As part of Schoolhouse Review Crew I received Apologia’s Who Is My Neighbor? to review.

From the Apologia website:

What We Believe

Our children are bombarded on a daily basis with competing messages. Every song, movie, book, TV show, blog, and game is full of ideas—ideas about truth, morality, beauty, identity, faith, and more. Not all of these ideas are true. Some are wrong, some are deceptive, and some are outright destructive. It is more important than ever that young children be equipped to discern among competing ideas and stand in the truth. This is why Apologia has teamed with Summit Ministries to bring you the “What We Believe” Series. The “What We Believe” Series is an outstanding way to teach your child the essential beliefs of the Christian faith, but it’s so much more! With this student-directed, Bible-based curriculum, your children will learn how to use Scripture as a lens through which to view the world around them—to see everything the way God sees it—and know the truth.

The third book in the award-winning What We Believe series helps children understand what it means to be salt and light to the world (Matthew 5:13-14). This study will encourage kids to develop a Christlike servant attitude based on these biblical truths: God created me to be a blessing to the world; God chooses to work through me; I can make a difference at home, in my community, and at church; the church is God’s family; the church is one body with many gifts; and I am an important member of Jesus’ body.

Even though this is the third book in the series, each volume of the series stands on its own and is a complete course of study.  Read my review of the second book, Who Am I? The available Notebooking Journal, which I received, is a great way for the kids to record what they are learning. The spiral-bound notebooking journal coincides with lessons from Who Is My Neighbor?. It has beautiful graphics, imaginative writing prompts, activities, puzzles and even full color mini books. If you want to use the notebooking journal, you will need one for each child.

My kids and I enjoyed the lessons in Who Is My Neighbor? Who Is My Neighbor is designed for children ages 6-14. Making it perfect for homeschooling families to read together. Younger and older children could also use it in my opinion. I used Who Am I? with my 11 and 13 year olds.   Who Am I? is designed for students to work at their own pace. Older students can work through the text on their own, while younger students will enjoy your reading the lesson to them. I am reading the lessons out loud to my kids. They still enjoy my reading to them, and I enjoy doing it. I especially like to read Bible studies with them.

The book is divided into 8 lessons and recommends taking 3 weeks per lesson, working 2 days a week. Each lesson is designed to be flexible, and easily adapted to your families needs. There are several pages in the front of the book to help the parent/teacher help there students get the most out of the lessons. I found these very helpful. This is a great book for families to read and do together.

My son loved the coloring book that corresponds to the lessons. My 13 year old daughter wanted some of the coloring pages, too. The coloring book does not give permission to copy pages. If you want pages for a sibling, here are a few sample coloring pages. I printed them out for my daughter to use. There are only six of the pages  from the book included, though.

While I like the books overall, there is one thing I didn’t like about Who Is My Neighbor?.  In the first chapter, a movie is talked about that is rated PG13. While they don’t say the name of the movie, they talk about it enough to make the kids interested in seeing the movie. Since this is for ages 6-14, it’s safe to say that the vast majority of students won’t have seen the movie. I feel like it’s condoning the movie, when it’s a movie that I won’t let my children in this age range watch.  This chapter is in the sample lesson linked below. Read it and decide for yourself whether this is acceptable for your family.

You can view a sample lesson. Very helpful in deciding if this is the book for your family. The Table of Contents is also available online.

The Apologia Who Is My Neighbor? text sells for $39, the Notebooking Journal for $24, and the coloring book for $8 on the Apologia website.

*Disclosure of Material Connection: I received the three books listed above  in the hope that I would mention it on my blog. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers. My opinions are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

As part of the Schoolhouse Review Crew, I received online access to Professor B Math.

With Professor B, you become an Instant Master Teacher for your students in 3 different levels.

Instant Master Teacher Level 1 with Workbook & Answer Keys
LEVEL I   Pre-k though 2nd graders and remediation of older learners. Introduction to Addition/Subtraction Facts – Counting to One Hundred – Lower Addition and Subtraction – Higher Addition and Subtraction – Place Value Fractional Parts & Order – Time – Money

Instant Master Teacher Level 2 with Workbook & Answer Keys
LEVEL II    3rd grade through 5th grade and remediation of older learners. Multiplication/Division Facts and Problem Solving – Introduction to Fractions – Fractional Equivalence – Addition and Subtraction Fractions

Instant Master Teacher Level 3 with Workbook & Answer Keys
LEVEL III    6th through 8th grades and remediation of older learners. Multiplication/Division of Fractions – Decimals – Percents

There is a free placement test available on the website to help you determine what level to start your child at. I did not use the placement test with my son. I started him on Level 1 for review purposes, then had him work in Level 2 for awhile. I then had him move up to Level 3, which is grade level for him. You start your student where they need to be, not necessarily at their grade level.

There are 3 grades of math in each level. Each level will take approximately 10 months to complete. The length of time depends on how long you work every day, anywhere from 10 to 45 minutes. It also depends on how fast your child progresses. Older children doing remedial work will move faster than those working at grade level. You can start using Professor B with kids as young as 3.

You can view sample lessons from all three levels.

Professor B is not a game, it is a teaching program. Professor B tells you what to say and when to say it. The words show on the screen and you read it. It has you ask the math question, while the student looks at the math question on the screen. There is no audio. The teacher reads it all out loud. The program is designed for the teacher to work with the student the whole time. You do not need to be a math expert to teach this program. Because Professor B tells you what to say and when to say it, anyone can be an Instant Master Teacher. Mom, Dad, grandparents or even an older sibling.

There is no tracking with Professor B. You have to keep track of what your working on and where you left off each time. While no tracking is different from every other math program we have tried, this is actually a benefit. It allows you, the teacher, to determine what your student needs to work on, when. At the beginning of every session, you go to the Table of Contents to get to where you working. For example, if your student needs to work on 2 digit multiplication, you can go straight to that section. No need to start on single digit addition and work your way up.

You will need to keep a notebook with you while your working to record where you left off each session. The student also needs paper to write on during the sessions, especially the upper levels. Nothing is inputted to the program by the student. This is a read only program. For more practice, there are printable workbooks for each level. While I did not use these workbooks with my son, I looked at them. They look very thorough, with the same concepts from the lessons covered. From what I could see, the problems in the workbook are different from the problems in the lessons. So this is truly extra practice.

Professor B is an online program, nothing to install on  your computer. There are several purchasing options. You can purchase monthly, or by a yearly contract. Any one level is $20 a month. Access to two different levels at the same time is an additional $15 for the second level. Access to all three levels at the same time adds another $10 a month. Access to all three levels will be $45. a month. These prices are from the Professor B website on the day of this post.

I think it’s a bit pricey for homeschool families to use for the whole year for multiple students. However, if your child is struggling in math, this is an excellent program for them, and since you purchase it on a monthly basis, when your child is back at grade level, you can cancel.

*Disclosure of Material Connection: I received online access  in the hope that I would mention it on my blog. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers. My opinions are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”