Review for Virtual Nerd

If you are anything like me, the thought of teaching upper level math always makes me crazy-nervous. As I mentioned a time or 76, I'm not a fan of numbers especially when they start involving letters... Anyway, this is where programs like this come into play for homeschoolers:

Virtual Nerd is an interactive, step-by-step online video tutorial program that helps students with pre-algebra, algebra I and II, and physics. There are plans to add several more upper level maths in the coming months and even a Biology course.

The tutorials are very easy to follow and are quite user-friendly. These are the minimum requirements for your computer in order to use Virtual Nerd:

*High speed Internet access
*Minimum of: Microsoft Internet Explorer 7, Mozilla Firefox 2, Apple Safari 2, Google Chrome 2, or Flash Player 9
*Screen/display resolution of 1024x768 pixels

There are four different pricing plans available that begin with a one-day subscription and go all the way to a premium one that gives you 24/7 monthly access for $49 per month. This sounds like alot at first, but when you factor in how much it costs to hire a personal tutor, this is actually rather cost effective.

If any of this interests you, you can check out their website here. And as always, you can read what my fellow reviewers thought of this product here.

Disclaimer: (Because I have to!) I was given a subscription to Virtual Nerd for 6 weeks to test in exchange for my review.

Review for Easy Classical

Recently, I received a digital copy of Early Modern History from Easy Classical to review. This is basically a schedule that lists books and activities that can be used with popular classical curricula such as Story of the World, The Veritas Press Cards and The Well Trained Mind (which isn't really a curriculum, but it is still supplementary to it). It also includes a full year's schedule of lesson plans, review questions and quizzes.

From the website:

All the hard work is done for you. We have researched classical curriculum choices, integrated subjects, and tested the schedules for ease of use. Easy Classical schedules break a full year of education down into specific, daily assignments that are adaptable to fit all styles of learning. You will cover everything simply by following the schedule. Lesson plans for history, science, language arts, physical education, and even art are included at no extra charge.

I personally appreciated the ease of use with this product. It was quite easy to follow and the directions were very clear and concise.

I also like that all of the legwork is done for you, as mentioned in the excerpt above. What homeschooling Mom doesn't need something that will save her the ever-valuable t-i-m-e?

Also, many of the recommended books are things that I already own. In other words, it "pulls" from many of the resources which are already staples to most homeschoolers.

And lastly, it's cost-effective. You can purchase the digital version of Early Modern History for just $29.95 (a GREAT price for lesson plans) and the printed version for $35.95

If you are interested, you can check out the website here: Easy Classical

You can also read what the other reviewers thought here: TOS Crew Blog: Easy Classical

Math Facts Now Review

I must make the loud confession after 10 years of homeschooling that I hate flashcards. In the early days we used them pretty frequently, but it wasn't long before they would get lost or destroyed and I quickly became disenchanted. For years, we have used a program similar to this one online to drill our math facts, but a few months ago, I was given Math Facts Now to review and I am HOOKED! It's even better than the one that I was using and the kids have really enjoyed it.

What is it? Math Facts Now is a program available by download or CD-ROM that is used to drill your child(ren) on their addition, subtraction, multiplication or division facts. You can customize it to drill the facts that your child needs the most work with, or you can put it together to mix all the numbers from 1-12. It's completely under your control. You can also decide how long the student has to answer each problem, how many problems you would like in each set, and how many times they have to re-enter incorrect problems.

The program also keeps tract of the problems that your child has difficulty with and repeats those problems several times throughout the lesson. There are progress reports that are available for printing, as well.

If you want to look into this program you can visit their website here: Math Facts Now There, you can either purchase the CD ROM or download the program for $15.95 They also have a trial version available on the website, which I also recommend.

I was given this product in exchange for my honest review. You can read what others on the TOS Crew thought by going to our blog here.

Review for Master Innovations

A few weeks ago, we were sent a product called Master Angles to review. It comes from the well-reputed math company, Master Innovations. There were three other products that were sent out for others to review, including Master Fractions, Master Clock and Master Ruler, and I can only imagine that if they delivered the way that Master Angles has, that one would be well-pleased.

We received 3 items: The Master Angle, Master Angle Workbook and the Marvels of Measurement Poster. I'll talk about the workbook first. These books are supplementary in nature to your usual math curriculum. My son, Jacob, who is actively learning about angles in his regular math book, seemed to be the best candidate for this review. He opened the book and found that it was easy to read with clear and concise explanations and instructions. There was plenty of repitition, which I am a firm believer in because I think it solidifies what you are learning. It also had plenty of real-life application for the use of angles, which I also appreciated.



An important component to the workbook, but also something that is perfect by itself, is The Master Angle tool. It is a great little tool that actually goes the full radius of a circle rather than only half way, like a regular protractor. It has a moveable arm and little holes at every degree for the student to place pencil marks to make a perfect angle of any size. There are tutorials for how to use each of their products on their page, too. Another great perk is that it's very durable. I can't say enough as a homeschooling Mom how important durability is! This is a great (and very inexpensive) product to have on hand for any level math program.

We also received the Marvels of Measurement Poster, which each of my children were happy to have. It is a quick resource that can tell you conversions for length, capacity, and weight in a fun and fast way.

We were very pleased with these products and would highly recommend them to anyone! Here are the specifics:

Items: Master Angles

Publisher: Master Innovations

Price: Workbook - $15.95 The Master Angle - $5.95 Measurement Poster - $10

Age Range: This book is suggested for grades 1 - 4, but I'd go even farther and say that it could be easily used through grade 6 or as a review for any grade.

My Overall Rating:

Review for The Write Foundation

About a month ago, we received The Write Foundation's Level 1: Sentence to Paragraph Writing in exchange for my honest review. So, on that note, I must say that we never did receive all of the parts of this curriculum. Initially, there was a problem with the company's printer and then with the shipments, so many things came to the TOS reviewers that were unable to be used.

I personally received the student worksheets (which were only slightly damaged, yet still able to be used), but no Teacher Manual or CD. I did move to another state right about the time these products shipped, so it could easily have been lost in the mail. However, I requested another shipment, but I never received it.

So, with that being said, I tried to make-do with the worksheets and the sample lesson plan on the website and I will tell you that we REALLY liked the first lesson!

My younger two children enjoyed learning about alliteration and coming up with sentences to follow. It seemed to be a fun way to learn. We also really enjoyed the Mind Benders activities that are a much-encouraged part of this curriculum.

I am sad that I can't be more thorough with this review because I really think that this would be a good product if we'd had all of the materials. The curriculum was written by a veteran homeschooler, Rebecca Celsor, for use within an individual homeschool setting or a co-op one. You can check out their website here: The Write Foundation . The price for a full curriculum package (30 lessons) is $100 plus tax and shipping for Level 1 (I believe it's the same for all levels), or $65 for 15 lessons.

Also, you can see other (more thorough) reviews for this product and for some of the other levels that they offer here.

Review for Zoe and Sozo Publishing

Hi friends! We are in the 11th hour of this review because we've just moved to Mississippi (more on that in an upcoming post) and my internet connection JUST started working.

Anyway, during the chaos of the last month or so, we have been reading aloud a book called Foundlings. It is the first in a series entitled The Peleg Chronicles written by Matthew Christian Harding. Here is an excerpt from the website:

"Foundlings....is Historical Fiction that takes place in the time period of Peleg, soon after the tower of Babel dispersion. In its pages we meet dragons, giants, false priests, the death hunt, an under-city of the Dwarven Brotherhood, and many memorable characters.The story begins with Lord McDougal and his faithful shield-bearer, Fergus Leatherhead, departing their lands with giants at their backs, while before them lie in wait denizens of the bog-land and forest. Ever ready to protect and serve others, they gather in tow an assortment of displaced adventurers and find themselves embroiled in a mysterious search for the foundlings..."

If you like "fantasy" literature, but aren't into the magic or humanism that can be a part of the mainstream classics, then this is exactly what this series offers. The author is a homeschooling dad of 4 and I found it interesting that this literature was birthed out of his bedtime stories to his children. We, too, have enjoyed this book.

Here are the specifics:

Item: Foundlings: Book One, The Peleg Chronicles

Publisher: Zoe & Sozo Publishing

Number of pages: 239

Price: $11.95 (paperback)

Age Range: 10 and up

My Overall Rating: 3 out of 4 stars








Disclaimer (because I have to!): As with all of my reviews, I received these books free of charge in exchange for my honest opinion.

Perspective

Last spring, The Westie Crew met up with a bunch of friends way out into the wild blue yonder to camp at one of the most remote, yet absolutely beautiful, campgrounds in Alabama. It's called Payne Lake, and as you can probably guess, the whole park is built around a serene, picturesque, medium-sized body of water.

Right around daybreak, the flowers on top of the lilypads would gracefully burst open so I was determined to get a photo of these lovely things in all of their glory before the blistering sun caused them to clam up within themselves again.

This is the first shot I took:





It's blurry, but you can still see how pretty these delicate beauties are. I only have a little point and shoot, and I've learned that if I'm not standing on one foot facing north while the stars are perfectly aligned, I'm not going to get that extreme close-up without blur, so I adjusted my shot by zooming out just a little. Quite the pro, I am. ;)

If you are familiar with a standard camera, once you've honed in on your image, usually you can press the shutter release button just a little and it will auto-adjust the settings to get you the sharpest possible picture (well, at least for people like me). Once I made those modifications, this is the picture that I ended up with:



I LOVE this photo. In fact, it is my desktop background here on my beloved laptop. It's just so crisp and clear and it makes me delight in God's beautiful creation even though I can't behold that particular scene, in person, every day. I'm also reminded of a wonderful time with people that I love so that makes me happy.


Last night, Mark and I took the Crew and my mom to Mississippi to drop off our camper before the big move (which, incidentally, takes place on Thursday). After we put it where it will be stored, we drove on over to the apartment so that we could get a feel for the potential set-up, and to simply see where we'd be living for the next 6 months.

I don't know if it was that we'd just left our church for the last time, which had me pretty emotional already, or if it was pure exhaustion or what, but all of a sudden, the reality of this move hit me square in the face and I kept thinking:

We are leaving Alabama. And this apartment is utterly miniscule. Not only that, but it smells weird. We are on the third floor which is *extremely* high up, and I am terrified that someone is going to fall off of the balcony... or what if there is a fire? And did I mention all of the TINY? My kitchen is the size of a closet in our present home and I'm not even kidding...

Anyway, I sucked it up and tryed, with everything in me, not to be an ungrateful pansy. After all, it's FREE. And TEMPORARY. But then we walked out to the parking lot and I caught a glimpse of my license plate which reads "Sweet Home Alabama" and I bawled. Then my Mama bawled. Then we went to Cici's Pizza and ate about 40 cinnamon buns and bawled some more.

But, as I laid here not sleeping in the wee hours of this morning, I remembered my picture. I've realized that the first view of this new chapter in our lives was saturated in provision and protection. In other words, we were just thrilled to have employment. The move was pretty far away so I didn't have to, and actually could not, process fully all that this new chapter would entail (I'm sure I still don't). Things were sure, but still unclear.

Now, I feel like I'm in that place of auto-adjusting. A place where the view is extremely blurry and perspectives change about 50 times in rapid fire. The house that we've been so comfortable in is looking more and more like it's shell. Plans are being made that we most definitely would have been a part of, but obviously cannot, because we'll be gone. All that we've been accustomed to is about to change. Different church, different faces, different scout troop, different job, different home, different e-v-e-r-y-t-h-i-n-g. And it's hard.

I know better than to rely on my emotions, though. I know things will be more than alright. I know that God has a plan that is as beautiful as the crisp and clear picture that I love. And I know that I'll get there because I definitely trust Him with this and wouldn't go anywhere else BUT to Mississippi, because He's made it so clear that this is where he wants us. But, I also know that my Father is compassionate. He knows our frame and He knows that change is tough sometimes, even when it is moving toward His will.

I think of Jesus coming up on the scene of poor Mary and Martha, in John 11, after their beloved brother had just died. He was about to perform one of the biggest miracles of His ministry to the glory of God, and He knew it! He knew that they'd be a million times more than perfectly fine in mere minutes, yet, He wept. Why? Why would Jesus cry when he knew he was about to bring Lazarus back to life? Because He loved them. He knew that they were nothing more than dust and that, in that moment, they couldn't possibly understand, so He he had compassion for them. Their pain, as temporary as He knew it was, hurt Him. What love.

Just like Mary and Martha's pictures soon became crisp and clear and unspeakably joyous, I have the foresight in Christ enough to know that ours will too very soon. Yet, for this moment, I'm so very thankful to have a Jesus who knows our frames as we go through our adjustment period. A Jesus who loves us and stores our tears in a bottle when we are hurting. I can't imagine doing "life" without Him. He is so good.