25 Truths: Life Principles of the Happiest & Most Successful Among Us–A Review

25 Truths: Life Principles of the Happiest & Most Successful Among Us is a short, devotional-style book written by Ed Douglas. As a certified financial planner and coach, Ed has had over 30 years of experience in many areas of the work force.  We always enjoy this type of book and were thrilled to receive it to use and review.
     This little book, which retails for $15.50 plus s/h, is intended to be used with kids in grades 6-12.  The book is 150 pages in length and is broken down into 25 readings with accompanying discussion-type questions.  If you are looking for a study on character and life truths for your teens, this is the ticket.  Some of the topics covered include:  ‘Set Goals and write them down,’ ‘Don’t Hate – Instead Forgive,’ 'Be Slow to Judge,' and 'Take Life One Step at a Time.' The readings include quotations from various sources such as scripture, famous people, and literature.  Ed also uses personal anecdotes and other stories to illustrate and reinforce each topic.  At the end of each reading are some questions for discussion.  They are pretty deep questions and generally I had to explain the questions as we had discussion time. Our family has been going through a challenging situation over the past year.  I have found 25 Truths to be motivating and thought provoking to me and my children.  It seems as though the reading we do each day is always appropriate for whatever issues we have been dealing with.  I have enjoyed being able to hear my kids hearts as we go through the discussion questions for each topic.  It is amazing what they will reveal in a relaxed devotional setting.
     We have been reading these truths together as family devotion time.  The readings only take about 5 minutes to read aloud and then we spend about 15 minutes (more or less) in discussion.  The readings are timeless and can be read and discussed many times over the years.  I want to go through the book again this fall with my kids, this time having them read each section alone and answer the discussion questions in writing before we discuss them together.  I am interested to see how their answers develop as they mature.  We have been enjoying our time together with this book.  It has opened avenues of discussion and prompted us each to dig deeper into some areas in our own Bible study times. I have been making notes of additional scripture passages that we look at and have been jotting down some of the items my kids have discussed as we go along.  They haven't found every single topic to be interesting, necessarily; but, they have all been relevant.  There is even one reading about using compound interest.  For my spendthrift kids, I think this reading was incredibly useful.  I recommend it to any family searching for a relevant, topical, study of character / life truths.
     My friends on the Schoolhouse Review Crew have been implementing the 25 Truths: Life Principles of the Happiest & Most Successful Among Us book also.  To read their reviews, click on the banner below.
 

Tunnel of Gold–a Review

Susan K. Marlow, author of the Circle C Adventures and Circle C Beginnings series, has released the first two books in a new series “Goldtown Books.”  Intended for readers in the 9-13 age bracket, these historical fiction chapter books are set in the 1800’s in Goldtown, California during the height of the gold rush. We received the second book in the series, Tunnel of Gold to read and review.
     I read this book in a couple of quick sittings and then gave it to my daughter to read.  At first glance, because of the picture of a boy on the cover, she thought it would be a ‘boy’ book and really didn’t want to read it.  I assured her there were character’s in the book who were girls, and she relented.  Once she got into the story, it was hard to get her to put down the book.  This is an intriguing story about a fight over property needed to open an air shaft for a new mine.  The two main characters, Jem – the sheriff’s son, and Will – the mine owner’s son, concoct a risky plan to save the sheriff’s job and the mine at the same time. Does it work? You will have to read the book to find out – I hate a story spoiler! The story has plenty of action and is completely clean and wholesome (not always the case for books these days). 
     Along with Tunnel of Gold, we downloaded the free Enrichment Study Guide from Susan Marlow’s website.  This 25-page study guide includes vocabulary and comprehension type worksheets, craft and project ideas, recipes from the time period of the book, and other extension activities.  By using the study guide and reading the book just a few chapters at a time, you could easily turn it into a unit study lasting a couple of weeks.  It only took us a little over a week, but we didn’t do all of the extension activities; we mainly used the vocabulary and comprehension sheets. 
     We have really enjoyed Tunnel of Gold. Priced at just $7.99, this high quality book has given us our adventure for the summer. It has prompted investigation about the period of the gold rush in California. As a matter of fact, now my kids want to find someplace that they can at least try and pan for gold. I am ready to purchase the first book in the series, Badge of Honor, and eagerly await other additions to the series.  Susan Marlow is a talented writer!  I just wish we had discovered her books years ago!
    My friends on the Schoolhouse Review Crew have been reading both books in the series.  To read their reviews, click on the banner below.
   
    

Review–High School Physical Science in Your Home

I am a science curriculum junkie.  Yes, I admit it.  I love to explore every science curriculum that I can get my hands on.  Most of the products I explore are traditional textbook style programs.  I have recently been able to explore Bridget Ardoin’s Science for High School course entitled High School Physical Science in Your Home.  We have been using this for about six weeks; and, I must say I am impressed.

     The High School Physical Science in Your Home comes complete with the Student Manual, a set of Quizzes and Tests, and a Teacher’s Guide.  It is designed to be a ‘research-based independent study guide for home school families.’ The entire set retails for $79.99 and extra student manuals are available for $24.99.  The course is designed for students in grades 9-12.  In Tennessee, kids can take Physical Science in eighth grade for ninth grade credit, so I am using this with my eighth grader and my 11th grader is reviewing it (he didn’t do well in Physical Science originally). The course is divided into two semesters with a total of twenty-five units covered.  The lessons are designed so that students are given a list of research questions to work on and a due date by which to have them completed.  Students are encouraged to use books, periodicals, the internet, and other reference sources to answer the questions thoroughly.  On the due date, the parent goes over the answers to the questions with the student.  Thorough answers are provided in the Teacher’s Guide.  This ensures students glean all of the pertinent information for each question.  One lab is assigned for each week.  The labs use equipment that is fairly common around the home. A list of supplies needed for each semester is listed in the Teacher’s Guide. For other equipment, lab kits are available for purchase through the website, beginning at $45. If desired, quizzes may be given once every week or so, and, a final exam may be given at the end of each semester.

     For my kids, this different style of curriculum has been a breath of fresh air.  They get quite overwhelmed with huge textbooks, especially in science.  Since it is summer, I didn’t give them a hard due date for assignments.  They typically were able to complete each assignment in 3-4 days which left us a couple of days each week to do the lab and prepare for a quiz.  Quizzes are their least favorite part of anything; but, if I go over the material thoroughly with them each week they are definitely prepared for the quizzes (with study on their part, of course). They have studied a variety of topics so far, including:  The Scientific Method and Air; Atmosphere; Weather; Weather and Climate; and Water.  They are away on a mission trip right now; but, when they return, they will begin a study of Astronomy.

     I have used many different Physical Science curricula over the years.  From a scope and sequence standpoint, this curriculum is comparable to other high school Physical Science courses.  The burden of learning is placed heavily in the student’s court, which is tremendous preparation for college.  Ardoin’s curriculum leaves lots of room for exploration and extension of topics.  Student’s are required to know certain facts about each lesson; but, beyond those facts they learn as much as they research.  I have found that my collection of Physical Science texts have been the most popular books used for my kids research.  It seems that when they aren’t having to just sit and read, they actually like the books.  I recommend this curriculum for any home schooling family that likes more research-based study.  It is thorough and simple to implement.

     My friends at the Schoolhouse Review Crew have been using this curriculum as well as other products from Science for High School.  To read their reviews, click on the banner below.

    

Mayan Mysteries–a Review

 Dig-it Games is a company that we have had some experience with in the past.  Lately, we have been playing their newest game, Mayan Mysteries.  I love to use games and technology in our homeschooling.  Mayan Mysteries combines both of these in an online game. 

     Geared toward kids ages 11 and up, this game operates with the storyline of challenging the player to stop a looter who is visiting ancient Mayan sites and digging them up.   Players go through challenges which involve reading short passages about Mayan culture and history, answering questions about those passages, exploring the Mayan calendar, and using the base-20 Mayan arithmetic system. In some of the other challenges, players analyze glyphs in order to solve a code.  Players are rewarded for their progress in the game.

    Unfortunately, this game has been more of a hit with me than with my kids.  They have learned some interesting facts about the Mayans, but it has been difficult to have them play the game.  This is not an action-filled constantly moving game.  The graphics are wonderful and the game moves without glitches or long pauses; but, my kids are more fond of more active computer games.  I think that if I had a mouse on my computer instead of a touchpad their experience could have been a little better.  Maneuvering through games is a bit cumbersome with a touchpad.  Also, my kids are on the older side of the age range.  I think kids in 6th – 8th grade would enjoy this as an educational supplement.  If I had presented it as such to my kids, I believe they would have enjoyed it more.  I think they were let down because I had touted it as a really fun, exciting online game.  I failed to tell them it was a game about ancient history.  Also, I didn’t care for mentions of spirits – even though I know that was part of the Mayan culture.  There is a little bit about warfare mentioned, not really a lot of violence as such, but parents need to be aware.  You can try a free demo here.  So, all in all, the game is very educational, it utilizes high quality graphics, and is entertaining; however, it was not a great fit for our family.

     Mayan Mysteries retails for $21.99 for a single-user license.  For an explanation of the single-user license, click here.  

   My friends on the Schoolhouse Review Crew have been using both the online and app version of Mayan Mysteries.  To read their reviews, click on the banner below. 

   

PreScripts Cursive Passages and Illuminations – a Review

     For several years now, I have been extremely concerned about the dying art of penmanship.  It seems that hand-written communication is passé, even among the smallest of children.  I believe there is a strong connection between retention of material learned and handwriting.  For that reason, I don’t allow my kids to type their schoolwork.  The only time they are able to type a paper is after the rough draft has been done by hand and edited.  Because of how important I feel good penmanship is, I was overjoyed to receive PreScripts Cursive Passages and Illuminations (Age 9-high school) to use with my kids and review.  Published by Classical Conversations, ‘a leader in the home-centered education movement,’ this penmanship practice workbook  not only will give your child opportunity to hone his/her handwriting but also will give him/her the chance to read excerpts from some of the great documents and speeches of our American history.

     This workbook, containing 144 pages, has been a fun part of our summer schooling.  I have been emphasizing the historical value of the passages with my kids because we are going to be studying American History this coming school year.  My 13 year old and my 16 year old have been using it for several weeks.  I really appreciate the fact that families are allowed to copy the pages for use with multiple children.  With this workbook, especially, it is great to have the freedom to copy the pages if one of my perfectionists wants to re-do a page!  Each passage is written in a beautiful cursive script.  Unlike most copywork-type workbooks, these passages are written with blank lines between each line so that the copying can be done immediately under the words that are being copied.  That is very helpful for tracking and accurate copying.  Each passage begins with a different style illuminated letter.  These are the ornate letters that,many years ago, were used frequently at the beginning of a passage.  Both of my kids are really interested in art, so these letters intrigued them.  On the page following each passage, the illuminated letter from the passage is reprinted with ample space for your child to try and recreate the illuminated letter. 

     Because I wanted to keep our studies a bit more interest-directed this summer, I let each child choose the passage and illuminated letter he/she wants to work on everyday.  It typically takes each of them around 30 minutes to do a careful job of copying the passage (some take less time) and to try and sketch the illuminated letter. This has been a great first activity for the morning. Because the passages included are very powerful, we have been able to get into some great discussions about our founding fathers, why this country came into existence, and about the ideals of some of our greatest presidents.  I felt a little bit old (ahem) when I discovered that many of the later passages were from speeches that I heard when they were given originally. That definitely was entertaining to my kids!

     We have had a great experience with PreScripts Cursive Passages and Illuminations.  I highly recommend it to anyone who desires to give penmanship practice that is more than just copying meaningless sentences.  There is some real meat to this curriculum.  Retailing for $12.99, it is a fabulous value.

     My friends on the Schoolhouse Review Crew have been using this product from Classical Conversations as well as several other products from this publisher.  To read their reviews, click on the banner below.

 

IEW - Review

As a homeschooling mom, I have struggled for years with trying to find a writing curriculum that would both instruct and engage my kids.  Until now, most programs I have tried have instructed, but the instruction was strictly old school book and paper and pen.  When I was given Institute for Excellence in Writing’s (IEW) Student Writing Intensive Level C (SWI) to use for this review, I discovered a vastly different writing curriculum.  Along with the SWI program, I received the Teaching Writing: Structure and Style (TWSS) set which is for instructors (in any educational setting). 

     IEW is the brain-child of Andrew Pudewa.  The courses are based on a seminar originally taught by Dr. James Webster. With his blessing, Pudewa has developed his seminar courses so they can be used as a comprehensive writing curriculum.  When my products arrived, I dug in to the TWSS set.  I have my degree in English, and have taught for many years; however, I have never seen writing presented in the way Pudewa presents it.  The TWSS set contains 10 dvd’s and a seminar notebook complete with all needed handouts.  It retails for $169.00.  After following the directions to organize the notebook, using TWSS was as simple as putting the dvd in my computer and following along in my notebook.  Since I am a relative newcomer to IEW, going through the TWSS was extremely informative.  The dvd’s show Mr. Pudewa in a seminar interacting with participants.  It makes you feel like you are actually at one of his seminar’s. Although it takes a few hours to complete the entire TWSS, it is invaluable for learning how to teach writing using the IEW curriculum. 

     Once I completed my training, I was ready to let my son begin his SWI.  He is working in Level C, which is designed for students in grades 9-12, whether or not they have had previous IEW instruction.  The SWI set contains the DVD lessons, the  student handouts, a student binder, and daily lesson suggestions for the teacher/parent. It retails for $109.00. A value package containing both the TWSS and SWI is available for $249.00. It is a very easy-to-implement curriculum.  Being in 11th grade, my son is very independent in his work; so, I simply had to show him how the system worked and he has been able to take off with it.  He watches the appropriate lesson segment on Monday of each week and then uses the rest of the week to complete the assignments.  Typically, the assignments include things like writing a key word outline from an existing passage, re-writing the passage from the key word outline, and using ‘dress-ups’ to improve the quality of the written work.  Messy papers before the final notebook copy are encouraged.  I think that fact alone won my son over!  He is the type of writer who scribbles out instead of erasing.  (A trait that drives mom crazy!)  With IEW, however, it is ok to allow the mark outs and scribbles as the creative process is taking place.  A checklist for assignment requirements is given which  makes grading very quick and easy.  I can see great improvement not only in my son’s writing after 6 weeks of lessons, but also in his ability to pick out important information and take notes.  His observational skills are being honed along with his writing and editing skills.  This learning process has impacted him in many areas beyond just writing.

     Our experience with SWI and TWSS has been so positive that I purchased the SWI Level B to use with my eighth grader. I can tell we will be using this curriculum for the rest of our homeschooling journey.  On a funny note, we live in Tennessee and when my kids first watched the dvd, they laughed and laughed at the Canadian accent they heard.  I forgot to tell them to expect that!  It reminded them of some of their cousins who were raised in Canada.  We have had a lot of fun with it. 

    Other crew members have been reviewing several of IEW’s stellar products.  To read their reviews, visit the main crew blog by clicking on the banner below.

 

Moving Beyond the Page Curriculum - Review

As a member of the Schoolhouse Review Crew, I have had the privilege of using and reviewing many different curriculum products over the past few years.  I love being able to try these products in our own homeschool setting and telling my readers about our experience. 

Moving Beyond the Page has been no exception.  We were given the choice of a literature study and either a social studies or science study.  We received the literature study for A Girl Named Disaster (online version) and the social studies unit Egypt and Mesopotamia.  Both of these units are designed for students ages 11-13, so I have been using them with my 13 year old daughter.

     Moving Beyond the Page is a literature-rich curriculum that emphasizes critical thinking skills and synthesis of information.  The curriculum is available as full semester or full year packages or can be purchased as individual units for supplementation of your existing curriculum.  Before our materials arrived, I had some concerns that it might not be challenging enough for my 13 year old.  Those concerns were quickly abated.  This is a very challenging curriculum.  Like most curricula, however, it is simple to choose activities which are the best for your student.

      Our literature study was the online version.  This retails for $23.92 and includes a paperback version of A Girl Named Disaster, online access to the literature unit, and a cannonball gourd (a supply needed for one of the activities).  I have mixed feelings about the online version. It includes all of the teacher information as well as student handouts.  I like being able to print out just the written materials that my daughter needs to complete an assignment; but, the materials are arranged so that you have to open each lesson individually.  I am a ‘big picture’ planner and would have preferred to have all of the material as one large .pdf so I could peruse and print more quickly.  For my daughter, however, the online option was great.  I could have the lesson directions opened up for her and she could just follow along.  She is working on reading speed and comprehension, so she typically had to complete her reading one day and work on assignments for the lesson on the next day.  Through this study she has learned about African culture, Geography, and customs.  Her least favorite activities have been the writing assignments (mainly because she hates to write).  Her most favorite have been the hands-on assignments like designing a quilt and carving the cannonball gourd. She also enjoys the links provided to enrich different parts of the lessons. These are definitely easier to use with the online version.

     The Egypt and Mesopotamia Social Studies unit we received was the spiral bound version.  This retails for $36.98 and includes the curriculum guide and The Usborne Internet-Linked Encyclopedia of the Ancient World. The curriculum guide contains the same materials as the online version, just in hard copy.  All of the teacher notes, handouts, and student instructions are included.  For my needs, I would have preferred the student materials be separated into another workbook because it would have been a little easier to use.  I like being able to have my teacher materials available to use for planning, answering questions, and checking work at the same time as my kids have their materials.  The lessons in this unit study varied in length from lessons that took my daughter around 30 minutes to complete to lessons that took her several days to complete.  The reading assignments were the main component that caused her to need extra time for some lessons.  We have been studying Africa and the Middle East in our Geography lessons, so both the literature unit and this Social Studies unit coordinated nicely with that study. The lessons look at both ancient and more modern features of the Egypt and Mesopotamia region.  The Usborne Internet-Linked Encyclopedia of the Ancient World is used for the reading assignments. It is absolutely beautiful! It is one of those books that the kids like to sit and look at for fun.  We have just used blank paper for timeline assignments.  There are timeline components to use with this curriculum that can be purchased separately, but we were not able to do this yet. 

     Overall, our experience has been positive with these Moving Beyond the Page products.  I would recommend trying an individual unit before purchasing an entire semester or year package, just to make sure that the format and content works for your family.  Other members of the Schoolhouse Review Crew have been using many different units from Moving Beyond the Page.  To read their reviews, click on the banner below.