Artist Study: MoMA

Thank you, Harmony Art Mom, for this heads-up to this link. YouTube video of every  painting on display at the Museum of Modern Art:



Caution: This slide show contains some nudes, so be aware of that before you view or let your kids view.

Today's Treat: Birth of a Giraffe

Today's treat is a video of the birth of a rare massai giraffe! 

IXL Math: A TOS Crew Review

Those lazy, hazy, crazy days of summer! School finally done for the year... or not!

As I reached the ends of my 36-week Daily Lesson Plans for 6th Grade, I truly, this year, did not want to waste our summer. I informed my son, he would do fifteen minutes of math each day on an online website.  He groaned, but understood. 

I was very pleased when I learned I had been chosen to review IXL Math. This is a perfect fit for what I need: a program that I can use right now, immediately, to keep his math facts sharp, and a program that I can continue to use for the entire school year to help him understand the math concepts we will be learning this upcoming school year.

We had to change over from doing book work, finishing our school year, to working daily on the IXL website, but we have finally made the complete transition. Now my son is fully cranking on  IXL Math, does his daily time almost without complaining, and seems to be enjoying the site. Today he received some token awards for work completed, and he pleased! When fall arrives, I hope to transition him to doing both his daily Math lesson, and some daily time on IXL. (He does not adjust to change well...)

About IXL:

• IXL Math has links for students to do math work at levels from K to Algebra, and Geometry, Trigonometry, and other advanced topics are on their way! 
• IXL Math is currently used in 180 countries around the world! 

• IXL Math has links to state standards, so that you can see your state's standards and see how IXL Math supports and reinforces these standards.
• IXL automatically tracks student progress and displays proficiency scores in the state standards reports. These reports allow you to quickly evaluate student aptitude and identify trouble spots. I clicked on the link for my state, for my son's grade level just completed (here), and was amazed at the list of standards IXL is reinforcing and tracking on my son.
• IXL sends me a weekly report on how my son is doing. In addition, I can log into the website (as me, the parent), and access more detailed reports, to see exactly when my son worked, how long, what grade level, what math operations, etc. 
• I only had one student, but families with multiple students receive a family report.
• IXL Math has beautiful colorful pages that catch the eyes of the children and hold their attention.
• The program adapts the questions to your child's abilities, based on how they are responding to the questions they are being asked.
• IXL Math provides audio for the early learners (through first grade).

As I checked out the report on the website, I had to wade around a bit to understand how my son was doing. Like any program, there is a little learning curve. I learned that initially he was not actually doing the fifteen minutes a day, but that as time has gone by, his usage has increased without my even requiring him to work longer. That tells me that, 1) this site is now "familiar" for him and not "new", so he's not fighting me over it any more, and 2) he actually likes it, because even if something is familiar to him, he will resist doing it if he doesn't like it. I'm pleased about that.

I really liked using IXL to help my son see where he was getting things wrong. He had a particularly difficult time when it came to writing numbers out in word form. He didn’t know here to hyphenate, where to put commas, etc. After he got some problems wrong and I explained to him why his answers were wrong, he quickly adapted and began to answer correctly. It was wonderful.

In our book work this year, when he would get a problem wrong, even if I showed him how to do it correctly he would sort of shrug, and continue to get the same things wrong again and again. Using IXL, he seemed highly motivated to answer correctly just to get to that screen-shot that would say “Correct!” with a green check mark! It was wonderful!

He sometimes gets frustrated when he doesn't understand they way the question is being presented, and being stubborn he does not click on the button that will give him an explanation. I will continue to work on this, because the whole concept of having the student click on the button to get the explanation is one of the huge benefits of this programs.

Today, as I was sitting with him, he was working on decimals, and as I watched him get one wrong, I could see what he was not understanding. As soon as I explained it to him, he immediately started getting the rest of the answers correct, and he was pleased. He benefits a great deal from knowing immediately if his answer is right or wrong, and from having the explanation immediately if he got it wrong. Our daily math program in 6th grade he did not have that benefit. (I can't even tell you how many of his papers have never even been checked.... ::sigh::) Then he received several virtual awards, and he was very pleased with himself! 

My son has not done well, consistently, with programs like this one that I hoped he could work with and benefit from, so I am very pleased with how well he is doing with IXL.

Nitty Gritty Facts:

• The cost of IXL Math is graduated, based on what you want and need for your family. 

•  
• This program is also used by schools, so click HERE to see information about that as well. 
• This program does not require any teacher prep. Your student can work on any level they want to, or you can direct them to work on the level that you know is where they should be.

MY PERSONAL TAKE:

• I like the immediate and exacting correction of my son’s answers. He is benefiting from the quick feedback and adjustments and explanations.
• I like the virtual awards. I like the way the immediate feedback and awards really energize my son to do more, work hard, and learn well.
• I appreciate this company giving us such a generous opportunity to review their site, with a six-month subscription. I selfishly wish they had given us a year. I will be saving my money from book-sales with subscription renewal in mind…
• What I don’t like – has nothing to do with this company. I don’t like that we live in a culture where using the Internet is unsafe and requires such parental vigilance. ::sigh:: With every good thing there are also disadvantages.
• I have been surprised by how energized by son is by the instant feedback and virtual awards. I had to bite my tongue when my mouth almost said, “It’s just a picture of an ice cream cone!...”
• I really like that I don’t have to correct his math! And last,…
• My JD likes this one, and he hates everything!

DISCLAIMER:
I received a six-month subscription to IXL Math in exchange for my review. My opinions are my own and are sincere.
This review brought to you by The Schoolhouse Review Crew. Let me know what you think! Leave me a comment! To see more reviews by the Crew, click HERE!
 

Picture Study/Artist Study

Today I stumbled across an email that linked to a YouTube video on how to do picture study, by Sonya Shaffer. This is so excellent I never want to lose it, so I am linking it here:



Enjoy!

In Which we Try to End Strong!

I have been scurrying for a couple of weeks, trying to end when I had planned (tomorrow). The hurrier I go, the behinder I get!

My mind has been somewhat fogged, anyway, because my step-sister, who lives with us, has been ill. It appears she may have been sitting on symptoms for years, and waited until it is too late-- it is looking like stage IV breast cancer. I will find out Friday.

In the meantime, some of the subjects have been sliding. In April, I had tax issues, and my subjects that slide when I don't have time, slid... That would be nature study, artist study, and composer study. Some nature study DID get done, and I even took photos, but I haven't had time to blog about it.

So, blogging has slid as well. I've kept up with my reviews, but little else. So, here is our current effort at our home school before we can end for the summer.

BIBLE
My son finished his Awanas year strong, only to find out that he wasn't eligible for an award that he longs for. This was because he joined Awanas at the end of 4th Grade, and only has completed two books of T&T. So, after a conversation with the Awanas leader, he learned that he is allowed to complete those two books, become eligible for the award, and move on to Trek. He's been going like gangbusters on the first of those two books, and I think he is 3/4 finished after only three weeks. (This is a book that is normally done in a year! This is amazing!)

In addition, we have begun the Apologia study of the series, "What We Believe", book 3, Who is my Neighbor. He is doing this grudgingly, but today, when he saw the word search in the journal,  continued to growl (with a smile tugging at the corners of his mouth), and left his Legos and disappeared to work on it. He loves word searches!

We also did the hymn, Rock of Ages:

MATH:

This year we have been working on Horizon's 6. We almost finished early, and then let the last six lessons slide, and now are scurrying to finish up. After I go over something JD needs help with, I think we are done. I think he actually already did the final test.

We are also doing (almost) daily work with IXL.com to cement facts. He also previously was using AdaptedMind.com (I had a free 30-day trial), which he really liked, and he was not happy when I switched him from that to IXL. He doesn't do well with change.

SPANISH:
We are currently working hard trying to get started in Spanish. We have a 7-week course with Homeschool Spanish Academy, which I will report on in July.  We've had a rocky time of starting with this. My son seems to expect to know stuff before he gets taught, and then gets upset when he is asked something that he doesn't know the answer to. ::sigh::

Ah! Update! We had class today, and he was doing much better! ::sigh of relief::


HISTORY:
We have actually finished all of our history assignments for the year. We have just finished AmblesideOnline.org Year 5, Term 1.

LANGUAGE ARTS:
My son has been regularly working on a Daily Grammar book, a handwriting book, and we have done writing assignments here and there. I didn't do much to work on his spelling -- he's always above grade-level on that one, so I let it slide for the time being.

LITERATURE:
Each day we finish more of our books that we have been reading from Ambleside. We finished Of Courage Undaunted, by Daugherty,last week, as well as our Isaac Newton Biography. Some of our "reads" fall under "Free Reads" instead of "Literature" by the AO schedule, but it is all the same to me. Left in our bin we are working on Little Britches, by Ralph Moody, The Little White Horse, by Goudge, and On the Back of the North Wind, by George MacDonald. I think we won't finish Little Britches today, but we should be finishing the other two.


GEOGRAPHY
I think we are behind the AO schedule on our reading of The Book of Marvels. I'm not sure if I will continue to work on it this summer, or just squeek it into our schedule in the fall. Our last reading was about a French citadel called Carcassonne, which we really enjoyed reading about due to our love of a game by the same name that was apparently based on the place, made by a European country. We ignorant Americans had had no idea it was an actual place!


So, Art, Music, Physical Education, Health... I wish I had more to put down for my review, but hopefully our reviewer will be content that we did enough to be marked "Compliant" for our state's requirements.


So, that's it for now. Need to get off and get on with my day. Thanks for reading.
 

TOS Crew 2011-2012 Vendor Awards!

For the 2011-2012 School Year I have had the privilege to be a reviewer for The Old Schoolhouse Magazine's TOS Homeschool Crew. Each year, at the end of the year, the reviewers get to vote on the favorite and the best products of the year. The votes have been tallied and the results are in. Below are the results. For the products that I had the privilege to review, the product is linked to my review. For ones that I did not review, the product is linked to the TOS Crew Blog's Reviews page for the product. 

Favorite Reading Instruction Product:  Reading Eggs
Favorite Writing Product:  Write Shop
Favorite Language Arts Product: Progeny Press
Favorite Social Studies Product: TruthQuest History
Favorite Science Product: Amazing Science
Favorite Math Product: Math Mammoth
Favorite Online Math Product: Math Rider
Favorite Foreign Language Product: Visual Latin
Favorite Fine Arts Product: Artistic Pursuits
Favorite Christian Education Product:  Apologia: Who Am I?
~~~
Favorite Preschool Product: Before Five in a Row
Favorite Elementary Product: All About Reading
Favorite Middle School Product:  Write with WORLD
Favorite High School Product: Excellence in Literature
Favorite College or College-Prep Product:  Excellence in Literature
~~~
Best Online Resource:  Reading Eggs
Best e-Product: Heritage History
Best Homeschool Resource: Apologia: Educating the Wholehearted Child
Best Book, Novel, or Magazine: Apologia: How to Have a HEART for Your Kids
Best Children’s Book: Amazing Animals by Design
Best Game or Toy: Northstar Games: Wits and Wagers and Say Anything
Best Hands-On Resource: Pitsco Education
~~~
Best Resource I Didn’t Know I Needed: eMeals
Best Customer Service: K5 Learning
Most Adaptable Resource: Creek Edge Press
Most Family-Oriented Resource: Northstar Games: Wits and Wagers and Say Anything

~~~
Kids’ Choice (favorite of CHILDREN ages 0-12):  Reading Eggs
Teens’ Choice (favorite per the TEENAGERS): Pitsco Education
All Around Crew Favorite: Visual Latin

Each winning vendor has received this wonderful award to display with pride:

Congratulations to the winning vendors!  TOS Crew hopes you will sail with the Crew again!

Heritage History: Greece - A TOS Review

Have you heard of Heritage History? I think I had heard of them, like something on the bare edge of awareness, like something off in the periphery that had buzzed at the edges of my vision, but something I had never turned my head to focus on. Well, they've got my attention now! I mean, they get a "Wow!" from me! 

You are inundated all day long with emails, blogs, websites, and reading, so let me remind you about who I am and how we homeschool so that you will understand why I am suddently so excited about this product. FlyMama Di and little JD (not so little any more) are the members of our 22-year-old homeschool. The first two attendees are now graduates.


[Oh, a little patting on the back and kudos here, my second born graduated college three days ago! WTG, B - I love you!]


So, JD and I have been homeschooling using a curriculum called Ambleside Online. The plan itself is free online, but then you have to scurry to find the books to use to follow the plan. So, I've been using Ambleside Online 7 years now. (Before that I used Tapestry of Grace, another book-intensive program -- my house is buried in books!)


So, this spring I was selected to be among the blessed TOS Crew members who were given the opportunity to review products by Heritage History.  Available for us to choose from were the following CDs: Young Readers; Ancient Greece; Ancient Rome; British Middle Ages; and British Empire.



 

 

Being unfamiliar with the company and the product, I took a quick look at their website, and asked for Ancient Greece. 

When I opened the CD and popped it into my computer, I was amazed! The Heritage History library is a collection of materials organized into collections, cross-organized by genre, reading level, author, and topic. It is amazing. (Wait.... I already said that, didn't I?) Heritage History not only has its own curriculum plan, but has crossed over any boundaries to make it easy to use their materials if you are using other curriculum plans as well.

I feel inadequate to describe to you how wonderful the selection is on the Ancient Greece  disk is, and how wonderfully the titles link up with the titles called for in the Ambleside Online curriculum. Turns out that the folks who produce the Heritage History CDs are aware of Ambleside Online. They even created a link showing what books on their CDs are books required by Ambleside here: Ambleside --  they actually even missed a few AO titles. Their disk also contains: Aesop for Children by Milo Winter and Stories from Shakespeare    by    E. Nesbit, plus many other titles able to be used as substitutions and potential supplementation, if one wants or needs to.

There is a picture above of the printed Study Guide. I did not receive a paper copy of this as a reviewer, however, Heritage History provides pre-printed Study Guides to accompany each of its Classical Curriculum CD's. Each Study Guide includes historical maps, outline maps, timelines, era summaries, character lists, battle dictionaries, recommending reading lists and other study aids. The Study Guides were designed to provide reference materials that complement the reading program and to assure instructors that their students remember the basic facts associated with each historical era. . The Curriculum User Guide gives helpful guidance and information throughout. Every document, every link, everywhere I turn on this disk is interlinked with more links, more information -- there is just so much here! The CD and the website combined are like an onion; every time I think I've gotten deeper, I find there are more layers!


Heritage History's complete book texts and illustrations of over 400 classical narrative histories are available to view online (amazing!).  Their books can also be downloaded to any e-Reader or Tablet, for one low price.



I had already known some of the titles are available in the public domain. But the format on the Heritage History CD is much nicer. Also, sometimes books from the public domain have typos and sections that are skipped. And the titles on the Heritage History CDs are in PDF format and are able to be transferred to your Kindle or other e-reader. This is so cool!

When you are a user of living books, and a user of book-intensive curricula, sometimes when it is time to use a certain book, you go get your book, and it is lost, buried among all your other books. Using the Heritage History CD, it will always be easy to locate the digital copy. And any PDF document can be downloaded to a jump drive and taken to a printing shop to get a copy printed out and bound, if that's what you prefer.

They actually have a free PDF book you can download to see what a sample book looks like. Go HERE to download a copy of Sir Francis Drake, by Mrs. O. Elton.
Here's where I try to touch on specifics. Some of it I already covered:

• Heritage History's Ancient Greece library CD is available for $24.95. It contains Includes 46 books, 50+ maps, teaching aids, and a Study Guide. 
•  Format: CD, with printed Study Guide.
• Purpose of the product: to enable students to study History and Literature; to make rich, quality material easily available to the parent and the student.
• Topics covered: History, Literature, geography.
• What do I like? Everything! I'm amazed!
• What could be improved? I haven't found anything.
• Would I recommend the product? Absolutely! To whom? Anyone studying Ancient Greece. Anyone using Ambleside Online, Tapestry of Grace, and many other living-book-based curricula.
•  Have I been surprised by anything in the material? I've been surprised since I first opened the case.

 

Disclaimer:

I received a Heritage History: Greece CD in exchange for my honest opinion in my review; I did not receive any pay.
This has been a TOS Homeschool Review. To see more reviews of this product, go to the TOS Homeschool Crew Blog Entry for Heritage History. I love comments! Tell me what you think!

 

WriteShop, Jr. (Book D) - A TOS Review

  


 

In March I was selected to be among the crew members who would be reviewing Write Shop Junior, Book D. I was delighted. But before I received it, I began to have misgivings, and was developing a bad attitude. I didn't want another program that was going to give me a lot of work to do and yield minimal results. Boy was I wrong! What a fabulous program!

WriteShop Junior is a very eye-catching program. It is laid out in a way that is systematic and easy to follow.  It is laid out, step-by-step, but can also be used piece by selected piece, if the parent wants to target a specific skill or select lessons they know will work best with their students. This was very important for me, because my student can be difficult and resists new products, and I wanted to select assignments that he would find interesting as I eased him into using this new program.

WriteShop Junior is:

• Ideal for students in 3rd and 4th grade.
• May also be used with reluctant 5th graders (and even some 6th graders).
• Parents also appreciate being able to use the program with struggling learners.
• Start with Book D if your child has not learned punctuation or grammar skills and still needs help planning, organizing, and adding details to a story.
• More reluctant 3rd graders should start with WriteShop Primary Book C.

My son has had a lot of creative writing experience, but it is all self-generated, unproofed, unedited. I want to work with him to help him learn to receive a writing assignment, brain storm, crank out a paper, and be prepared to have it reviewed, marked up for editing, and then given back to him to polish. Kids all seem to want their first draft to be accepted as a final paper with not corrections. I haven't yet eased him into those other steps of the writing process. This program holds my hand (and his) as we walk through those steps.

I received a  digital download of the Write Shop Junior, Book D Teacher Guide, Student Activity Pack, and Time Saver Pack. I love the portfolio style of the Teacher Guide e-document, but it is also daunting. I would have much preferred to receive copies in print, just so you know. It is worth it to spend the extra money to get the printed copies when you have only one student. Maybe digital is better when you have multiple students.

I just love this program! I love the creativity, the layout, and the format! I can't wait to walk through more of the material. Believe it or not, right now my favorite part of the material is the Appendix to the Teacher's Book, but that's only because it is absolutely amazing! It is stocked full not only with wonderful suggestions for finishing and displaying the writing assignments, but it is also chock-full of internet resource-links for more information, ideas, and resources. I am sure that, as I use this program, my favorite section will change every week or so, it is just that good.

Okay, even as I write that I am thinking that the Fold-N-Go Grammar Pack should be my favorite part, the way it lays out a fabulous tool-book to reinforce the following:

1. Punctuation Marks
2. Self-editing
3. Nouns
4. Pronouns
5. Verbs
6. Adjectives
7. Adverbs
8. Prepositions
9. Capitalization
10. References

 It's all just so good!...

You can see a sample lesson of WriteShop Junior here:

WriteShop Junior Book D Sample: Teacher’s Guide, Lesson 4

HERE is a look at a sample lesson, and HERE is a  look at a self-editing sheet for the students.

Write Shop carries products to help parents of students grades K through 12 to not only get their writing going, but also to improve their writing skills. While the WriteShop Junior I received does not stand as a full grammar program, it does reinforce the teachings of grammar, punctuation and vocabulary as it enables the student to improve their writing skills. The program introduces new tools for the parent and student to use to target weak areas and strengthen deficient skills.

WriteShop was created by homeschooling moms. You can learn more about the company be reading the story behind the program. WriteShop is also the home of StoryBuilders and WordSmith Apprentice. 
 


I found the WriteShop website to be a bit like a labyrinth. It is very deep, and a little difficult to find one's way around in. There are riches there, but you have to wander around a bit to find some of them, particularly the link to WriteShop Junior. I suspect it is a new product (published 2011) and not yet on all the site links. For instance, I would expect to find it on the same page that tells about WriteShop Prmary, Books A, B, and C, but it is not there.


You can see a sample lesson of WriteShop Junior here:

WriteShop Junior Book D Sample: Teacher’s Guide, Lesson 4

 

Write Shop Junior, Book D includes the following sections, available in ebook or print format:

Teacher Guide ($39.95 in print, $34.95 in ebook format)

Student Activity Pack ($39.95 in print, $29.95 in ebook format)

Time Saver Pack ($13.95 in print or ebook)

Level 1 Fold-n-Go Grammar Pack ($19.95 in print, $11.95 in ebook format) [optional]

***BONUS! If you purchase any WriteShop Primary or Junior products (including eBooks) through June 15, 2012  you can receive 15% off. Use coupon code CREW15 at checkout.***  
 

Other particulars:

•  Does the program need any additional materials? Sometimes you'll make a copy; sometimes it wants a piece of card stock, a file folder, construction paper. So far, for me, it has all been stuff I have around my house.
• Number of pages/number of lessons: The Teacher Guide has 12 Chapters, 266 pages; the Student Activity Pack has 144 pages, with 10 Lessons (each lesson can take two weeks) and the Fold-N-Go Grammar Pack; the Timesaver Pack has 28 pages. 
• Is the product secular/religious? I haven't read the entire book, but thus far I have not seen anything offensive to the religious, nor overtly religious (which would offend secular folks).
• How much teacher prep is required? Well, I definitely read through the lesson, print some things out, collect supplies, and maybe sometimes do some cut and pasting in advance. But it is oh so worth it!
• What do I like or dislike? Well, I said it elsewhere in the review, but I dislike that I received a digital version, even though I like the digital version. (I don't like all the printing, and without printing things out, I get kinda lost on where I am in the three different books.) Other than that, I totally like LOVE everything.
• So far I haven't found anything about the program that could be improved. It is excellent.
• I would recommend the product to anyone who is struggling to get writing jump-started in their homeschool program, and this particular WriteShop Junior I would recommend to anyone with students 3rd through 7th grade, depending upon the student's writing experience and past materials covered.
• Does my son like/love it? Nah, but I think it will grow on him. It's hard to get him to *like* anything that isn't Science, and he doesn't like all the Science programs either! 

DISCLAIMER: I received a digital download of the Write Shop Junior, Book D Teacher Guide, Student Activity Pack, and Time Saver Pack in exchange for my honest review. I did not receive any payment for my review.

This has been a TOS Homeschool Crew Review. To see other TOS Crew reviews, go to the TOS Homeschool Crew Blog page for this product, HERE.

CapJaxMathFax - A TOS Review

I have a son that generally does very well at math. He is advanced. I do not push him; he has just always been advanced. In Kindergarten, in Sunday School, the teachers would hand out pictures for the kids to color, and my son would turn the paper over to the blank side and write out addition problems and their solutions on the clean side. 

Nevertheless, even though he is good at Math, it has gotten to the point where he hates it. (If you've read my other posts, he actually hates most everything right now, especially if it wasn't his own idea, but more on that in another post.) Setting his learning issues aside, I was concerned about his Math because, although he generally does quite well, I had become convinced that he really doesn't have those Math facts down... not really.

I learned in March that the TOS Crew had the opportunity to try out CapJaxMathFax, and I jumped at the chance. 

CapJaxMathFax is a software program available from Starboard Training Systems, which is headed by Jack Fretwell. Jack Fretwell is Capt. Jack, although it appears to be a title as in captain of his sailing vessel, not a military captain. From their website's "About" page, Mr. Fretwell "earned a Master's degree in Educational Technology and has spent over thirty years in education and computers." 

Mr. Fretwell has been heading up CapJaxMathFax for ten years, and under his leadership many children have developed stronger Math skills, and corresponding confidence in Math. "Starboard Training Systems' goal is to help organizations that teach, train and mentor" children, so that not one is without basic math abilities. (That means they also want to help home schoolers.)  I like that goal!

So, what's so special about CapJaxMathFax that you should choose them? Well, here's what I know:

• CapJaxMathFax works with your student in a way that leaves them feeling fulfilled, with a sense of success and achievement;
• CapJaxMathFax is systematic, in a way that takes the student from beginning skills to mastery in all four basic operations. It simultaneously determines the student's level and objectives for practice, and then leads the student to success working independently at his or her own pace.
• CapJaxMathFax accomplishes its goals in a way that leaves the student feeling good about the process. There is a balance between challenge and success, pressure and achievement.
• CapJaxMathFax has a good feedback and evaluation system. Not only does the student receive feedback of his or her own progress, but also the parent/educator receives progress reports, so the "independent" work can be monitored by the mentor.

So a snapshot of the program:

1. Uses a computer to provide drill and practice so that practice time is not limited by teacher availability.
2. Automatically generates exercises. Teachers don't prepare quizzes. They merely provide the parameters for them.
3. Builds exercises for any of the four math tables (addition, subtraction, multiplication, division) or any combination of tables.
4. Guarantees student success by taking small steps through levels of
   difficulty.
5. Can focus practice at a single level of difficulty or may review earlier levels.
6. Randomly generates problems without repetition.
7. Allows variable numbers of problems in an exercise.
8. Reduces learner stress by timing facts individually.
9. Provides immediate positive feedback for correct answers.
10. Provides extra reinforcement for fast, correct answers.
11. Displays an overall performance report at the conclusion of each exercise.
12. Prints reports for teacher review and for use as certificates of achievement.
13. Displays and prints item diagnostic details.
14. Uses a rating system that allows students to keep personal scores and
    set goals.
15. Charts student rating progress graphically.
16. Maintains a database of student activity over time.

Oh, I thought this was fun:
To add special interest, praise messages that appear at the end of rating sessions sometimes include a bottle icon.

So, here are the particulars:

• CapJaxMathFax is a downloadable math facts program available to you for $29.95. This fee pays for a license fee to use the program for 12 months.
• You can order a Free Evaluation Package to try this product out before you buy.
• My son didn't love it. (Don't be alarmed. He hates most things. Given more time, he will probably warm up to it.)
• This supplemental program will help your student memorize their math facts, which will help them in their required Math program at home and at school.
• This program adapts to the student, so your student can begin it at any age, any grade, and it can be beneficial for students from 1st grade (K, even) through high school, depending on the situation.

Disclaimer:

I received a 6 month license key to CapJaxMathFax in exchange for my honest opinion in my review; I did not receive any pay.

This has been a TOS Crew Review. To see more reviews by other TOS Crew members, go to the TOS Crew Blog page for this review, HERE. I always welcome your comments on my reviews and other blog entries, so feel free to comment.

 

GO SCIENCE! A TOS Review

The TOS Homeschool Crew was pleased this month to have the opportunity to review Go Science DVDs, created by Mr. Ben Roy.  

Go Science is a creation-based DVD series offered by Library and Educational Services (LES), a wholesale supplier of books, CDs and DVDs and more, which are available for purchase by schools, libraries, churches, educators (home schoolers), and resellers. LES has been committed to excellence in customer service and product selection for over 30 years! When you call them, a real person answers the phone! 

I have been purchasing Adventures in Odyssey from LES for decades! I have also purchased many books and school supplies from them over the years.

To see my links below on the LES website you might need to create or log in to your LES account.


LES offered the TOS Crew the opportunity to select two DVDs (per reviewer) to use with their families to review.  The available Go Science DVDs are: Volume I: Motion: Discovering the Laws of Gravity and Motion; Volume 2: Simple Machines: Sound & Weather; Volume 3: Magnetism, Electricity, Engineering and Design; Volume 4: Chemistry, States of Matter, and Life Sciences; Volume 5: Air Flight, and Volume 6: Water, Space, and Solar System.  


For my son's interests, I chose Volumes 3 and 4. Volume 3 has 14 experiment segments in it, and Volume 4 has 11 experiment segments in it. All the information on the various DVDs is at the LES website through the links above to each volume.

Go Science DVDs are promoted as being appropriate for ages 6-14. The purpose of Go Science DVDs is to present science to children in a manner that will help them know and understand that science is cool, and it was created by our wonderful Creator! 

The subject matter contains experiments and subject matter that can hold the interest of these ages, even down to the interest level of a 2 or 3 year old!

However, I would say the presentation and demeanor of Mr. Roy lends these videos as being more appropriate for pre-school through early elementary than upper elementary through middle school. It would take a very tolerant 14 year old to sit through these demonstrations, where there are conversations like this: "Glendy, can you tell the boys and girls what this object is?" Glendy: "A light bulb." Mr. Roy: "That's correct! It's a light bulb! How many of you have light bulbs around? Oh, yeah! Lot's of people have light bulbs around..." Or, "Hey, have you ever heard sound?"

Mr. Roy is enthusiastic, but he seems to talk down to a pre-school level in these DVDs. For this reason, I think these DVDs will more easily hold the attention of kids 3-9 years old. There is material in these DVDs that can't be duplicated at home that is great for 10-14 year olds to be able to see, but I just wish he wasn't presenting it the way he does. I can't get my 12 year old to tolerate it.

About these DVDs:

•  This series was created for a television show called "Learning Time", and because of this each video clip stands alone. They strike me as clips that are also best viewed alone. Because each clip has a similar introduction and conclusion (like a television show does), these introductions and conclusions become redundant if you sit and watch the entire 25 minute DVD in one sitting.
• For some reason the volume level at times varies from one DVD clip to the next, which is another reason watching just one clip at a time makes sense.
• The experiments in these DVDs can't be duplicated at home. Because of that I consider the DVDs to have value for the students. My recommendation would be that a fun day's science could be created around each DVD clip (by the parent) so that the days science would consist of watching the Go Science movie clip for the day, and then the mom could present the students other hands-on experiments of a similar nature for the kids to do that day to complete the science class.
• Each movie clip ends with Ben Roy's wrap-up statement that, "Every time we learn something new about science, we learn something new about our Creator, God!" I appreciate Mr. Roy's heart for bringing children to God, but I don't feel this line is tied in very well. When the six year old learns that red and blue mixed together make violet, she doesn't necessarily know anything new about her Creator, just something about His creation... Maybe I'm just contrary... But if a program is going to end with that statement, it is my opinion that it should also include the statement of what today's experiment(s) demonstrated about the Creator. 
• Mr. Roy says, "I find that interesting!" to such excess that I find him disingenuous...

I find Go Science to contain great materials and great experiment demonstrations, but I find Mr. Roy difficult to listen to for very long. (I had a similar reaction years ago to a certain purple dinosaur... ) However, I know that there are other folks who like purple dinosaurs, and there are folks who like Mr. Roy and Go Science! So I want to make it clear that my personal preferences should not be your sole factor that you use to base your decision on as to whether or not to invest in some of these DVDs. Here's an idea... Watch this video clip and get a sample on your own to see what these DVDs are like:

Go Science DVDs are available through LES for $8.97 per DVD, or for $$47.95 for a six volume set.

Disclaimer:

I received two Go Science DVDs in exchange for my honest review of the product. I did not receive any money for my review. To see more TOS Crew reviews of Go Science, go to the TOS Crew Page HERE.

This has been a TOS Homeschool Crew Production. Please let me know your thoughts!