As part of The Old Schoolhouse Homeschool Crew, I was sent The College Prep Genius DVD Set to review.

The College Prep Genius covers all three sections of the SAT & PSAT/NMSQT giving the student a plan for success for each question type.

Right now you can get the complete program for $99 (a 25% discount), which includes the DVD and the Second Edition Textbook and Workbook. This newly updated and revised program features an easy-to-use format, bonus material including appendixes of must know math terms,  Latin roots, and prefixes and suffixes, new strategies, more detailed explanations, and a new motivation test.

 

 

The SAT is not an IQ test. It is a test of logic and critical thinking. Learning the recurring patterns and hidden schemes of the questions is the key to acing this test. College Prep Genius does an excellent job of preparing the student to get a high score on the SAT.

There was nothing like this back when I was in high school. If there was, the teachers and counselors kept that information to themselves. Back then, you just took the test and accepted whatever score you got. Now that the competition for scholarships has gotten so steep, a high score on the SAT is needed. Colleges often want homeschooled students to have a higher score than public schooled students. So for homeschoolers, their SAT scores can make the difference in getting scholarship money and not being able to go to college.

 

I was really impressed with the thoroughness of College Prep Genius. From What is the SAT?, How Do I Practice?, and Taking the Real Test, College Prep Genius has all the information you need. The book, workbook and DVD are all student directed. The student works at their own pace, doing as much of the program as they want. Of course, the more time spent on the program preparing for the SAT, the better.

The book then proceeds to take the student through the 3 sections of the SAT, Critical Reading, Math, and Writing. After going over what is covered in a section, and the scoring requirements, the student works through sample questions with lots of helpful hints along the way. You can also download a homework packet from the website.

The math section goes through all the types of problems that will be on the test, giving strategies to help the student answer the questions quickly and efficiently. And yes, calculators are allowed.

The workbook and DVD set are incredible. The workbook is just like taking the actual test. Right down to filling in the circles. The DVD  covers all 12 lessons in the book and walks the student through all the information and sample problems. I found it to be an excellent help. It will be especially helpful for auditory learners.

 

If your student is thinking about college, College Prep Genius is an awesome resource to help them meet their goals.

 

See what other The Old Schoolhouse Homeschool Crew Members are saying about College Prep Genius.

 

 

*Disclosure of Material Connection: I received one or more of the products or services
mentioned above for free 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.
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.”

 

From the Excellence in Literature website:

Introduction to Literature is a college-preparatory literature and composition course. Focus works, including novels, short stories, poems, and drama, have been selected for literary quality, and for their place in the historical development of literature. Context readings provide background information about the author, the historical period, and the literary and artistic context of the focus work.

Students will gain an understanding of the development of literature and will practice the skills of close literary analysis through essays, approach papers, and other evaluative writing.

As part of The Old Schoolhouse Homeschool Crew, I received Excellence in Literature English 1: Introduction to Literature, E-book edition, to review.

English 1: Introduction to Literature has 9 units. One has 6 Short Stories, the other 8 units are on individual books. There is also an Honors Option for every unit. With additional books to read, and additional writing for the student to do. Each unit is 4 weeks long and has week by week lesson plans. You can mix and match the units to create a custom study plan for your student. Here’s an article on how the books were chosen for Excellence in Literature.

The units are self-directed, which encourages independent learning and college-style study habits.

Every volume contains instructions, models and a glossary, so you can start with any book and know exactly what to do  when.

We started with Unit 6 Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson.  The Honors Text is Kidnapped by Robert Louis Stevenson. There are links included in the unit for you to read online more of Robert Louis Stevenson works, including letters from him.  There’s information about Robert Louis Stevenson, and a list of books to read to learn more about him. There is also a list of poetry by him as well as other media. Audio, Video, Art, Music. I was impressed with the amount of information available in this book.

There is a writing assignment every week. For Unit 6, these include an author profile, historical approach paper on the period from 1650-1725, and a 600 word essay. The rough draft of the essay is written during week 3, and edited week 4. A very doable schedule.

There is also a formats and models section with essay samples, evaluation checklists for the essays, a glossary and additional resources at the end of the book. All very useful and informative.

I found Excellence in Literature – Introduction to Literature to be very well written and researched.

 

 

 

Introduction to Literature: English 1 print book is $29. plus shipping. You can also purchase it in E-book form for $27. You can also purchase all 5 levels, The Complete Curriculum for $139. For more information, visit the Excellence in Literature website.

 

 

See what other Homeschool Crew Members are saying about Excellence in Literature.

 

 

*Disclosure of Material Connection: I received one or more of the products or services
mentioned above for free 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.
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.”

From the Marshall Publishing website:

Our goal is to provide lots and lots of media fun for everyone through award-winning DVDs, Books, CDs, CD-roms, and broadcast and internet programming that will amaze, amuse, entertain, and educate.

Our goal is to produce quality programs to watch today and remember for a lifetime.

GEORGE WASHINGTON CARVER: His Life and His Work DVD

Born into slavery and reared during the Reconstruction years in the South, George Washington Carver struggled through poor health, poverty and prejudice…to become a great benefactor, not only to his people…but to his country as well. Carver is known in history books as the “peanut man” – for his research into and promotion of alternative crops to cotton. As one of the world’s foremost experts in agriculture and horticulture, Carver, through his research and teaching at Tuskegee Institute in Alabama practically reinvented land management in the South. He is said to have compiled a list of over 300 uses for and by-products of peanuts such as cosmetics, dyes and paints, plastics, gasoline and nitroglycerin.

But his work as a creative scientist stretches far beyond that endeavor. He marveled at the world around him and his ability to inspire those closely associated with him may well have been one of his greatest lifetime achievements. As a living example of the importance of hard work, a positive attitude and a good education, Carver was instrumental in changing the stereotype of the time that the black race was intellectually inferior to the white race.

Here then, is the story of Carver’s life…a life that should not be forgotten, for it is full of hope, meaning and inspiration. To commemorate his life and inventions, George Washington Carver Recognition Day is celebrated on January 5, the anniversary of Carver’s death.

For anyone looking for an inspirational story, for historians, teachers and students, and for young and old alike this DVD featuring stunning photography and a superb original music score is certain to be watched again and again.

© 2009 Marshall Publishing & Promotions, Inc. A Kaw Valley Films Production

 

As part of The Old Schoolhouse Homeschool Crew, I received the George Washington Carver DVD. I watched it with my four children, ages 16, 15, 13, and 11. It is recommended for 4th grade through adult.

Even as a kid I loved biographies and I remember reading several books about George Washington Carver. I really liked the story of his life. To come from slavery and go on to invent numerous items and devices that are still used is amazing. I didn’t know that January 5th was George Washington Carver Recognition Day. I’ll have to put that on the calendar. That would be a great day to eat something made with peanuts and watch this dvd again. 🙂

I was excited to get this DVD and share his story with my children. I thought the dvd was very well done. The majority of the 29 minutes dvd is pictures with a voice over and a musical score. I know, that doesn’t sound very interesting. But this dvd isn’t just a slide show with a monotone narrator. They keep the story moving with interesting pictures and the narrator speaks with feeling. The music is in the background, it’s not annoying, fighting for your attention. It makes the viewing more enjoyable.

Near the end, there is a little clip of George Washington Carver himself giving a speech. The clip isn’t long, but I was pleasantly surprised to see it.

There is a Study Guide on the website that goes along with this dvd.

George Washington Carver – His Life and His Work is available on the Marshall Publishing website.  The regular price is 24.95. on sale right now for 19.99.  Marshall Publishing has been kind enough to offer a discount to readers of this review. Use code  TOSC1 to save 15% and purchase this dvd for 16.95.

 

See what other Homeschool Crew Members are saying about Marshall Publishing’s videos.

 

 

*Disclosure of Material Connection: I received one or more of the products or services
mentioned above for free 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.
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.”

We love to play games together as a family. Game time makes for lots of great family memories.  As part of the Homeschool Crew, I was sent the game Say Anything Family. Say Anything Family is made by the same company that made the Wits and Wagers game I recently reviewed.

From the game insert:

Say Anything is a light-hearted game about what you and your loved ones think. It gives you the chance to settle questions that have been hotly debated for centuries. For instance, “What magical power would be the coolest to have?” or “What would be the most fun thing to throw off a tall building?” So dig deep into your heart or just come up with something witty – this is your chance to Say Anything!

Say Anything Family is for 3-6 players, ages 8 and up.

 

Say Anything Family is a very easy game to learn. There are 360 questions so you can play numerous games without repeating questions. And there are no right answers to the questions! That makes it a great family game. It’s not like a trivia game, where you have to have the right answer. All players are on a level playing field, no matter their age. Yes, little kids can beat adults! Maybe that’s why my kids loved this game……

One player asks a question, the other players write down an answer, then everyone turns their answer cards face up. The player that asked the question picks his favorite answer. The other players can all try to convince him to pick their answer, “I wrote you cookies, you know how you like cookies!” “You know how much you love internet access, choose my answer!!”  This is fun and can get loud at times. Or maybe that was just my family. 🙂

He then uses the Select-O-Matic 6000 to record his answer. It looks like a game spinner, and the player turns the arm to the color of the answer board that he likes best. Make sure you don’t let the other players see the answer you chose!   (I won’t tell you have many times I said Select-O-Matic while playing,  just because it’s fun to say.)

Now the players put their Meeples, game markers, on the answer they think the question asker will chose. Points are awarded to the person who wrote the chosen answer, as well as the players who put Meeples on the chosen answer. The game is over when everyone has asked 2 questions. The player with the most points wins. In the case of a tie, all tying players win! Another reason it’s such a great family game.

Our family loved Say Anything Family. If you have more than 6 players or players under 8, I think it would be fun to play as teams, also.

 

Say Anything Family retails for &19.99 and  is available online and in stores. Visit the Northstar Games website to find a store near you.

 

See what other Homeschool Crew Members are saying about Say Anything Family.

 

*Disclosure of Material Connection: I received one or more of the products or services
mentioned above for free 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.
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.”

 

From the NorthStar Games website:

Wits & Wagers Family simplifies the rules and scoring system of the popular Wits & Wagers. Now families and kids can get into the Wits & Wagers action! First, every player writes down a guess to a fun question. Then players try to score points by choosing which guess is closest to the right answer without going over. That is it!

The game features 300 new family-friendly questions. And even better than that, Wits & Wagers Family includes Meeples– fun, cute, human shaped wooden pieces that the players use to select which answers they think are correct. Meeples have been a hallmark in European style strategy games for years, but this is the first time they have made an appearance in a party game.

So check out Wits & Wagers Family, the game that combines laughter and learning in a way that all ages can enjoy together!

Wits and Wagers is for ages 8 and up for 3-10 players. We found Wits and Wagers to be very easy to learn. I just read the directions out loud one time and we were playing.

To play the game, you take turns reading the questions. Everyone writes down their answer on their answer board. All the answers are numbers. And you don’t have to worry about having the right answer! Here’s one of the questions we had.

How many (brand) Animal Cracker shapes are there?

After everyone writes down their number answer, you put the answer boards in the center of the table in numerical order. Now for the fun part. Everyone places their 2 Meeples games pieces on the answer they think is the right one. You don’t have to put your Meeples on your own answer! You may think someone else wrote down a number that is closer to the real answer. You can place both your Meeples on one answer or on two different answers. If you think everyone guessed too high, you can place your Meeples on the #1 board included.

Once everyone has placed their Meeples, the player that read the question reads the correct answer. The answer board with the number closer to the correct answer, without going over, is the winner. The person who wrote that answer gets a point, and everyone who placed a Meeple on that answer gets points. The first person to get 15 points wins. If 2 people go over 15 points on the same turn, the person with the highest score wins. If there is a tie, the youngest person involved in the tie wins! My youngest son loved this rule. Although he was looking forward to it, we never had a tie, and didn’t have to use this rule. lol

We didn’t come across any questions that we found objectionable. All the questions were fun, and several had us saying ‘I know that!” The “how many teaspoons are in a tablespoon” question had all the kids placing their Meeples on their sisters answer board. “She’d know this one!” lol  One even had my daughter yell out “I studied that!” We only skipped one question that asked how many movies did a certain movie actor make. The kids had never even heard of the actor or any of his movies, so we skipped it.

We love to play games as a family and Wits and Wagers will definitely be included in our game nights. Oh, that particular brand of animal crackers comes in 19 different shapes! 🙂

 

Wits and Wagers is available online and in stores. Visit the Northstar Games website to find a store near you. It retails for $19.99.

See what other Homeschool Review Crew members are saying about Wits and Wagers Family.

 

*Disclosure of Material Connection: I received one or more of the products or services
mentioned above for free 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.
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.”

Aletheia Writing Magazine is a quarterly magazine focusing on the literary and artistic works of Christian teens. Aletheia is a Greek word meaning “truth” or “unveiling”. It’s pronounced Ah-LAY-thei-uh.

Aletheia gives Christian teens, homeschoolers and non-homeschoolers alike, the chance to have their work published. They publish stories, both short and longer, as well as poems, photographs, drawings, and even book reviews. All of their own choosing. The teens even pick the books they want to review.

Their website has a great has a great writing tips section. Their FAQ page tells you just what they are looking for in submissions. They even have a Aletheia Writing Magazine Facebook Page.

There is no monetary compensation, but if you do get published in Aletheia, they will send you three free copies of your issue so you can share it with family and friends.

Aletheia Writing Magazine is a great opportunity for Christian teens to get their work published. I hope some of my teens will submit their work!

You can view a sample of their Spring 2011 issue here.

The issue I received only had a couple of ads in it. These were the type of ads you would see in a homeschool magazine. So no offensive ads like you would see in other magazines geared towards teens. I was very happy to see that.

You can purchase a subscription to Aletheia Writing Magazine for $26 per year. A subscription includes four color issues per year, and the price includes shipping and handling.

*Aletheia Writing Magazine is geared toward youth ages 13 to 19. Because contributors’ ages vary, the maturity level of situational content may also vary. Please keep that in mind when giving this magazine to your younger teens. You might want to preview it first.

 

To see what other crew members are saying about Aletheia Writing Magazine visit the crew review post.

 

*Disclosure of Material Connection: I received one or more of the products or services
mentioned above for free 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.
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.”

Tri-Cross is a board game invented by an Atlanta father-son duo. Designed to by played by 2-4 players, it can be played with varying degrees of difficulty. That makes it the perfect family game.

Tri-Cross is a strategy game for ages 10 and up. And don’t think that because it’s a strategy game that it means you will automatically win over your 10 year old. Or 11 year old. As my 11 year old promptly beat me. lol The other kids have all had turns at beating me. And I didn’t let them win, either. lol This game is a cross between checkers and chess. It’s fairly easy to learn how to play.

The easiest version of the game is the 2 player. You set your pieces up according to the directions. then you just take turns moving. The pieces can jump according to their numbers. All the numbers, 2-6, can jump the numbers below it. The numbers 2-5 can jump the Tric-Cross piece. The 6 can’t jump a Tri-Cross, but a Tri-Cross can jump a 6. You can win 2 ways: by removing all your opponents pieces from the board, or keeping one of your pieces in the center square Tri-Cross for 4 turns in a row.

Sounds easy enough. But there’s a twist. At the end of every turn, any jumps that can be made, have to be made. So if I have my 6 in the center, my opponent can move a 4 next to it, and I have to jump it. Thereby removing my piece from the center square. Then I have to make my way back and re-start the count.

Most games are played quickly. My kids like that, because they can play more games.

The 4 player version is harder. You start with your pieces upside down on the board. You know where you place your numbers, but no one else does. A piece isn’t turned over until it is challenged. So, I could move one of my pieces up to one of my kids pieces. Then we turn them over, and the highest number then must jump the other, and remove it from the board. The same jumping rules as above apply here as well. The problem I had with this version was I could never remember which number was where. lol

 

In addition to the full sized game pictured above, there is also an Eco-Friendly Travel Edition. The bags and the “board” are all made of organic cotton and printed with non-toxic soy based inks. Not only that, it’s super cute, too.

This edition is great for playing at home as well as when traveling. Since it’s in a small bag, instead of a box, it takes up much less room on your game shelf, as well as in your suitcase. The game pieces go into the smaller bag, which you lay in the center of the game board. The game board then folds up around the bag and fits into the larger bag.

See? How cute is that? It has to be the cutest board game ever. I may or may not have sat and wrapped & re-wrapped it.

My whole family loved this game. The kids have asked to play every day. We even left the board set up on the coffee table so it was ready to go. Tri-Cross would make a great gift, too. For child or adult. If you like to give family gifts, instead of individual gifts, this would be excellent to give as a family gift.

 

Tricross has won several awards including the  Dr. Toys 2009 100 Best Children’s Products, the  Creative Child magazine’s Creative Toy Awards 2008 game of the year and has earned the national Parenting Center’s Seal of Approval.

You can watch a video discussing the game here You can purchase Tri-Cross by visiting their website GamesforCompetitors.com . There are 3 versions of the game, Standard, Eco and the Wood Edition. Prices start at $19.95. You’ll also be able to watch how to play videos.

 

 

To see what other members of the crew are saying about the Tricross game, visit the Crew Review Post.

 

*Disclosure of Material Connection: I received one or more of the products or services
mentioned above for free 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.
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.”