As part of The Schoolhouse Review Crew, I received the book One Minute Mysteries: 65 More Short Mysteries You Solve With Science! from Science Naturally to review. Science Naturally is an independent press that produces interesting math and science books, booklets, and apps. One Minute Mysteries: 65 More Short Mysteries You Solve With Science is written by father – daughter team Eric Yoder and Natalie Yoder. Their books have won multiple awards.

One Minute Mysteries: 65 More Short Mysteries You Solve With Science, written for kids ages 8-12, is the second book in the science series. You can read a mystery sample here. These fun brain teasers get kids thinking about science to solve the mysteries. Each story takes about one minute to read. They are fun little stories that engage children and keep them interested in solving the mysteries. The story is on one side of the page, with the answer to the mystery on the back side of the page.

I used One Minute Mysteries: 65 More Short Mysteries You Solve With Science with my 12 year old, 6th grade son. I started out reading the stories out loud to him. After a few days, he switched to reading the stories himself. His choice. Most days he read one story, but some days he read several because he was so interested in the stories, that he just kept reading. Since the answer to the mystery is on the back side of the page, kids can read this book themselves and still be able to solve the mystery without seeing the answer.

I like that there is an index in the back of the book, making it easy for kids to refer back to the book again and again. There are a lot of black and white pictures in the book, and even a chart about mineral hardness.

 

With One Minute Mysteries: 65 More Short Mysteries You Solve With Science, kids will be able to use their critical thinking skills, while learning more about science. My son enjoyed reading this book, and I did, too. He would often ask questions about the science in the stories. This book gets kids thinking and talking about science. This book is a great supplement to your science curriculum. I think it would make a great gift, too. One Minute Mysteries are a great way to start the school day, or draw the kids back into school after a lunch break.

“I liked that the stories were short. I liked reading one a day.” – Zach

 

There’s a section in the back of this book with 5 One Minute Mysteries You Solve With Math. A great way to preview the math mysteries.

One Minute Mysteries 65 More Short Mysteries You Solve With Science sells on the website for $9.99. Right now, when you use coupon code   3SPEC you can purchase any 3 books on the website for $19.95 plus $2.95 shipping. That’s a $12.90 savings.

 

 

 

 

 

As part of the Schoolhouse Review Crew, I received the Hands-On History Lap-Pak: The 20th Century in America from  Home School in the Woods to review. Homes School in the Woods supplies history studies and hands on history materials, including Lap Paks, maps and timelines as downloads and on cds. I received the Hands On History Lap Pak: The 20th Century in America as a download.

The Hands On History Lap Pak: The 20th Century in America includes the lessons, reading material, and hands on projects for grades 3-8. This study of the 20th century in America covers many topics – famous people, inventions, science, the Stock Market Crash, slang terminology, and a timeline.

I liked that the reading text included two formats to print,a 5.5″ x 8.5″ booklet that stores nicely in the lap book, or a full size page booklet. Either of those formats can be printed on two sided sheets, thus using less paper. I chose to print the full size pages for my son. You can see the smaller booklet in the picture below.

 

When you use this Lap Pak study, it opens as an html, in your internet browser. Most days, I just opened the files without using the html files, which makes it convenient to use without internet access. The html menu contains photos so you can see full color pictures of each finished project. Using just the files, you have drawings in the directions to see what each project looks like. So whatever your preference, internet or not, you can see what each project looks like.

The printable project masters are very detailed, as you can see from the picture above.  The step by step directions tell you what to print on what day. There are directions telling you which pages to print on colored paper and which ones to print on white paper, using card stock or regular paper. It even suggests what color paper to use. You can certainly print them all on white paper and have the kids color them instead. There are complete, easy to understand directions for each project. Most are not complicated, after reading the directions to my son, he could do them easily. The projects are assembled with a variety of items, glue stick, staples, and double sided tape. The directions clearly state which item to use, and when.

 

The other lap books that we have made had us put each project in the lap book as we went along. This one had us save the projects in a plastic zip bag until we had finished them all, then put them into the lap book. It worked out well.

Some of the projects for this Lapbook include the World Wars & other conflicts, medical advancements, modern missionaries, authors, literature, and music, sports people, fashion and even the food of the time.

I used the Hands On History Lap Pak: The 20th Century in America with my 12 year old 6th grade son. Each day that we worked on it, I would tell him what pages in the booklet to read, then I would give him the corresponding projects to complete. I would read the directions out loud while he worked on the projects. The projects are varied in design and style so the student doesn’t get tired of working on all the projects.

The reading text included has all the information you need to complete this lap book. There is a list of reading materials for you to use to dig deeper into the topics with your student. My son hadn’t studied this time period in his history book, so the reading text included was perfect for him. If you’ve covered the 20th century before with your students, you might choose to use some of the suggested reading materials, which includes links and literature selections. This Lap Pak is easy enough for third graders to complete, with enough information to help eighth graders learn about this era.

The Hands On History Lap Pak: The 20th Century in America is available as a download, like I received, for $21.95. A CD is also available for $22.95.

 

 

As part of The Schoolhouse Review Crew I received The Power in Your Hands: Writing Non-Fiction in High School from Writing with Sharon Watson to review.   Writing with Sharon has three courses for 5th grade through 12th grade students. I received The Power in Your Hands: Writing Non-Fiction in High School, which is for 9th through 12th graders. This writing curriculum can be completed in one year. There are options for using it for two or even three years. You choose the pace you want to set for your student. You will find links to  sample pages of the student book, as well as the teachers edition, on the website linked above. The Power in Your Hands: Writing Non-Fiction in High School is over 400 pages long and contains 23 chapters with over 100 daily lessons, as well as a reference section in the back. It covers everything they will need to know in high school, as well as what they will need to know about writing for college. There is no spelling or grammar included in this book, but it does teach the different paragraph types. This course is all about the different styles of writing, how to write them, how to edit your own writing. Each lesson is broken down into steps that are easy for even the beginner to follow by themselves. I really liked that the Bible was included in some of the assignments. For example one assignment was to read the verses listed and write which type of paragraph it is. Devise your own topic sentence. Paraphrase the verses freely. Not every chapter uses the Bible, but there is a whole chapter on writing a devotional. If you didn’t want to include the Bible as part of the course, that could be easily accomplished, as well.   The Power in Your Hands: Writing Non-Fiction in High School is a self guided course. Very little teacher involvement is necessary.  There is a teachers edition available that is a great asset. It contains all the answers for the students daily lessons. A huge time saver for the teacher. I liked the practical advice that it gives for grading your students writing. Grading writing is hard, especially when where grading our own children’s writing. The teachers addition even includes sample essays to help guide you in your grading. The sample essays are graded, from A to F, so you can see clearly how to grade. This course can also be used in a co-op setting, where I’m sure the teachers manual would be a necessity. I used The Power in Your Hands: Writing Non-Fiction in High School with my 17 year old, 12th grade daughter. She tells me she plans on continuing working her way through the book. Not because she needs the high school credit, but because she liked learning what this course is teaching. Here is a quote from her: “I liked it. It was very helpful. It went in-depth for intermediate and advanced writers, and stuck to the basics for beginners. I liked that.” She brought up a good point. Many of the assignments are broken down for beginners, intermediate, and advanced writers. For example, the essays will assign a certain word count for beginners, with a different one for intermediate, and advanced writers. Students aren’t expected to be expert writers from the very beginning of the book. If you have a reluctant writer, this book will gently guide them into being great writers. Advanced writers will learn how to hone their writing. The Power in Your Hands: Writing Non-Fiction in High School student workbook retails for $39.98 and the teacher’s guide retails for $14.98.    

As part of The Schoolhouse Review Crew I received the Sacagawea (Brave Explorers Every Child Should Know) Complete PDF e-book by Karla Akins to review.. This is the second book in a series called Brave Explorers Every Child Should Know available from Knowledge Quest. Sacagawea is 112 pages long and geared toward children ages 8-14. I read this ebook on my computer as a pdf, but it is available in a Kindle version. Sacagawea contains interactive links through out. The links define words, tell about a time period, person, or group of people. If they talked about an illness, there would be a link to follow that told him what it was. I read some of this book out loud to my 12 year old, 6th grade son. I found that we didn’t take full advantage of the links when I was reading out loud. So I turned the book over to my son. He read and clicked his way through the rest of the book. Here is a sample of the Sacagawea ebook on the Knowledge Quest website. This would make a great family read aloud. Then the kids could go back, read it again for themselves, and explore all the interactive links.

“It’s a good book. The only thing I didn’t like about the book is Charbonneau. He is laaaaaazzzzzyyyyyy and hoorrrrriiibbbllleee. Sacagawea wouldn’t eat a horse or a dog. ” – Zach This was the first time he read an ebook with interactive links. When I got on the computer after his reading sessions, I had to close multiple windows that he opened while reading this book. So judging by the number of windows open each time, he really enjoyed the interactive links portion of the book. In fact, I told him he didn’t have to click on every single link available. He said he wanted to, because he liked finding out the information. We both really liked this Sacagawea ebook.  Sacagawea is available on the Knowledge Quest website $4.97.  

As part of The Schoolhouse Review Crew, I received a Computer Science for Kids Computer Bible Games For Microsoft Small Basic download to review. Computer Bible Games for Microsoft Small Basic is written for middle school students. The students will learn how to use Small Basic to develop learning games and Computer Bible Games. Using Small Basic is the first step in learning computer programming. Once the student learns to program in Small Basic, they will be ready to go on to other programming languages, such as Visual Basic, Visual C#, and Java.   Computer Bible Games for Microsoft Small Basic consists of 13 chapters covering everything from installing Small Basic on your computer to working with variables, looping, and actually writing programs. You can view the Table of Contents. You can also preview a chapter, this is Chapter Four that covers inputting information into Small Basic. Each chapter requires 3-6 hours to complete. At the rate of one chapter a week, it will take just over three months to complete the course. During the review period, my son finished chapters 1-3. The thirteen chapters are titled: 1. Introducing Small Basic 2. Small Basic Program Basics 3. Your First Small Basic Program 4. Small Basic Program Design, Input Methods 5. Debugging, Decisions, Random Numbers 6. Small Basic Looping, Subroutines 7. More Small Basic Looping, Arrays 8. Small Basic Graphics, Mouse Methods 9. Timers, Animation, Keyboard Methods 10. Noah’s Ark Project 11. Daniel and the Lions Project 12. Elijah and the Ravens Project 13. Additional Computer Bible Games & Learning Games Projects There is also an Appendix I. Small Basic Colors. As you can see, there is a lot of information covered. They also learn to program some pretty fun little games. Each chapter begins with a review. I used Computer Bible Games for Microsoft Small Basic with my 12 year old, 6th grade son. He found Chapter One easy, it explains the course and talks you through installing Small Basic on your computer. He took about two weeks each for chapters two and three. All the computer language was new to him so he used the extra time to study more before moving on the the next chapter. The lessons are in written format, so the student reads the lessons then follows the instructions. There are screen shots for the kids to see what they are supposed to do. My son preferred to read the lessons on paper, so I printed them out. The lessons can certainly be read off the computer, saving ink and paper. Here’s a quote from Zach, “It’s ok. I liked the games that were in it to try. The games ended to fast. There is a lot of reading.” The program includes demos of the games they will learn to program and that is the games he’s referring to. There is a lot of reading involved. The student doesn’t need to know anything about computer programming to start this course. The lessons start at the very beginning and assume that the student doesn’t know anything about it. Those that do know some of the computer language will be able to move through the lessons faster. It is not necessary for the parent to know this, either. Everything that the student needs to know is included in the lessons. Overall, I found Computer Bible Games for Microsoft Small Basic to be a thorough course. My son will be finishing the course over the next couple of months. He’s looking forward to writing some of him own games. For this review, I received Computer Bible Games for Microsoft Small Basic Option #2 Single User License Digital E-Book “Download Only” Item #104-DL  $59.95 Sale Price!  $34.95 (SALE PRICE) Sale good through July 4, 2013 There is also a paperback version available, as well as an Unlimited User License version for use in the classroom or co-op. Also available is Beginning Microsoft Small Basic Programming Tutorial that covers the same information as the course I reviewed, without the Bible Games.  

As part of The Schoolhouse Review Crew, I received a free download of the Knights and Castles lapbook from A Journey Through Learning. (Not affiliate links)

 

A Journey Through Learning is owned by two homeschooling moms. So you can trust that their lapbooks will be a great addition to your homeschool. This was not my first time using A Journey Through Learning Lapbook, we used one last year during our Olympics unit study. I found both of these lapbooks to be full of great information, easy to implement, and fun for the kids.

This time, I used the Knights and Castles lapbook with my 12 year old, 6th grade son. Knights and Castles is written for grades 2-7, and contains everything you need for the study, and to complete the lapbook. The guide is 51 pages long. There are reading sheets included, so all the information your student needs to complete the lapbook is included. There is also an additional reading list if you or your student chooses to read more. I had my son use only what was contained in the lapbook study. Knights and Castles is written from a Christian perspective, so you don’t have to worry about what is in it. This study starts with the fall of Rome and continues into the Middle Ages. There is even a reading selection on Christianity in the Middle Ages. Zach actually let me include a picture of him with his lapbook! He hadn’t studied Knights and Castles before, so he learned a lot from this study. He enjoyed it much more than this picture shows. lol The Knights and Castles lapbook is a three folder lapbook, meaning it takes three file folders to hold all the pieces. The first activity included in the study was for the student to draw a picture of what they thought Knights and Castles looked like. Zach glued this to the front of his lapbook. Here you can see most of the three folders. It’s hard to fit it all in one picture. You can see come of the different activities included. The castle doors open and there is a picture inside that Zach drew. This is the left hand side of the lapbook. As you can see, all surfaces of the lapbook have little booklets on them, 20 in all, not counting the picture on the front. At the rate of one booklet a day, this lapbook will take a month to complete. Some days, Zach wanted to do more than one. Some of the booklets have pages that are turned, some have tabs that you lift to read what the student writes under them. They all contain written information by the student. Because of all the information included, this lapbook is something that Zach can refer to again in the future. It can also be used as a starting point for a deeper study of Knights and Castles when he’s older. The additional reading list will make that very easy. You can view sample pages of Knights and Castles. Knights and Castles is available on the A Journey Through Learning website in three different formats. As an Instant Download, like I received, for $13. On a CD for $14. Or in a Printed format for $21. Whatever the format you choose, Knights and Castles is a great study and lapbook. My son loved it.   *Note: I am an A Journey Through Learning Affiliate. None of the links in this post are affiliate links. My A Journey Through Learning Affiliate link is in the sidebar over on the right. If you click on it, and purchase something, I will receive a small commission.

As part of The Homeschool Review Crew, I received The Art of Poetry from Classical Academic Press to review. Classical Academic Press’s motto is Classical Subjects Creatively Taught. They take the classic subjects that can be dry and boring and make them clear and understandable for all ages.

The Art of Poetry is a middle school and high school curriculum that teaches students the elements of poetry and how to read a poem slowly so they see all the imagery and metaphors in the poem. The Art of Poetry contains sixteen chapters that cover the elements of poetry, the formal history of poetry, and how the student can grow their interest in poetry. Also included in the book are a glossary, a bibliography and short biographies of the poets in the book. Classical Academic Press offers a Suggested Schedule to help you in your planning. There are options for a half year, one year, four year and co-op studies.   The Art of Poetry Teacher’s Edition includes every page from the student text, detailed explications of all thirty-nine poems, a complete answer key, a poetry time line, a quiz for every chapter with answer keys, tips and suggestions for teaching poetry, and much more. There is also a DVD set available. I received a sample DVD with Chapters 1 and 2 on it. The DVD features the teacher discussing the content of the chapters with a group of students. With the DVD set, your student can teach themselves the course. The teacher will lead them through the chapters. The DVD set is not a requirement for the course. You can view a sample video on the Art of Poetry DVD Set page.

I used The Art of Poetry with my 14 year old, eighth grade daughter. During the review period, she completed chapters one through three. At the rate of one lesson per week, this would be a half year course. Taking two weeks per chapter would make this a one year course. After the lesson at the beginning of each chapter, she had to read several poems and answer questions about them. There was also list of activities for the student to complete. Each chapter ended with a list of vocabulary words. I like the way The Art of Poetry really teaches the student to focus on each part of the poem. Instead of just reading through the poem all at once, the course shows the student how to dissect the poem to see what the poem is really saying. Some of the activities at the end of the chapters do have the student writing their own poems but The Art of Poetry concentrates on the student studying other authors poems.

 

The Art of Poetry books and DVD set can be purchased separately, or you can save money buy buying them as a bundle. As of April 1st, the prices are $24.95 for the student text, $29.95 for the teachers edition, and  $69.95 for the DVD set. The curriculum bundle sells for $99.95 for the teacher/student/DVD program.