Grammar By THIS Book

Grammar By THIS Book- How the Grinch Stole Christmas will be available soon!

AVAILABLE NOW!

Jump on Amazon.com or head to the book store to get the book for Thanksgiving! We are working on GRAMMAR by THIS BOOK using This First Thanksgiving Day (A Counting Story) by Laura Knauss Melmed. Our best seller grammar program is adapted for the sentences in this story. Students will see grammar in a story book and be able to understand verbs, adjectives, adverbs, nouns, prepositions quickly and easily. There is a checklist of things to find on the pages of the story and children who have an aversion to writing will be glad to know answers are given on blocks of paper and need only be layed in the correct spot. Watch for this coming release and get the story book now. This book can be found for pennies on Amazon.com. We picked ours up at the books store for a few dollars. I can't wait for you to use this with your children! Why didn't I have this when I was in school!

New Remember Me Pockets for November

The month of November is the beginning of the holiday season and the month we all like to bring in more hands on and fun activities. Fortunately For You Books knows how to fuse fun with learning! Our specially designed worksheets will give you a nice change of pace for the holidays and still provide you with accomplished work for your portfolios.

Authors highlighted this month are:
Bram Stoker (Dracula)
Robert Louis Stevenson (Treasure Island)
Frances H. Burnett (The Secret Garden)
Lucy Maud Montgomery (Anne of Green Gables Series)

Our FFYB reporter continues interviewing interesting people who have birthdays in the month of November. Daniel Boone, Will Rogers, Marie Curie, and Claude Monet begin the interviews by sharing details about their life. We jump to modern times to talk to Condoleeza Rice and Larry King. We then go back to interview Billy the Kid and find out why he turned out the way he did. Winston Churchill is the last person to be interviewed. Our reporter asks the right questions to give us insight into what made Winston a great and strong leader during difficult times.

Peanut Butter and Native Americans are the focus on our monthly pocket. A Sticker Study format is used to recall information about peanut butter and a puzzle format will help children learn about the various types of Indians that were in the America's long before Europeans settled here.

Two weeks are filled with National Bible Week (dominoes game of Old and New Testament stories) and National Game and Puzzle Week (games and puzzles!).

There is a huge assortment of daily activities to satisfy every interest in your family! NEW MINI LAPBOOKS are introduced this month! Montana and North Carolina celebrate their statehood in November and FFYB offers our best selling mini lapbook format for covering state facts. Just think- a lapbook finished in one/two settings! Pompeii, paper clips, tongue twisters, diabetes, Guinness World Record Day, Gettysburg Address, Mayflower Compact, Times Zones, and Homemade Bread Day is all covered in the daily section of the pockets. And if that is not enough, we have Shakin' Up History, a supplemental activity that includes a huge assortment of mentionable things that happened in history this month. You never know what the roll of the die will be!

Our holiday section honors the Veterans of the United States of America with an essay giving information about the holiday, a deductive reasoning skill with logos of all armed branches, and a cool art project that is meant to be hung with pride. Thanksgiving is celebrated with a practical project of placemat art! Make placemats for the holiday table and complete the Pilgrim Mini Book for your holiday lesson.

Our Remember Me Pockets are created specifically for helping students recall information. Visual and Hands On Learners are loving these worksheets! Make your holiday month stress free by giving your students tools designed just for them! Learning does not have to be hard, it just needs to be from FFYB!

Our New At Your Seat Study Files!

I want to show you this file as this is the beginning of many to come! Clouds are the subject matter for this At Your Seat Study. There is so much to learn about clouds! The information in these cards teaches names of clouds and what they look like. As there are so many types, it is really hard for some students to remember! One would think visual learners would be able to remember this information quickly, but the trouble we find is when putting IN the information, we must make the visual connection then. My son, Jesse, is dyslexic, and I have learned that if I just take the time or create the tools to put the information in his head with a visual trigger, it is easily and painlessly recalled.
Let me show you how this product works:

These are the information cards. They contain- well, information! They hold that name of the cloud type in a red color, a couple of adjectives in green, and weather that comes with that cloud in blue. The information is written in complete sentences with these key facts highlighted. These 10 cards are cut apart and saved.
Next we have our letter cards:

These letter cards reference the green color coded adjectives that were in the information cards. Simplifying the adjectives down to letters help the student rememeber them better. Who knew- less IS sometimes more. For example, the large letters DG will say "this reminds me of Dark Grey". It is odd how this works, especially in a boy's mind but it does.
Our next cards are called Visual Key cards:

These cards build on the letter cards. As DG was given for Dark Grey, this card will now contain a block that is filled with a dark grey color. When F&C was given on the letter cards for "feathery" and "curls", we now have a picture of a feather and some curls. The adjectives are on this card so that the child connects the adjectives with the visual.
The next set of cards are called picture cards:

These cards have ONLY the picture clue- no words.
Now that you know what each cards is for, let me explain what to do with them.
The student now has a set of four cards: information, letter, visual key, and picture. There are four cards for EACH of the ten types of clouds. After all these cards are sorted into sets, we can begin learning the information. There is a 4 step learning mat and it looks like this:

On the first day, the student will lay down all four cards to his set. He will say the information out loud. This is crucial, as the eyes may not pick up what the hearing will. For my son, reading certain information out loud is KEY to learning. While it may seem simple, be assured that the eyes and ears are picking up colors and pictures and filing this information so that recall will be easy. Day one will be complete. The next day or session, only three cards are laid down on the mat: the letter card, the visual key card, and the picture card. On the third day there is one less card, and on the fourth day there is only the picture card remaining. If you were to ask your student about a particular cloud, they will now be able to tell you a couple of interesting things about them!
I hope you give this file a try. We have made these very affordable ($1) and will be adding more to the line.
These are more like "Super Flash Cards"!
Click here to shop at the store for these files:

Living Forever-Yes! Living Forever Here-No!

I cannot tell you how much I loved this story. By the last three chapters, I had put down my notes and had to just read!

Eternal life is something i have as a believer, but I can honestly say I never thought about how horrible eternal life would be if it was to be lived on this earth. The Tuck's experience outliving children, having no friends, constantly moving, the monotony of living everyday. It is not like they know the future and can be rich from their knowledge. They are forever poor and alone.

This is the story of one young girl having to make her desicion of eternal life. What a great book to read to your children. Think of all the conversations and debate you can have with this at dinnertime!

When you read the book, use the Lines of Time created just for this story. We have even adapted this product line to assess two different levels of learners.

CLICK HERE to learn more about this product. Lines of Time for Tuck Everlasting is available as an instant download or on a CD.

Blessings,
Shannon Coe
Fortunately For You Books

The Old Schoolhouse Magazine Preschool E-Book Review

Because I have a two and a half year old daughter, when I was given the opportunity to review the E-book Creating a rich environment and a fun place to learn for preschoolers for The Old Schoolhouse Magazine, I jumped on it. This upcoming school year is going to be even more challenging than when my daughter was a baby. I have a fourth grader who needs a lot of one-on-one and throwing a soon to be preschooler into the mix has me scrambling this summer for ideas to keep her busy when school starts again. This book was exactly what I needed. All of the contributing authors are experienced homeschool moms that have a lot of wonderful advice and ideas to offer. By the time you are done reading this book, here is list of what you will have learned:

• Field trips- ideas for some great field trips, as well as how to plan and prepare for them
• Chores- when and how to implement them and what is age appropriate
  
• Music- why to use music and how to choose the correct type and incorporate it into your day
• Homeschooling with one child
• Homeschooling with multiple children
• What makes a good learning environment and how to create it
• School organization- how to organize all the "stuff" that comes along with a preschooler
• Home organization- how to organize your home and day to make life a little simpler
• Lapbooks- why they are great for a preschooler and how to use them
  
• What's really important at the end of the day

This book was truly a wealth of information. There were so many ideas that I will go back to it over and over! Several of the articles include lists of activity after activity that you could use tomorrow with things around the house.

There are lots of books out there, but this one really covers a lot of different topics and all from a homeschooling perspective. If you are feeling overwhelmed about teaching a preschooler, this book will help ease your fears, give you confidence, and provide you the necessary tools to be successful.

This E-book will soon be released at The Old Schoolhouse Magazine Store. Don't miss out on this great read!


Heidi Miller-Ford

Sue Patrick's Workbox System

I have come across something that I think will revolutionize the way you do school, Sue Patrick's Workbox System. Sue has been working on this system for many years. She started using it with her autistic son many years ago and has now made it available to all families with children of all abilities. This system will help you to organize your child's work, make him more independent and be able to focus better, complete more work than you ever imagined, incorporate fun activities that have been laying around on the shelves, and enjoy school so much more, all at the same time. Where else can you find that?

There are some materials required to set this system up, but once it's in place, it's just a matter of filling the boxes each week.



This is a picture of how I have chosen to set up our system. Sue recommends a shoe rack, but I couldn't find one that fit our plastic boxes correctly. Many families have modified this system to work with their style and space. Some even using big manila envelopes in a big plastic container.

The ideas is to set up 12 workboxes (or a number that works best for your child). You first fill them with your core subjects and then the remaining boxes are filled with review materials and fun materials you never get to. These could be anything from file folder games to puzzles (really anything that would be fun and educational).

You will notice on my boxes that there are Velcro dots and some little cards attached to them. Sue suggests using a schedule strip to help your child work independently through the boxes each day. This strip will have Velcro with number cards 1-12 attached, as well as other cards mixed in for other things the child will do during the day like centers, lunch, PE, etc. The child takes the first number off and goes to the workboxes and matches the number on the card to the number on the box. He sticks it on the dot and takes the box to his seat. If the box has a "work with mom" card on it, he will know he is not to do it independently. Everything the child needs to complete the assignment should be included in the box. This saves time and attention problems by not having to search for materials.

This system has really sparked some enthusiasm in me for preparing for school again. There are so many fun things my son will be doing next year! I am actually excited for school to begin next year at the end of this school year. That has never happened before! Yes, I am usually excited by the time school rolls around again but never at the end of the year. I am going to spend this summer planning and making fun activities to include in the boxes next year. The newness of this system never wears off because each day the child gets up and looks into his boxes to see what exciting things you have filled them with. It's like preparing a surprise for them each day.

I would highly recommend buying Sue's book. I have summed up the general idea of the system but there are more specifics in her book as well as other helpful information. You can find her book at http://www.workboxsystem.com/. She also sells kits with materials that are already done for you so you don't have to spend time making them.

Heidi Miller-Ford

End of Year Congratulations

Congratulations on making it through the school year. If I recorded every high and low I encountered and felt, I would have a virtual theme park full of roller coasters. These all translate into "lessons learned". I remind myself of my personal goals for homeschooling:
- to create a strong family unit
- to develop strong character in my children
- to inspire a love of learning that will last beyond 12th grade
When I review my year and review this list, my heart is balanced out and I rejoice!
To be totally honest, I must admit others could teach my children some subjects better than me. I am not science and math inclined. I hate science experiments. I would rather devote time to history! But education is not my highest goal- GASP- did I say that? The three things I mentioned previously are my goals. I constantly remind myself of these goals. My children have had a wonderful education and
are intelligent. It is the idea of education that can make us doubt and make us devalue the year we just invested in.
For those of us who have chosen homeschooling as a way of life, make sure you focus on your goals when the doubt sets in.
~Shannon

Memoria Press Review

Are you a classical educator? Then you have probably heard of Memoria Press and their products. If you are not a classical educator, the thought of teaching your child Latin is probably very foreign to you and is not something you would even consider. I was the latter. We are not classical educators here and Latin is the last thing I thought my son would want to do or even enjoy. I was wrong! When I gave him the choice of products to review, he begged me to pick the Latin. He has really enjoyed it.

I chose Prima Latina to review because it is geared towards K-3 grades and is for students and parents with no experience in Latin. Throughout the course, you child will learn:

• 7 parts of speech
• 125 Latin vocabulary words
• Numbers 1-10
• Basic constellations
• Simple introductions to tenses, derivatives, conjugations, and declensions

There are 25 lessons in the course. In each lesson, your child will learn:

• a new grammar rule
• 5 vocabulary words
• a practical Latin phrase
• one line of a prayer (the entire prayer is learned by the end of the course)

Throughout the course, there are 5 review lessons and 5 tests to check what your child has retained. There is also an appendix which contains a full vocabulary list with their meanings and parts of speech and a list of the practical Latin sayings as well.

This program is laid out very well. When you open up either the Teacher Manual or Student Guide, it is very easy to follow. The spacing on the pages was one thing that was pleasing to me. So often workbooks are very overwhelming to look at and students who have trouble focusing can get lost before they even begin. These books are not like that at all. In addition, there truly is not a lot of preparation to teach it. You could pull this out of the box and be learning Latin within a few minutes.

A CD comes with the program for the student to listen to for pronunciation. It includes:

• The Introduction
• Pronunciation Guide
• Prayer Instructions
• The Prayers
• Lessons 1-25
• Songs from Lingua Angelica

This is a great way to reinforce what has been learned in the lesson. It is also something the student can do independently. This helped with correct pronunciation. There is also a reproducible worksheet that can be used after listening to the CD. The student can list the vocabulary and Latin Sayings learned during the lesson.

A Grammar Form is also included in the book to reinforce grammar introduced throughout the course.

The Student Book has exercises which were developed to reinforce what has been learned in the lesson. Each lesson includes:

• Review Questions- reviews information from previous lessons
• Lesson Questions- these questions pertain to the information learned in that specific lesson
• Translations- the child writes the definitions of the Latin words
• Speaking Latin- there are suggestions for how to practice using the Latin words and phrases in every day situations
• Write and Learn- the student writes what has been learned as reinforcement
• Fun Practice- fun activities are suggested for practicing information learned in the lesson

This course is very well written. If you have any doubts about being able to teach Latin or if your children can learn it, you need to try this. My son has started to see Latin derivatives in English words. That is not something I thought I would ever see. We will be using this program again in the fall. It has definitely helped to reinforce grammar rules and increase vocabulary as well.

Prima Latina Text Set (including Teacher Manual, Student Book, and CD)- $32.95
Teacher Manual- $14.95
Student Book- $14.95
Pronunciation CD- $4.95




I believe you could do the Prima Latina course by itself and would be fine but I have to say that I highly recommend getting the Prima Latina Instructional DVD's that go along with it. They are awesome! With these videos, you truly can put them in and begin instantly. In fact that is what we did. My son was down with the flu the day they arrived and we snuggled up on the couch with the laptop in front of us and watched Lesson 1. Within 30 minutes he was saying his first Latin words. I think for children who need a multi sensory approach, these would be very beneficial. Leigh Lowe does a wonderful job of presenting this information for this age group. It's hard to believe Latin can be this simple, but it really is. If you wanted Leigh Lowe to teach this course instead, these videos are the answer. Then just follow up with the workbook pages. It is suggested that you teach the lesson yourself first and then follow up with the videos. I personally liked doing the videos first to make sure my pronunciation was right when going over the information later.

Prima Latina Instructional DVD's- $45.00



I also reviewed Famous Men of Rome. This is part of their Classical Studies line. There are three different books that can be used together. The first is a text book. It's a very nice fully illustrated book covering 30 different stories in Roman history from Romulus to the last emperor in the West. The stories are sure to catch your child's attention. Especially if you have a boy! These great stories have been simplified (but not turned into twaddle) and could easily be enjoyed by both your younger and older children at the same time. Also included in the book are maps of Rome, Italy, and the Roman Empire. A Glossary of People and Places has also been added. This is a really nice book. A great story book and resource book to keep.

If you just read the text book alone, your children would learn a lot from it. However, if you would like to turn this into a year-long course, there is a Teacher and Student Guide that can be purchased as well.

Each lesson includes:

• Facts to Know- The important events are pulled out and used as a foundation for memory work.
• Vocabulary- There is a lot of vocabulary in this book and many of them being advanced. What's interesting about how they are taught in the guide is the usage of context from the story rather than a dictionary definition. This makes it easier for the student to remember and understand. So often dictionary definitions are not the way the word was used in the story. It makes perfect sense to learn vocabulary words with this method. In the workbook, the student will actually be given a small part of a sentence, which includes the word, and then he will write the definition next to it.
• Comprehension Questions- These questions will help the students to remember the most important information from the story.
• Activities- These are a range of activities such as discussion questions, drawing, quote memorization aids, and more. Anything that is needed for these activities is provided in the Appendix, including answers to the discussion questions.

The Appendix contains maps, timelines, worksheets, a modern geography reference, pronunciation guide, and an article on the relation between ancient Rome and America.

This is a neat series and definitely a classical approach. The maps were very nice. There is a lot of geography to be learned in this course. The textbook is something that we will definitely continue to use but the year-long course was not our cup of tea. If you want to increase your child's vocabulary or he likes to write out definitions and answer comprehension questions, this is for you.

There are three others in this series: Famous Men of Greece, Famous Men of the Middle Ages, and Famous Men of the Modern Times.

Each textbook is $16.95
Teacher Guide is $17.95
Student Guide is $17.95

To find out more about Memoria Press and the many other products they offer, please CLICK HERE.

www.memoriapress.com

Heidi Miller-Ford

Tapestry of Grace Review

Tapestry of Grace is a big name in the homeschool industry. I have passed their table many times at conventions and even stopped and taken some information. Their curriculum interested me and I was glad I had this opportunity to review one of their units in digital format. I reviewed Year 2, Unit 4: The Age of Revolutions, which begins during the turbulent Colonial times and ends with an in-depth study of the US Constitution.

Tapestry of Grace is a four year classics-based Christian curriculum that is meant to be rotated as many times as possible up through high school. It is for K-12 grade which are split into four learning levels. Grammar is for K-3 and non-fluent readers who will learn basic facts. Upper is for independent readers in 3-6 grade who enjoy memorizing information. Dialectic is for children reading to learn in grades 6-9 and they will also learn to debate. Rhetoric students in grades 9-12 will be reading the great classics and analyzing and synthesizing ideas and arguments.

Each of the years cover a different time period. The years are divided into four units which include history, church history, literature, geography, fine arts, government, philosophy, and writing and composition. Logic, spelling, and grammar curriculum are also available through Lampstand Press. Each of the units are divided into weeks with lesson plans for each week. There is extensive background information included for the parent to read and know what the child will be learning about. I found the lesson plans to lack detail and would have liked a little bit more specific instruction. I like more structure in my teacher's guide and this one left you more on your own. For some parents, this may really appeal to them.

This program revolves around literature books. Very complete reading lists are included for each week. The are no books included with this program, although they can be purchased separately in their store. These lists can be a little overwhelming and have you coming out of the library with a huge stack of books, only to realize there is no way you are going to get through all of those books in one week. The list is meant for you to pick and choose and you really have to do that. There are a lot of good books included but you have to be realistic and know your child's level and how much time you have in a day. I found that this program can easily take up a large chunk of your day if you want it to. You are covering several subjects at once and that may make a difference for some families. This was tricky for us. Because my son is dyslexic, I had to do a lot of oral reading in order to keep him on grade level with the literature books. I also have other subjects that take up a lot of time so I had to work at keeping everything balanced. The nice thing about this curriculum though is you can pick and choose and make it work for your family. It is very flexible.

Here are the prices for these products:
Units can be purchased individually for $45 (digital) or $60 (printed)
1 Full Year Plan is $170 (digital) $225 (printed)

Here is a list of Pros and Cons:

Pros:

• flexible, you can pick and choose books, activities, and subjects
  
• quality literature to read
• Digital version is more affordable and you can just print what you need
• there is a forum you can join to learn and discuss topics with other parents using TOG
• schedules in a specific reading time with your child
• can move your child up or down in the different levels (I moved my son down for some independent reading and up for read-alouds)
• the supplemental materials you can purchase are very helpful
• reading lists are thorough and give you lots of choices in case your library is limited
• covering more than one subject at a time
  
• can be used with multiple children
• background information is provided for the parent to stay one step ahead
• there are scheduling tools provided to help your child take control of his learning and become more independent
• online help at The Loom, which includes general resources, project helps, booklists, literature helps, and writing helps
  

Cons:

• this program is very overwhelming at first and it will take a parent quite a bit of time to go through all the information and figure out how it works
• I had to go to several different places to read all the materials needed to understand the curriculum
• digital version is not as easy to navigate as having a hard copy in front of you
• the program is costly, although a little more affordable in digital, but for those with a large family, it would be beneficial in the long run
• it can take up a large chunk of time in your day if you try to do too much
• there is not a lot of guidance, which some may prefer but I did not
• there is a lot of teacher preparation involved each week
  

I was also able to review their Map Aids, which is a supplement that goes along with the curriculum. These are blank outline maps custom designed by Terri Johnson of KnowledgeQuest. They are wonderful and made a great addition to the geography aspect of each unit. The teacher keys are included also. My son really enjoyed these. The CD was nicely organized and easy to find the exact map needed for a specific learning level. These are priced at $24.95 and are available for Years 1 and 2 and in production for Year 3.

Overall I found there were things we liked about this curriculum and things we didn't. We did learn that we like the more relaxed style of learning history by snuggling up on the couch and reading together. My son has also become a little bit more independent because of the scheduling skills he developed. I did not like the amount of time it took me to prepare for each week. Because I do not have a large family, I'm not sure this is something I would have bought because it would not have been economical for us. I do see how it would be for large families though and being able to teach several different grade levels at one time would be very helpful to many parents.

There are sample lessons available online for you to try. To find out more about this company and all they have to offer, CLICK HERE.


Heidi Miller-Ford

Barchowsky's Fluent Handwriting

Barchowsky’s Fluent Handwriting was developed by Nan Jay Barchowsky and is an italic handwriting meant to produce legible handwriting at age-appropriate speed. Developing good rhythm is crucial to this, therefore practice exercises are used to help make the movements more automatic. The lower case letters look very similar to regular post-script handwriting but are taught with small exit strokes to make joining letters easier when it is time. A concept that is a little different than most writing programs is that a child should never write more than four or five letters without stopping and starting. Writing too many letters in a row can cause writing problems such as size and shape of letters and words.




There were three different products I reviewed from this company. The first was the BFH Fluent Handwriting Manual. This is very well written and a great reference tool. However, there is a lot of material covered in it and you will need to take a little time to read it over to understand the differences between this program and others. Once you have read it, it will become a wonderful tool to refer back to again and again as you teach your child. I really liked all the different examples included, as well as how the patterns are listed and which letters of the alphabet correspond to each of them. There is also a very useful section on the different writing problems that may occur and why they are happening.

There is a CD (for Mac and Windows) which comes with the manual that contains lots of instructional materials and worksheets to be used along with the program. There are topics you can click on that quickly take you where you need to go. The topics include:

1. Getting Started:

• Finding Your Way
• In the Beginning
• For Older Students
• Glossary
• Teaching Tips

2. Index: Begin through Level 4

3. Concept:

• Rhythm
• Posture
• Direction
• Lowercase
• Capitals
• Numerals
• On Your Own
  

4. My Pages: You can save any worksheet into this section and it will be there when you need it. I really liked this feature. It saved me a lot of time from searching when I needed to quickly print out a worksheet. As I looked through them when working on my lesson plans, I would quickly add them to My Pages and then when it was time to get all of my materials for school ready, all I had to do was print.

There is a wealth of information on this CD. The worksheets alone would be a great bonus, but there are also videos and gross motor activities for developing writing readiness. The pattern worksheets were designed in several different ways such as the shape of an animal or reptile to be more appealing to children. All of the worksheets for both younger and older students are kept short. This program is not meant to take more that 10-15 minutes a day. It is not necessary, nor recommended, that a child work longer than that. He will get results from a small amount of practice each day. That is one of the reasons this program will probably appeal to your child. He is not going to be sitting at a desk or table for an hour each day writing until his hand hurts.




The second product I reviewed was the Beginner’s Handwriting. There are 28 practice charts which can be used when introducing handwriting to your child. They are big (11 x 17) and meant to develop gross motor skills. They include warm up exercises, letters, and joined letters. I would highly recommend them for new writers. They can be used with a dry erase marker and easily wiped off to use over and over again. Your child will enjoy practicing the different patterns because they are more fun to do than just sitting and writing on regular paper. I wouldn’t say these are strictly for beginning writers. I actually used them with my son, who is eight, because he struggles with handwriting and I felt this would be a better way for him to practice the movements that needed to become automatic.




The third product I reviewed was the FIX IT WRITE manual. This came 3-hole punched and is meant to be put into a 3-ring binder. Older children who are struggling with writing, have some writing issues that need corrected, or need to be able to write faster will benefit from this. There are two parts:

Part 1: Things that may need fixing- This shows and discusses all the different problems with writing. It also covers posture and recommended writing surfaces to improve handwriting.

Part 2:

• Section 1: Print Script to Cursive with Italic Features- This is the groundwork for Fixing It Write and addresses how to fix the problems and includes 18 daily lesson plans.
• Sections 2: Conventional Cursive- If your child prefers the look of conventional cursive, this section gives instruction on how to improve writing in this style with 16 daily lesson plans.
  

This manual includes writing exercises within the pages themselves. They can be written on or taken out and duplicated so they can be used over and over for extra practice.

The Barchowsky Fluent Handwriting program is very flexible. What I liked most about it is that all lower case letters, with the exception of a few, are joined exactly like they are printed. For many children, the transition of print to cursive is an absolute nightmare because for several years they have been writing letters one way and now they are expected to write them a completely different way AND join them together. That is not the case with this program at all. What you print is what you will join. The capital letters are the same way. One alphabet is all your child will ever need to learn! Of course as they get older they can develop their own style and get a little more creative if they want to, but it is such a simple style to use and it is very attractive to look at.

There is also a font which can be purchased separately to use to create copywork or making up your own exemplars. This is a great way to create writing material that is of interest to your child.

I would highly recommend this program. I have used others and my son usually ended up in tears. He really enjoyed this and we will continue to use it. I myself have been trying to correct my own chicken scratch with it and hope to have more legible handwriting when I am done. I wish I would have known about this program when I was first introducing handwriting to my son. I will be using it with my daughter when she is ready.

The prices for the products I reviewed are as follows:

BFH Fluent Handwriting Manual: $65.95
Beginner’s Handwriting: $29.95
FIX IT WRITE: $17.95
Fonts: $25.00

To learn more about these and other products this company has to offer, please CLICK HERE.

www.bfhhandwriting.com

Heidi Miller-Ford

WriteShop Primary Review

If you have read my previous reviews, you know that I reviewed WriteShop's Story Builder cards. This time, I was given the opportunity to review their Primary Book A writing program. This is geared towards K-2 graders and is designed for parents to work along with their children. Students can work at their own level.

There are several schedules at the beginning of the book to help you with planning. One is a yearly schedule according to the grade your child is in. It will let you know how long it will take your child to complete the entire series (Books A, B, and C). The second is a weekly plan, which includes a one, two, or three week option. The third schedule explains how to teach children at different levels.

It is suggested to create a writing center or special place in your home where the child can go to write. This may be as small as a space at your kitchen table or as big as a separate area in your home. Then all you need to do is add the items from the material list (several of these items are things you probably already have) and it is ready to go. There are several suggestions made as to how to do this. I especially liked the portable word banks!

Each lesson focuses on a new skill and is taught around a specific theme. There is a list of themes for your child to pick from. This list has some great suggestions on it. There is sure to be something your child will be interested in. There is also a list of objectives to aim towards, materials needed, and any advanced preparation involved.

Activity Sets are a consistent part of each lesson, which will have Guided Writing Practice and one or more other exercises (except Lesson 1).
Here is the focus of each Activity Set:
Set 1: Guided Writing Practice-This gently encourages your child to expand his responses into complete thoughts.
Set 2: Pre-Writing Activities
Set 3: Brainstorming
Set 4: The Writing Project
Set 5: Editing and Revising
Set 6: Activity Set Worksheets- This worksheet set must be purchased separately and will be needed throughout the book.
Set 7: Publishing the Project- This is where your child's work will be turned into a book or other art form. There are wonderful hands-on activities, which is a great way to make this more multi-sensory for tactile learners.
Set 8: Evaluating Your Child's Work- Great way for you to see progress throughout the program and if you child is meeting the objectives,

Here is a list of what your child will learn in each lesson:
Lesson 1: Welcome to WriteShop Primary
Lesson 2: All About Me
Lesson 3: Choosing a Topic
Lesson 4: The Main Idea
Lesson 5: Story Structure
Lesson 6: Punctuation
Lesson 7: Writing with Rhyme
Lesson 8: Organizing Ideas
Lesson 9: Writing from Personal Experience
Lesson 10: Sequence of Events

This is a nice gentle approach to helping your child develop good writing skills at an early age. This is something that will be very valuable as they get older. A solid foundation is started, which you can continue to build on in the rest of the series.

WriteShop offers programs all the way through high school.

Prices for WriteShop Primary Book A
$26.95- print
$24.95- eBook
Worksheet Set
$4.95- print
$4.50 eBook

CLICK HERE to find out more about this program and other products they offer.
www.writeshop.com

Heidi Miller-Ford

Apologia's Flying Creatures of the Fifth Day Review

Apologia provides quality K-12 creation-based homeschool science curriculum. The book I reviewed was Exploring Creations with Zoology 1: Flying Creatures of the Fifth Day. This book is for the elementary level and contains 14 lessons about birds, bats, pterosaurs, and insects. These lessons can be divided into two segments to complete the book in 32 weeks. Some might wonder whether it's good to spend an entire year on zoology but Apologia believes that the benefits of the immersion approach far out weigh the spiral approach used in the the public school system.

There is a comprehensive list of materials needed for all lessons at the beginning of the book. As a parent who likes to be able to quickly find information, I appreciated this. If you don't want to take the time collecting these materials for each lesson, there is a kit you can purchase separately with all of these materials.

There are two methods of record keeping and evaluation used in this curriculum, which are different from the typical worksheets other curriculums use. Narration and notebooking are used instead to make learning information more meaningful and memorable. We are not a notebooking family here but many families are and if your children enjoy this method of recording information, this is a great way to do it. My son does not like to write and I often have to come up with alternative ways to show he has learned information. The suggestions in this curriculum for notebooking are mainly writing down what the student remembers from what he has learned and then illustrate it. I wish there would have been more creative suggestions for different ways to record this information for children who don't like to write. The narration part became one of the more important ways for him to show what he had learned. In addition to these two methods, there is a Scientific Speculation Sheet included at the beginning of the book, which can be used to record results of experiments done throughout the course.

The text contains a lot of information. Some (like the classification of animals) may be above your child depending on his age. But I am a firm believer in throwing the information our there and letting them pick up what they can. The text itself is written to the child and is a very easy and enjoyable read. Upper elementary students could easily read this on their own; however you the parent will enjoy it too!

"What do you remember?" questions are included in each chapter. This gives a nice way to review without having to come up with the questions on your own. Answers to all narrative questions are provided in the back of the book.

The projects and experiments were great! Some required more than household items but with a little extra time and preparation, they were worth doing. We really enjoyed this part of the book and it brought everything together. My son especially liked the glider experiment where he made two gliders with the only difference being wing size. They were then flown exactly the same way to see how this affected the distance of flight. The instructions for building the gliders were very simple and easy to follow.

This is a great science curriculum! We have learned a lot and really enjoyed using it. You will find yourself observing birds everywhere or looking for insects in a new light. There is also a course website where you can log on and your child can dig deeper into areas of interest. There are also lapbooks available that go along with this course.

The cost of the book retails for $35. To find out more about this book and the many other books they offer, please CLICK HERE.

http://apologia.com
help@apologia.com
Phone: (765)608-3280
Fax: (765)608-3290

Heidi Miller-Ford

TruthQuest History Review

TruthQuest History has thrown out the secular theory of teaching history. Even with reading good books the author says, "All that good reading will still be mere humanistic fluff unless your kids have first been 'primed' to look for the deep spiritual issues at work in the lives of all those people and events they're reading about." TruthQuest teaches history from a Biblical and spiritual point of view and shows why events happened in relation to God. This perspective is exactly what excited me about this review. I haven't used a history curriculum like it. This new point of view will definitely help your children see how history has been shaped from people who did and didn't make God an important part of their lives. It is extremely important for our children to learn that whoever is in charge of their lives (themselves or God) can influence their decisions in many different ways. Truths are discovered very slowly. By the end of the guide, it all comes together.



I reviewed American History for Young Students II (1800-1865). This is for grades 1-5. There is a wonderful introduction for the parent at the beginning of each new section. It gives a deeper explanation of what's being studied. However, it is written in such an easy to understand manner that upper elementary children could easily be assigned to read this independently. It could also be read aloud to younger children and they would understand it. Three ThinkWrite exercises are provided to help students think and internalize concepts. Answers are given in the back of the book, which can be used to lead discussions.

One of the things I think I loved most about this guide is its flexibility. You can choose to snuggle up on the couch with your children and read some good books or assign them to be read independently and discuss them later. There are some suggestions made for activities that can be done or you can choose to do none of them and simply read the literature. If you are someone who likes to have a lot of hands-on activities suggested, you may feel the need to supplement with a book specifically including activities. This guide would easily compliment other materials.

A list of books is given for each section. There are suggested grade levels provided for each book. I found this very helpful and am glad the author included them. If after looking through this extensive list of books, you still can't find an available one at your library, you can use any book you find on that particular subject. This curriculum is not dependent on a specific book. This is a huge plus if you have a library like mine that often doesn't carry books listed in guides. Many of the books on the list have a description given underneath to help you make an informed decision about which book may be right for your child. Some of the books included pertain to arts/crafts and or activities, which may provide some hands-on activities to use. There is a complete alphabetical listing of all the books included in an appendix in the back.

This guide is meant to be simply that- a guide. You can take it and make it fit your family. Whether you are teaching one child or several with a Charlotte Mason, classical, or eclectic approach, this will work for you. You can go as in depth as you want in a certain area and incorporate activities along the way, or simply enjoy some family time reading great literature. Either way, your children will be learning important truths along the way! This approach to history is exactly what I have been looking for. I wish I would have found it sooner!

Here is a list of the guides they sell:
Level 1 (best for grades 1-5) - American History
Vol. I ~ Exploration - 1800
Vol. II ~ 1800-1865
Vol. III ~ 1865-2000

Level 2 (designed for grades 5-12)
American Egypt/Ancient Greece
Ancient Rome
Middle Ages
Renaissance Reformation Exploration
Age of Revolution I
Age of Revolution II
Age of Revolution III


To find out more about this company and these guides, please CLICK HERE.

The guide I reviewed sells for $24.95, with the rest of them ranging anywhere from $24.95- 34.95. How long each guide will take depends on how slowly or quickly you decide to go through it and the age of your children.

www.TruthQuestHistory.com
info@TruthQuestHistory.com
HIStoryQuesters-subscribe@YahooGroups.com (an online discussion group)

Heidi Miller-Ford

Schleich Action Figures Review

Have you ever seen the adorable, extremely detailed animal figures that just stand out from the rest on the shelf at the store? Chances are they are by Schleich. All of Schleich's figurines are modeled true-to-nature and hand painted. They are extremely detailed and very high quality. All of their products are developed with the help of parents, teachers, and children.

We received seven animals from several of their categories to review. From the Farm Life, we received a cat, boar, hen, and Haflinger foal. From Wild Life, we received lion and panda cubs. And from Pets, we received a tortoise. My children were tearing into the box the moment they arrived. My son was so impressed with them, he didn't want to take the tags off because he wanted to keep them as collector's items. He also asked immediately where he could buy more of them. My daughter on the other hand had other things in mind. She snatched them up and added them to some other farm animals we have and started playing with them.

These figures are a wonderful way to encourage creativity. They can be incorprated into many activities in your home, helping to bring nature to your children. Not only will your children fall in love with them, but you, the adult, will find yourself falling in love with them as well. They are truly nice enough to be collector's items but yet sturdy enough for rough and tough play. Whatever your purpose, you will find yourself spotting them in stores and wanting to add to your collection.

Here is a list of the different categories of figures they carry: Farm Life, Wild Life, Forest Animals, Trees and Plants, Human Figurines, Pets, Dinosaurs, Dogs, Sea Animals, Prehistoric Mammals, Replica Saurus, The Smurfs, The World of Knights, The World of Elves, and World of the American Frontier. You can look at what is included in each of these categories if you CLICK HERE.

Schleich figures are sold at Target, Toys R Us, Amazon.com, and your local farm stores. Don't be fooled by imitations. Make sure there is a Schleich tag identifying the real thing.

To find out more about this company, CLICK HERE.

Heidi Miller-Ford