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

Alphabet Alley Review

A while back, I did a review on two great products from Alphabet Alley. I was given the opportunity to review another product of theirs called Our New Baby Magnetic Playset. Alphabet Alley is a wonderful family owned company and they do their best to provide the highest quality products to their customers. Due to new lead regulations from the CSPIA guidelines/laws, the Our New Baby Magnetic Playset is not available for sale right now.

However, this company has many wonderful other items you may be interested in. They have great games, sticker sets, wooden toys, and puzzles. All of their products are faith-based and send a positive message to children. Everything I have received from them has been very sturdy, high-quality, and so fun for my toddler aged daughter. Any one of their products would make a nice addition to the educational toys and games you provide for your child.

To check out any of these items, CLICK HERE.

Heidi Miller-Ford