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By Shawna, on May 19th, 2013 
Review: High School Prep Genius
With my high school junior, we’re obviously working our way down the final road or two on the trip to college. He [believes he] has made up his mind in regard to school choice, desirable careers, and we’re taking stock and seeing what “holes” we might have missed that it would be a good idea to fill. Of course, we’re doing all this in mid-stream, adjusting the course as we go. While he’s content to be flexible and adapt as . . . → Read More: Review: College Prep Genius
By Shawna, on May 15th, 2013 
Immersion is well-known for being the most effective way to learn a foreign language, but it can be difficult to replicate on a local scale, especially in a home-learning environment where the parent doesn’t speak the language. Spanish for You! addresses that challenge, with students learning to write, read, and speak Spanish through age-appropriate materials.
Spanish for You! is centered around themes, rather than levels, allowing parents to choose packages based on interest, rather than level of experience. Spanish for You! was designed to be easy and fun to use with mixed-age groups from . . . → Read More: Review: Spanish For You
By Shawna, on April 23rd, 2013 
Cheyenne has been playing Math Rider, a math drill game, this last few weeks to brush up on her mental math skills. We’ve reviewed Math Rider in the past – during our review of Math Rider from two years ago, all four of my kids were using the software – but with a limited number of computers, Cheyenne didn’t have the amount of free time then to use it as often as she does now.
Math Rider is easy to use, but with tons of complicated things going on in the background . . . → Read More: Review – Math Rider
By Shawna, on April 18th, 2013 
Every history program can be enhanced with products from Knowledge Quest; to go along with our American history lessons, we’ve been reading Sacagawea (Brave Explorers Every Child Should Know) complete e-book. Originally released as a serial novel in four parts, Sacagawea is now available in its complete form.
Written for children ages 10 and up, Sacagawea is the second volume in the Brave Explorers Every Child Should Know series. (Jacques Cartier is the first title.) Historical fiction for the modern era, . . . → Read More: Review: a Sacagawea story
By Shawna, on April 7th, 2013 
Kids who want to make video games? Check. More questions than answers? Check. Now, where to turn? Umm… Computer Science for Kids is here to help, with their Beginning Microsoft Small Basic curriculum.
Small Basic, what’s that?
Beginning Microsoft Small Basic has eleven chapters. The first explains the purpose and history of Small Basic and compares it with predecessors and contemporary programming languages. Later chapters lead the student through the components of Small Basic and creating your first program, along with obtaining random numbers, decision-making instructions, looping and subroutines, working with graphics and animation, and even . . . → Read More: Review – Computer Science For Kids: Beginning Microsoft Small Basic
By Shawna, on March 24th, 2013 
What did we review?
We reviewed The Art of Poetry, from Classical Academic Press. Created by Christine Perrin, an experienced literature and creative writing instructor, The Art of Poetry is a classically-influenced curriculum designed to enhance understanding of and appreciation for poetry.
What’s included with The Art of Poetry?
Two books, the Student Text and the Teacher’s Edition, are necessary for instruction. An optional DVD set is also available. It contains more than fifteen hours of instruction and discussion, following Ms. Perrin and a small group of eighth-grade students as they work . . . → Read More: Review: The Art of Poetry
By Shawna, on July 29th, 2012 
It was perfect timing for us when we recently received the new No-Nonsense Algebra from Math Essentials to try out. Tyler, my now-9th grader, has been wishing for a textbook-focused math for the last few months, and honestly, I’d been reluctant to provide it. He might *think* it was what he wanted, but longer, more tedious lessons would not be a positive for this active kid. And into this gulf of disparity came No-Nonsense Algebra.
No-Nonsense Algebra doesn’t waste your time With short, concise, self-contained lessons, No-Nonsense Algebra is written in . . . → Read More: Simply essential math
By Shawna, on June 22nd, 2012 
IXL is a web-based subscription service for math practice. Accounts are available for either homeschool/individual family users or school classrooms; our family has recently been trying out the homeschool side of the service. (I’m not certain how much, if any, difference there is between the two products other than pricing models – just wanted to clarify which version we used.)
IXL covers skills from preschool through 8th grade algebra; each child has access to all of this material at once, leading to both pros and cons – and in my case, some interesting behavioral observations. . . . → Read More: IXL
By Shawna, on April 12th, 2012 
You know that old saying, you don’t know what you have til you’ve lost it? Well, there’s a corollary. You don’t know what you’re missing til you find it… or in my case, til the package arrives in the mailbox.
Middle school years are gawky, in-between ones for some subjects. In public schools, class materials treat these years as extensions of grade school, or as watered-down high school courses, and students tend to fall into a holding pattern until their freshman year.
As homeschoolers, we fight against falling into that trap, and often push our . . . → Read More: Teach communication with Write with World
By Shawna, on April 10th, 2012 
Wow. When the review copy of TruthQuest History Middle Ages guide landed in my email, that was my first reaction, and still, I’m in awe. I think we’ve been blessed with *our* history… and I wish I’d found it several years ago.
Actually, I should say, I wish I’d really SEEN it for what it was. I’d heard of it. I’d hazzard a guess that many of us have. But I’d never really looked inside the covers and lived with it… and that’s what it took to fall in love.
The TruthQuest History . . . → Read More: A map through time with TruthQuest History
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