to swish around. 

Books we read:

Thanksgiving on Plymouth Plantation, by Diane Stanley
Sarah Morton's Day, by Kate Waters
Stories of the Pilgrims, by Margaret B. Pumphrey
A Great and Godly Adventure, by Godfrey Hodgson

Thursday was our monthly homeschool activity day.  In my Native American class we studied the Iroquois.  We studied on the "Three Sisters" (this was the only tribe in the book that I could remotely tie to Thanksgiving!)   We made our own string of wampum beads for trading.  We also completed three more pages in our Native American Dictionary and marked our maps to show the areas that the Iroquois lived in. 

This is our last week of Co-op until January; freeing up that extra day a week is going to help me to push further ahead during the next month.  Monday will be the last day of ballet until January as well (as they go into full rehearsal mode for the Nutcracker).

Head on over to Weird Unscocialized Homeschoolers to read about everyone else's Weekly Wrap Up.

Exploramania Gymathtics (Review)

Gymathtics is a fun fitness learning experience that kids will enjoy, and most likely they will want to do it again and again.  The exercise program is great for kids of all ages.  The math facts are geared towards 2nd to 5th grade levels.

Included in the DVD are:

• Shape Stretches Warm Up - Stretch your mind and body with line, circle and polygon stretches.

• Counting Calisthenics - Aerobic movements work your heart as fun counting concepts work your brain.

• Pattern Power - Growing and repeating patter exercise combinations challenge minds and strengthen muscles.

• Well Being Wind Down - Relaxing stretches cook down the boy and open the mind to think about healthy lifestyle choices including the "Nice Wave Stretch" and the "Big Dream Stretch"

Olivia (6) and Lindsey (4) were really excited about getting this DVD.  I mean, seriously ,they get to watch tv during  school!   The program boasts that it is the "Ultimate Brain and Body workout teaching math and healthy lifestyle concepts during a complete 30-minute exercise routine."   I'd say that claim is a bit of a stretch, no pun intended.   The stretching, calisthenics and other exercises were fun and the girls enjoyed doing (or attempting to do) the workout.  

Quite honestly, if you're trying to keep up with the exercise routine, its hard to pay attention to the congruent circles and various other diagrams that are displayed during the exercise time.  Again, my kids are only 6 and 4, so older kids may more easily multitask while exercising.  However, the new mantra around here is "we're growing strong and healthy", which they DID pick up from the DVD.  The girls have become more aware of the fact that being healthy is a choice and a good one!

When the weather is bad (rainy, snowy, too hot or too cold) this will be used to replace out daily walks.  I actually did the video along with the girls a couple of times (but you have to watch that little one when she's doing windmills, she'll whack you!).

The Exploracise GyMathtics DVD sells for $24.99 and you can get your copy by going to the Exploramania site.  There is also a GyMathtics 2.0 that moves up to the algebra level and to a more intense exercise level. 

To read more Crew reviews, click here.

Disclosure: This product was provided to our family for free as members of the 2009-2010 Old Schoolhouse Magazine Homeschool Crew. Reviews and opinions expressed in this blog are our own.

Pure Foundations Books (Review)

The "birds and the bees".... Yes sir, this is the topic that can strike fear into the heart of almost any parent!    Author Jim Burns has written two age appropriate books to help parents to teach this important topic from a scriptural vantage point!

Pure Foundations: God Made Your Body is written for children ages 3-5 years of age.  This book has color photos of children showing the differences in skin, hair and eye colors.   The focus is on how God created each of us as alike in some ways, yet different in other ways.  The differences leads into the differences between boys and girls. These differences are explained in very simple terminology, using proper names and vague drawings that have the detail needed, without crossing the line of "TOO MUCH INFORMATION" for little ones to digest.   The author wraps up the book with Psalm 139:13-16 to reinforce the point that God created us.

Pure Foundation: How God Makes Babies is written for 6-9 year olds.  The book focuses on marriage, and His plan for the creation of babies.  Again, the author uses proper terminology and slightly more detailed drawings of the differences between boys and girls.  As the book progresses it walks a child through the various stages of pregnancy, labor and delivery, again with simple drawings, nothing graphic or too intense.  Labor and delivery are explained in simple terms, no photos here folks! 

Here is a direct quote from the book, that gives you a direct insight into the heart of the writer, and the heart of God.

"Sharing your private parts is something to save for your husband or wife when you are grown and married.  That is God's wonderful plan."

Author Jim Burns does a wonderful job of covering this topic in a tasteful, educational and Godly way.  Scripture is added throughout both books.  The overall emphasis is that God created us and that we are wonderfully made.

Disclosure: This product was provided to our family for free by Bethany House. Reviews and opinions expressed in this blog are my own and I have not received any compensation for this review.

Squanto Wrap Up

My husband had abdominal surgery on Monday, so it was ruled a no school day.  I spent most of the day at the hospital.  My mother-in-law spent the night with us Sunday so that she could watch the girls for us on Monday.  There was some learning involved (she says with a tone).  Olivia learned that her grandmother doesn't know how to start a gas cookstove; and grandma learned that Olivia was willing to do it for her.  THANKFULLY the MIL had enough common sense to boycott this idea and use the microwave when needed.  (In my defense, I attempted to show her how to use the stove and she declined.)  

We spent most of this week learning about Squanto.  Squanto was Patuxet; however Chief Massasoit of the Wampanoag invited him to join them after his entire village died of disease.   The girls created a very  large timeline of  important events of Squanto's life.

Squanto was kidnapped several times.  The photo below depicts him being taken captive and taken to England.  The details in the photo are a bit fuzzy, but in the upper left corner, Squanto is on the left, with his hands tied.   In the bottom right corner of the boat is a VERY dejected looking Squanto as he travels to England (which is the very small area to the right of the boat...I guess if you're looking at it from a distance, it could be very small....)

After returning to North America in 1614, you'd think Squanto would have avoided the newcomers.  But noooooooo!  Later that same year he was kidnapped and taken to Spain and sold as a slave.   This lovely group of colorful Monks helped him.

Squanto returned to North America in 1619, to find all of his people had died.  Chief Massasoit of the Wampanoag's invited Squanto to live with them.   In Spring of 1621, Squanto met the Pilgrims (to be honest, there is no way in the world I'd have gotten anywhere NEAR a white person after all that kidnapping!)    Maybe he was attracted by the colorful garb of William Bradford below?

In the fall of 1621 the Wampanoag and the Pilgrims had a three day feast to celebrate the harvest and having survived another year.   Here you'll see several Wampanoag brave's carrying a deer in for the feast.  (Please note, the deer has it's legs tied to a pole and is upside down.  The deer's head/antlers are at the bottom of the drawing.)

Books we used:

Squanto's Journey, by Joseph Bruchac
Squanto and the Miracle of Thanksgiving, by Eric Metaxasz
Squanto Friend of the Pilgrims, by Clyde Robert Bulla

Movies we used:
Squanto, A Warriors Tale, by Walt Disney

We also worked on the usual, reading, writing, Latin, math and Bible.   This was a three day week for us.  Monday, as I stated was a hospital kind of day.  Friday we're playing hooky from co-op and heading out of town to hear Kenneth and Gloria Copeland preach.

I hope everyone's week went well.  Special thanks to Krsi at Weird Unsocialized Homeschoolers for posting my Weekly Wrap Up while I was away.

Giveaway – Pop-Up Nativity and Talking Jesus Doll

The Crafty Classroom has a WONDERFUL Christmas giveaway.   Two winners will each receive a Pop-Up Nativity and Talking Jesus Doll!   Winners will be drawn on Tuesday November 24th.  So click here to get all the details and enter to win!  

Blog Awards Voting

Voting for the 2009 Homeschool Blog Awards is underway.  Learning Curve was nominated in the Best New Blog catergory.    The polls are open for voting, and there are lots of categories to look at.   There are some awesome blogs to check out!

Free Holiday Idea Book

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There’s so much included in this exciting supplement! Make this the gift that keeps on giving—link your friends and family up to receive their own fantastic copies!

Click here to get your free copy. Again, no strings attached.

Wampanoag Wrap Up

This week in our Thanksgiving unit study, we've focused on the Wampanoag's.  Because of where they lived, the Wampanoag were one of the first people to see the sun rise in the east every morning.  The word Wampanoag means "People of the First Light".

The Wampanoag didn't live in tee-pee's, but instead they lived in a wetu (pronounced wee-too).  The girls and I made a miniature version of one.  My original plan was to use dried pine needles glued onto torn brown grocery bags to give the appearance of woven cattail mats...yeah well, that wasn't working so well...so we went with the bag being deer hides, as would be the case in winter months.  Although we did complete the door covering out of pine needles.

This is what it SHOULD look like.

Here is our infrastructure:

Olivia helped me to build the infrastructure.  Both Lindsey and Olivia worked hard on the pine needles...I somehow failed to get a photo of Olivia.

Here is the finished product, with some very colorful Wampanoag folks.

Books we used:

Wampanoag, by Barbara A. Gray-Kanatiiosh
The Wampanoag, The People of the First Light, by Janet Riehecky
People of the Breaking Day, by Marcia Sewall
We also learned about the "three sisters", beans-corn-squash.  The girls completed pumpkin life cycle cards, and as a science project we started some pumpkin seeds to see how long it takes them to sprout.

As I've mentioned before, we use Awana as our main Bible curriculum during the school year.  I totally love the program, however I'm super frustrated with Olivia's class right now.  She's in her second year of Sparks, and we're having issues with the leaders not giving children the time to recite all their memory verses each week.  Olivia currently has 6 verses that she's needing to recite and get signed off on so that we can move on.  I had a discussion with her leader this week and am hoping that it's resolved.  If not I'll have to speak with the club commander next week. 

There is no co-op this week, woohooo!!  Olivia had ballet from 4:30 - 5:30 and then we headed to the local children's museum for a field trip with the girls Prims class from church. 

I hope everyone else had a great week.  Skip gleefully over to WUS for the Weekly Wrap Up to see how everyone  got along this week. 

Mid-Year Review

I had hoped to be further along in our year by now, but alas tis not so!   Although, to be the first full week of November and to be halfway through isn't bad.  I'm finding that being part of the TOS Crew has slowed our progress down considerably.  Not that I'm complaining!  The free products we're getting to review are wonderful (with the exception of a few here and there)!  And, it's helpful to see what other "things" are out there that I knew nothing about!  However, working all those lovely things into my schedule has knocked us off course somewhat.  Oh well.

As of right now, we're about 8 weeks into co-op.  To be truthful, I feel like it was a waste of $80.  We go every Friday of the month (except the first Friday) from 9am until 2:45pm.  Each child has 5 class periods, lunch and recess.  Lindsey, being in preschool has mostly "crafty" classes; but she's a VERY bright child for her age, and I'd really hoped she'd learn something other than finger painting and play-doh....like, oh say ALPHABET?  COUNTING?  (ok, she's reading short words and can do subtraction and addition problems in her head, but I know that's not the norm. Shouldn't there be some LEARNING??) I know, I know "it's good socialization skills".

Olivia has world geography, science, storytime, Around the World in 80 Games and, Contenders of the Faith.  Now I will say that she has learned about the continents and oceans in geography; and she did bring home some caterpillars from science class that did in fact turn into butterflies. Aside from geography, she can't tell me anything she's done all day as we drive home.

So, at this point, I'm thinking this is our first and last year at co-op.  Maybe when they are older and their classes are...well...EDUCATIONAL we'll try it again.  I think the $80 in registration and class fees would go nicely towards something more productive.

As far as curriculum, I'm pretty certain I'll be making some changes there next year as well.  We're currently using Abeka for the phonics, writing, spelling and math part of our day.   I've already purchased all the 2nd grade Abeka teachers materials and readers (used not new) at quite a savings.  But now that we're halfway through 1st grade and I've reviewed some other products...I'm just not sure we're staying the course.

Overall I'm really happy with Olivia and Lindsey thus far in the year.  Lindsey struggled with writing early on, mostly because of her tiny hands, but now she's doing great. Her natural gifting for math is overwhelming some days.   Olivia is moving more quickly through math concepts now, and is really excelling with Latin.

Things I see that need work are critical thinking skills for Olivia and Lindsey needs more challenging activities.  And for me, I need to be able to enjoy the trip more, instead of looking for the destination all the time!

AVKO (Review)

As part of the TOS Homeschool Crew, I recently was given a one year free membership to the AVKO site for review.   Here is a direct quote from  AVKO,  describing who they are and what their goals are.

"AVKO is a non-profit, 501(C)3 membership organization that focuses on the development and production of materials and especially techniques to teach reading and spelling, handwriting (manuscript and cursive), and keyboarding.  AVKO is dedicated to the teaching everyone how to read and spell, regardless of their mild to moderate learning disabilities, dyslexia, poverty, or opportunity.  Visit The History of AVKO for more information."

Benefits of AVKO Individual Membership
$25 per year

• Discounts on AVKO printed materials
• Hundreds of dollars worth of FREE e-books (PDF)
  • The Patterns of English Spelling (All 10 Volumes) with Word Families in Sentence Context
  • To Teach a Dyslexic
  • Starting at Square One
  • The Teaching of Reading & Spelling: a Continuum from Kindergarten through College.
  • The Reading Teacher's List of Over 5,500 Basic Spelling Words
• Access to the Member Only section
• AVKO Newsletter with freebies, discounts, resources, and promotions
• Access to Don McCabe's most popular workshop recordings in MP3 format.
• Supplemental Curriculum Materials including word games, worksheets, activities, and more!
• Access to Pretests and Placement Tests
• Access to the Answer Keys for the Unscramblers and Family Reunion exercises of the Engaging Language Kits

Personally, since neither of my children are dyslexic or have other learning disabilities, this particular site isn't of great benefit to us.  We also already have a spelling and writing program that works well for us.  However, for families with children who are struggling in these areas, you very well may find that this is just the thing you need to help your child to achieve their educational goals.

To read the reviews of other  Crew members click here.

Disclosure: This product was provided to our family for free as members of the 2009-2010 Old Schoolhouse Magazine Homeschool Crew. Reviews and opinions expressed in this blog are our own.