As part of the Schoolhouse Review Crew, I received a free download of Knowledge Quest Time Maps to review.

Here you will find resources that will help your students make connections in history, get inspired by extraordinary individuals and understand where in the world things happened. This is the stuff that helps kids enjoy history!

In Knowledge Quest Time Maps, there are 7 map sets available:

Ancient China
Rise of Rome
Fall of Rome
Rise of Islam
The Black Death
European Exploration
Atlantic Slave Trade

Knowledge Quest has Curriculum Integration Guides to help you use TimeMaps with your curriculum. These are free to download, and will be a great help in your lesson planning.

I had never used TimeMaps before, in fact, I don’t recall ever hearing about them. Too bad, because they’re great. As you click on the arrows by the year, the map changes. You can see the arrows below, on either side of “1430”. Below the year, you click on the “I” and the information box pops up. There is no audio, you have to read everything yourself. Clicking on the “Q” brings up a box with questions.

It is much easier to see how to use them, then tell you how. So here’s a video from Knowledge Quest.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xlx7A5wVqho&feature=player_embedded

Aren’t they great? A lot of kids find maps boring. These maps are anything but boring. They are very interactive. An electronic time line, combined with maps, that will be a great addition to your history studies. Older students could use them alone with their regular studies. For younger students, you can go over the maps and do the reading together. While we have been on summer break, we are doing a unit study on the United Kingdom as part of our Olympics study. I am using the TimeMap The Black Death to go along with our studies. The TimeMap really gives the students a better perspective on how far reaching The Black Death was. Much more so than just reading it in a history book as you can see the black on the map expanding.

Each of the TimeMaps listed above are available as a download for PC or MAC, and sell for $9.95 each. The TimeMap Collection includes all 7 sets  – 75 dynamic, animated maps, quizzes and encyclopedic information for each, as well as complete Teacher Notes with activities, map commentaries, timeline pages and student maps to label and color.  All for just $44.95 (Save $24.70 over purchasing individual sets) or $49.95 on CD ROM

*Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this  download  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 a download of Christian Keyboarding to review.

“Filling your students mind with God’s Word using typing skills.”

Keyboarding the the Christian School is in ebook format.

Why choose a printable e-book versus a web-based program? Think about the things you type.  Are they readily available to copy from the screen or are they something that you are looking at on a piece of paper?  Usually you are typing something from a rough draft.  If the lessons are only available on the computer monitor; your student will not get the needed skill of transferring information from paper to the computer.  A printable e-book allows you the preference of binding the whole book or just giving your student one page at a time.  A printable e-book is portable and economical.

I used the Elementary Version with my now 6th and 8th graders. Because once the 8th grader saw her brother doing it, she wanted to do it, too! They both really liked the program. They progressed quickly. Neither of them was satisfied to do one lesson a day. Each of them wanted to do several every day. If fact, on more than one day, I had to make them stop because they had already done several lessons. That’s how much they liked it.

“It’s a really good thing. I really like it. It helped me a lot. It taught where to put my hands because I didn’t know before.” – 8th grader

“I like it.” – 6th grader

These two progressed faster with this program than my older kids did using a typing program that was more like a game. The program tells you to print out the ebook and place to the right of the computer screen while typing. I printed out part of the book for them to use like that. They want you to do it this way because most inputting into the computer is done from written pages. However, there are many applications that we use and occupations that you are typing while looking at the computer screen. So after practicing typing from written pages, I had them practice some of the lessons while looking at the screen. They would open Notepad on one side of the screen, with Keyboarding for Christian Schools on the other side. Here’s a screenshot.

These lessons are reminiscent of what I learned to type with in typing class. If you you want your kids to learn keyboarding from lessons and not from a game, try Keyboarding for the Christian School.

*Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this ebook  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 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.”

As part of the Schoolhouse Review Crew, I received the Hewitt Homeschooling Lightning Literature and Composition for Grade 8 to review.

Just as you don’t want your students to settle for mediocrity, we don’t settle for mediocrity in our products or services. We believe students achieve excellence through a combination of enthusiasm, hard work, and superior resources. Create enthusiastic students by praising and encouraging them to do their best even at a young age. Develop thorough workers by requiring them to rewrite and redo when necessary. Don’t look for perfection, but don’t let them slide by, either. Finally, look to our products and services to help you along this path. A lifelong whole-hearted learner will be your result.

Hewitt’s Lightning Lit guides use full-length novels, autobiographies, plays, essays, short stories, and poems to teach deep reading and composition skills. Unlike some literature programs that take a scatter-shot approach (where none of the literature seems connected) or that try to include too much into one book, Lightning Literature guides focus on a few classics in depth, in a systematic manner.

Lightning Lit & Comp is a  year-long course consisting of a student guide, a student workbook, and a teacher guide. These are guides and lesson plans for the books. The actual books aren’t included. You probably already have some of them on your shelves. The majority of the books needed should be available at your library. I also found several available online for free.

The books used are:

Stories  Poems for Extremely Intelligent Children by Harold Bloom
Treasure Island by Robert L. Stevenson
A Day of Pleasure by Isaac B. Singer
A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens
The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien
My Family and Other Animals by Gerald Durrell
To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee

I used this curriculum with my 13 year old daughter who is starting 8th grade. I chose for her to do the A Christmas Carol chapter first. The lesson plans allotted 3 weeks for this book. Working at a steady pace, she used the full 3 weeks to complete it.

The Student Guide, 269 pages, includes biographies of the authors, vocabulary, comprehension questions, lessons on the readings, additional lessons on composition, and writing exercises. I liked that my daughter could work on her own with the student guide. I used the teachers guide for the lesson plans and told her what pages to do, but she worked through the book herself.

The Student Workbook is consumable. The workbook does not come with copy priveledges, so you will need a workbook for each student. The workbook is 277 pages long with an average of 20 pages per book section. The pages in the workbook are also worked by the student alone. I checked her work with the teachers guide, and read some of her writings. She doesn’t like to share all of her writings, and I’m okay with that.

The Teacher Guide includes a teaching schedule, answers to the questions and the workbook pages. Also included are extra teaching helps for the lessons, help in choosing appropriate writing exercises, and discussion questions. I really liked that at the beginning of each chapter, it tells you what the corresponding pages in the Student Guide and the Workbook are.

This was our first time using anything by Hewitt Homeschooling. I really like how thorough this course is. We are going to be continuing with Lightning Lit & Comp for the rest of my daughters 8th grade year.

The Teacher Guide sells for $20. Here are a few samples:  Table of Contents, Weekly Planning Schedule, Sample Chapter.

The Student Workbook, which sells for $25. You can view a the Table of Contents, as well as a Sample Chapter.

The Student’s Guide sells for $25. You can view the Table of Contents, and a Sample Chapter.

You can also purchase all three books in a bundle for $125 that contain all the literature books needed for the course.

*Disclosure of Material Connection: I received the three books 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 IXL for my children.

IXL is a practice environment that rewards hard work—after all, with dynamic, unlimited questions, guessing your way to success isn’t exactly an option. Instead, we encourage students to learn from their mistakes, and move through new challenges at their own pace. There’s no feeling that can match mastering a skill on IXL, since it comes with the satisfaction of knowing you really do “get it.”

IXL.com is web based math practice for Pre-K through Algebra. You can use IXL with any math curriculum for extra practice. IXL also tracks your students progress and displays proficiency scores in the state standards report. You can see what the state standards for your state, and where your child is at. This helps you find your child’s trouble spots so they can work on them.

There are numerous reports that you can use to track your child’s progress. I found the weekly emails telling me how long the kids worked and what they worked on, and what they needed to work on, very helpful. I can also log into my parent account to see the rest of the reports.

Abigail, finishing 7th grade  said: “I liked the line -line segment and the ray. Working on IXL helped me in my regular math book.”

Zach, finishing 5th grade, said: “I liked getting the certificates.”

The extra algebra practice for my highschoolers is great, too. And more advanced topics will be available soon.

When the kids finished a certain number of problems, starting with one hundred, I received an email saying they had a certificate available to print. Zach was so excited when he received these. The virtual awards and the printable certificates really gave him an incentive to work longer.

Here are a few IXL screen samples:

The pages are bright, colorful, and easy to use. Yet the pages are simple, not busy, so the child is not distracted by graphics on the page that aren’t involved in the questions.

An IXL.com membership is available two ways, a monthly plan and a yearly plan.

Membership benefits:

• Complete coverage of math curriculum from pre-K to algebra. Your kids won’t miss a thing!
• Unlimited questions in over 2,000 skills.
• Fun and colorful practice formats.
• Questions that adapt to your child’s ability, increasing in difficulty as they improve.
• Immediate feedback and question-specific explanations to solidify understanding of each concept.
• Audio for all pre-K through first-grade skills.
• Weekly e-mail updates on your child’s progress.
• Informative, detailed reports pointing out successes and trouble spots.
• Awards and certificates for you and your children to print out as they reach important milestones.

Prices listed are for one child. Each additional child is $2. per month or $20. per year. These prices are for homeschools, IXL is available to schools, check the website for pricing.

*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.”

As part of the …….. I received four issues of Creation Illustrated to review.

From the Creation Illustrated website:

19 Years Strong as the Leading Bible-based Nature Journal
Readers call it, “The Christian answer to National Geographic” — EVERY ISSUE A KEEPSAKE!

Creation Illustrated is published quarterly as a private, nonprofit, non-denominationally owned ministry dedicated to the eternal impact of sharing Biblical truth through the blessings of God’s creation.

The editors and publishers are a Christian couple, Tom and Jennifer Ish, who homeschooled their daughter, Melissa, and have dedicated their lives to serving God by providing positive choices in reading material for the whole family.

Winter 2012 cover

Mission Statement:

Our purpose is to share the wonders of God’s creations. By revealing fresh insights of His infinite wisdom, gentle touch, undeniable justice, redeeming love, and flawless design, pure truth shall bring renewed peace. Each part of this publication is offered as a reprieve from the daily rigors of life so that all can look to the future with unbridled gratitude and hope.

Spring cover 2012

Creation Illustrated is 8 1/2 by 11 inches with thick, glossy pages. This is a high quality magazine. The cover photographs are gorgeous and the magazines look great on the coffee table.  Creation Illustrated is often referred to as “The Christian answer to National Geographic”.  Educational articles and high quality photographs prove that reference to be true.

Fall cover 2011

Each Creation Illustrated magazine is full of informative articles in three different categories: In Nature, In Scripture, and In Living. In Nature is full of great articles and photographs of all things in nature. The articles in the In Scripture section in the four magazines I received were all part of a Creation Series.  The In Living section contains recipes, child photo contests, and a children’s story, puzzles and more.

Summer cover 2011

My 16 year old daughter Hannah liked the pictures and some of the recipes. We both love to cook from scratch with healthy ingredients, and Genesis Cuisine column has delicious, healthy recipes in each issue. Included are beautiful photos of the food.

You can see from these sample pages how gorgeous the nature photos are.

There really is something for everyone in the family in Creation Illustrated magazine. In the back of every magazine, there is an Instructional Guide. This helpful guide contains guidelines for deeper study with questions for each article. Bible verses are included in the questions, also. This guide is an incredible asset for homeschooling families.

Creation Illustrated is an awesome family magazine. I really loved it! A subscription would also make a great gift.

Creation Illustrated has 3 different subscription packages:

1 year- $19.95,  2 years- $37.95,  and 3 years- $53.95

Pay with a credit card, and you will receive a $5. discount. You can also request a free issue of Creation Illustrated.

*Disclosure of Material Connection: I received 4 magazines 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.”