A Breath of Fresh Air

**Disclaimer: I was not compensated in any way by Salem Ridge Press or TOS in exchange for this review. The opinions expressed are my own.**
For the past month I have had the privilege of reading three selections from Salem Ridge Press. Salem Ridge Press is an outstanding company which takes old books and republishes them. The books are scrutinized carefully to insure they adhere to the high values and standards of Salem Ridge Press. This is an excerpt directly from their website, by Daniel Mills, the founder and owner of Salem Ridge Press:

The underlying philosophy of Salem Ridge Press is found in the Bible: "Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things (Philippians 4:8)." Daniel firmly believes that what we read matters and what we take into our minds is a major factor in forming our ideas and character. His goal is to be a blessing to others by providing reading material that fits the qualifications outlined in the Bible. While not every title that Salem Ridge Press publishes is explicitly Christian, all of our titles have strong moral values and encourage positive character.

My family read Dearer than Life, The Captives, and The Sign Above the Door. Not all of my children are avid readers, so at first it was a bit of a chore to have them reading the books. However, once they got "into" the stories they were completely engaged and unable to put the books down. Around our house the highest praise a book can receive is children begging to read for "just 5 more minutes," and that is what happened with these stories. The stories are all completely appropriate and able to be used in any style of curriculum. They are all living books which makes them very appropriate for a Charlotte Mason style curriculum. They can be used for read alouds or for independent reading. The books are very reasonably priced at $14.95 for soft cover and $24.95 for hard cover (although not all titles are available as hard cover). The books are available for purchase through the Salem Ridge Press website, http://www.salemridgepress.com/index.html. Here is a closer look at the three books we have read. The first two are part of the Emma Leslie Church History Series. The third is part of the world history group.

Story Synopsis
Arriving home from a meeting of Parliament in London, Sir Hugh Middleton is shocked to learn that a neighboring monastery has laid claim to one of his fields. Sir Hugh steadfastly refuses to yield his property, and further offends the monastery by sending his younger son, Stephen, to study under Dr. John Wycliffe. At the same time, Sir Hugh sends his elder son, Harry, to serve as an attendant to the powerful Duke of Lancaster. As Wycliffe seeks to share the Word of God with the common people, Stephen and Harry and their sisters help spread the truth, but what will it cost them in the dangerous day in which they live?

Story Setting: England in 1366 - 1384 A.D.
Notable People and Events: Wycliffe, Richard II, English Translation of the Bible ; Originally published in 1885; 255 pages; For Ages 12 – Adult

Story Synopsis
The Druid priests are as cold and cruel as the forest spirits they claim to represent, and Guntra, the chief of her tribe of Britons, must make a desperate deal with them to protect those she loves. Unaware of Guntra’s struggles, Jugurtha, her son, longs to drive the hated Roman conquerors from the land. When he encounters the Christian Centurion, Marcinius, Jugurtha mocks the idea of a God of love and kindness, but there comes a day when he is in need of love and kindness for himself and his beloved little sister. Will he allow Marcinius to help him? And will the gospel of Jesus Christ ever penetrate the brutal religion of the proud Britons?

Story Setting: Roman England in 66 - 67 A.D.
Notable People and Events: Druids, Roman Centurions
Originally published in 1873; 169 pages; For Ages 12 – Adult

Story Synopsis
Young Prince Martiesen is ruler of the land of Goshen in Egypt, where the Hebrews live. Eight plagues have already come upon Egypt and now Martiesen has been forced by Pharaoh to further increase the burden of the Hebrews. Martiesen, however, is in love with the beautiful Hebrew maiden, Elisheba, whom he is forbidden by Egyptian law to marry. As the nation despairs, the other nobles turn to Martiesen for leadership, but before he can decide what to do, Elisheba is kidnapped by the evil Peshala and terrifying darkness falls over the land. An exciting tale woven around the events of the Exodus from the Egyptian perspective!


Story Setting: Egypt/The First Passover ~ 1500 B.C.
Originally published in 1912; 307 pages; For Ages 12 – Adult
We have thoroughly enjoyed reading each of these selections and look forward to reading more. To read more reviews of Salem Ridge Press products you can go to: http://homeschoolblogger.com/homeschoolcrew/783028/
Happy reading!!!

We are loving vocabulary!!!

I was so excited when I found out I would get to try New Monic Book's SAT Word Power Vocabulary Cartoons! I have a strong background in English, and I love to study words, but my children have not inherited this trait. On the contrary, vocabulary study is actually akin to drudgery among my children (my boys especially). When I received the book I couldn't put it down. It is so much fun to read. The big test, however, came when I assigned it to my tenth grade son to use for his vocabulary studies this year. His reaction shocked me! He loves the book! And, most importantly, he is retaining what he is learning. I am seeing him use words from the cartoons in his writing and he is actually using them correctly. Let me explain a little about how this book works.
Each page reads like a cartoon. And each page describes a different word. The words are arranged alphabetically. The entries depict the word to be studied, the phonetic pronunciation of the word, the definition of the word, a mnemonic device to help remember the word (the association link word), a cartoon picture depicting the word with a mnemonic caption, and the word used correctly in sentences. After ten word cartoon pages there is a brief review. I use the review as a little quiz. So far my son has scored 100% on all of them.

There are two editions of the vocabulary cartoons so far. New Monic's website (http://www.vocabularycartoons.com/home/) even has other products available that I think would be really fun to use. Their books are available on c.d., there are teacher products available such as blackline masters, and there are elementary versions of the vocabulary cartoon books.
The vocabulary cartoon book makes learning vocabulary so much fun that kids don't realize they are learning. I highly recommend using this vocabulary program either as a stand alone curriculum for vocabulary or to supplement whatever curriculum you are currently using. For students who are going to be taking the SAT exam this book is a must have! It is tremendously easier to remember the multitude of vocabulary words a student needs to know by using mnemonic devices. I have really enjoyed using Vocabulary Cartoons and will continue to use it. I can't wait to get the second book! SAT Word Power retails for $12.95. It contains 294 pages of vocabulary cartoons and reviews. It is quite a bargain for all of the words you can learn! Get ready for some giggles as your kids read!
To read other reviews about SAT Word Power Vocabulary Cartoons, you can go to http://homeschoolblogger.com/homeschoolcrew/783022/.
Disclaimer: I have received no compensation by TOS or its affiliates in exchange for this review. The opinions stated are my own.

Math help is on the way!!!

Teaching math is not for the faint at heart! I have been teaching for a lot of years, I won't mention how many because it makes me feel really old, and I have found that the one subject that usually petrifies parents is math. I, unfortunately for my children, am a math geek. So, I was skeptical when I was asked to try out "America's Math Teacher" computer based math tutorial. **I was not given any compensation for this review. It reflects my opinions, not the opinions of TOS. Well, skeptical as I was when I first received this program, I dove in and tried it out with my kids.

I will mention from the outset that the online program is very new and is not without glitches. Rick, the owner, is very good about correcting issues as they come to his attention. So, if you do use the program and run in to a problem, contact him politely and bring the problem to his attention and he will correct is as soon as he can. It is still a work in progress.

The online program is designed to provide math tutoring, or supplementation, to children who are at a pre-algebra/algebra readiness stage up to children studying algebra. Basic math skills such as fraction concepts, decimals, percents, and statistics are included in the Basic and Advanced Math sections. Concepts move into equation solving and other algebraic skills in the Pre-algebra and Algebra sections

The worksheets provided in each area are downloadable and are well-written. My kids really don't like showing their work in math, so they were thrilled to have math worksheets that they could work on scratch paper or in their heads and just write the answers! I would like for all of the worksheets for one subject to be located in a single file so I wouldn't have to go through all of the individual downloads, but that is my personal preference. The worksheets supplement the online video lessons. A fun feature of the program is the speed drills sections. I love this because I am really big on fast mental math!

The online video lessons are very informative. They are fairly easy to follow, for an older child, but they do move quickly. So, be prepared to stop, rewind, and play over sections several times.

There is an evaluation section available which contains online quizzes over different concepts. I know there have been some glitches in this sections, but they are being corrected.

I would recommend this program for anyone whose children need extra help getting ready for and studying Algebra. I don't think it would work as a stand alone math curriculum. It would be a good supplement. There are a few free items on the site that you can check out so you can "try before you buy." I would do that for sure.

The cost seems a bit steep, at first. But, there are hours and hours of video lessons and hundreds of worksheets available. Your $195 membership would definitely pay for itself if you really took advantage of all the features of the program. You can see the program at: http://www.americasmathteacher.com/

To read other reviews about the program, go here: http://homeschoolblogger.com/homeschoolcrew/783008/

Homeschooling Is a Labor of Love

We know how seriously homeschooling parents take their conviction to
homeschool. Our “Labor of Love” subscription sale is a celebration of
the commitment to homeschool, and we want everyone in your group to
know about the sale. We are offering a one-year print subscription for
just $7.95 or a one-year plus current issue print subscription for
only $12.95!

From August 31 through midnight PDT on September 15, the members of
your homeschool group can take advantage of our crazy prices! We want
everyone to benefit from this great value and that means we have to
spread the word. August 30 at midnight it starts, and it will end on
September 15 at midnight.

We only have 5000 of these subscriptions available;— once they'’re gone,
they’'re gone. The sale could end before midnight on September 15 if we
reach 5000.

Here is the main part of the message to send out, after you have
shared a little about your experience with TOS:

The Old Schoolhouse® Magazine is extending an extraordinary
subscription offer to homeschool families. Receive a one-year print
subscription for just $7.95 or a one-year plus current issue
subscription for $12.95. One-year subscriptions start with the winter
issue. The one-year plus current issue starts with the fall issue.
Only 5000 of these special subscriptions are available from August 31
through midnight on September 15. Once the 5000 are gone, they'’re gone!
Hurry and grab this crazy price today!

http://www.theoldschoolhousestore.com/homeschool/Labor-of-Love.htm

The End to Our Spelling Frustration!

I don't know about you, but calling out spelling words for multiple children is one of those tasks I would rather do without. I have six children. I was doing a little calculating the other night and figured I was calling out spelling words at least 360 times over the course of a school year. Now, if each list takes around 10 minutes, that means I was spending 3,600 minutes or 60 hours of our precious school time calling out spelling words. I was a little skeptical when I was asked to review Spelling City. I really was reluctant to let a computer take over this area. What I discovered through using the program changed my attitude entirely.

Spelling City is very affordable, first of all. A family can purchase a subscription for a year for around $25. There is also a free membership option. With that option you do not have access to the record keeping areas of the program and there are a few games you will not have access to. I would recommend trying the free option for a few weeks to see how you like it, then go on and purchase the premium membership. The membership is well worth the cost.

I used Spelling City with two of my children. One is a fifth grader and the other an eighth grader. I really wanted to check out the games to see if they were too juvenile for the eighth grader. Miraculously, he enjoyed them immensely as did my fifth grader. I was using the premium membership. The initial set up was very easy. I am not techno-savvy at all, so I really appreciate when a vendor takes pains to make setting up a program very user-friendly. I used the teacher options to set up my children in my grade book and assigned each of them their own personal log in and password. Then, each week I simply set up their spelling lists in the program. In retrospect, if I had really been on the ball, I would have set up all of their lists for the year at once. That way we just would have chosen the list each week. There are a lot of spelling curricula already set up in the Spelling City program. My curriculum was not, but entering the words was really easy. My children enjoyed being able to log themselves in when it was time to practice spelling. They would actually beg me to let them play their spelling games. There are lots of different options for games. They range from simply spelling the words, to identifying the correct word for a sentence, to writing sentences and paragraphs that are original. I was really impressed that the program wasn't simply a robotic "call out the words" program. If the students use the program regularly, they not only learn to spell the words but also learn the meanings of the words through context and usage. The premium membership does track their progress and even shows what they have been playing.

I can't say enough good things about Spelling City! We have thoroughly enjoyed using it. I didn't receive any compensation for this review. I was allowed to use the program for two months as a part of the Homeschool Crew. I highly recommend Spelling City. For more information about Spelling City, check out their website: http://www.spellingcity.com/. I hope your family enjoys it as much as we have. This is one program I am going to continue using. I am signing up for the premium membership today!

To see more reviews on this product as well as other Time4learning products go here: http://homeschoolblogger.com/homeschoolcrew/782954/