TOS Review - Grapevine Studies - Old Testament 1: Level 3 Creation to Jacob

 

There are many ways and avenues that a parent can use to help teach the Bible to their children. Lots of choices out there and sometimes it can be quite time consuming and confusing to wade through all the available curriculum and decide what is best for your family. Some families choose to simply read from the Bible and discuss, while others will buy specific types of Bibles studies and curriculum to help flesh the Bible out and to understand scriptures and Bible doctrine better. All of these are wonderful avenues to delve more into the Bible and really as long as you are picking up your Bible to read and study you are doing well. Sometimes though a product comes out that is very unique and appeals to children in particular. We were asked to review such a product. Through the TOS Review Crew we used and are now posting a review for Old Testament 1: Level 3 Creation to Jacob from Grapevine Studies. 

 

 

 

We were given a digital version of this level to review and I used it with my 4 tutoring students, three 11 year olds and one 13 year old. This level is recommended for ages 10 - 12 with pricing ranging from $10.00 - $37.50 for different books, teacher guides, and licenses for copying and using with multiple children.

 

I have seen this product multiple times at different homeschool conventions and always thought what a unique way it was to teach children about the Bible. At the time I had seen this product I felt my daughter was too old to benefit from it even though she is very artistically inclined and would have loved something like this when she was younger. I was blessed to still be able to use it with my tutoring students which were more in the age recommendations. I really enjoyed using this product with them and felt on many levels it would help children learn and retain information about the Bible. We used this for our devotion time each day. As the title says the material in this level and product was Creation to Jacob. The lessons are structured to either be completed on a weekly basis or daily. Either way you will be looking at once a week for 12 weeks or daily for 45 days.

 

Each lesson involves reading scripture to the children or on their own. Once the scripture is read a large box is provided for the children to draw the stick figure representations that are provided for that particular scripture. The Teacher's Manual has all the stick figures and colors provided as well as discussion between the teacher and student/s. Certain stick figures and symbols are used repeatedly to remind children of particular events and people from the Bible. Also included in each lesson is a timeline review where the figures and symbols are drawn over and over each week/lesson for review. There are review questions and memory verses as well for each lesson. It is imperative that you purchase the Teacher's Manual and not just the student books. The Teacher's Manual has all the information you need for drawings, discussion, etc.

 

 

 

 

   

There are multiple levels and topics available. This curriculum would be perfect for children that are artistic, but the simplicity of the drawings will work for anyone. In other words no artistic ability is required to be able to use this product. It could be used for home education, private schools, and even in church for children's Sunday school classes.

 

 

 

The website is very helpful with many pages of information about where to start and how to use the curriculum.

 

Information About The Levels

 

How to Choose? Where to Start?

 

Samples - All Levels and Books

 

This is truly a very unique and economical way to teach your children the wonderful stories and doctrine from the Bible. I would recommend this to just about everyone. It works in all kinds of settings and I feel it would be something children would really look forward to using each day as well as all the review that will help the children retain the information studied. Be sure to visit their website and check out all the topics and levels that are available. Also see what other reviewers from TOS Review Crew had to say about their books.

 

 

 Social Media:Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/GrapevineStudies
Twitter: https://twitter.com/grapevinestudy
Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/grapevinestudy/
Google+: https://plus.google.com/u/0/+Grapevinestudies/posts
Periscope: @Grapevine Studies

 

 

   

TOS Review - The Critical Thinking Co. - Surfing the Net: Science

 

Have you ever wondered how children learn to research topics, especially on the Internet? For some children this comes very naturally, and for others it might be a bit of a struggle. Which websites, articles, and answers are legit? This new product from The Critical Thinking Co.  may not have all those answers, but it does give the student lots of practice in researching on the Internet. We were asked to use and review Surfing the Net: Science through the TOS Review Crew. I was pleasantly surprised by how much I like this product. The  Critical Thinking Co. puts out award winning products all the time, so really I shouldn't be surprised at all.

 

 

 

Surfing The Net: Science is 250 pages chockfull of learning. We received a physical softcover edition to review. This product is recommended for grades 3-6 and retails for $24.99. For what you get this is a very economical find. The book has 7 sections of science topics. The beginning of the workbook contains information related to how to use the book and the answers to all the questions can be found at the end of the book. Each section has smaller sub-sections that are sub-topics related to the main theme of the section. So far we have finished all of the Space section and about half of the Animal section. Topics included in the book are: Animals, Atmosphere, Ecosystems, and Habitats, Energy, Geology, Plants, and Space. I choose the first topic, Space, but soon learned the kids had other plans. I wrote all the other science topics on the board and let them vote on the next section we would use. Surprise, Surprise - it was Animals. What kid doesn't enjoy learning about animals. Then we obviously had a 2nd, 3rd, 4th, etc. So in other words we have the remainder of the year planned out as to which section of the book will be next. This should clue you in to the fact that I do really like this product and plan on continuing with it until the end of the school year.

 

Each science topic has specific links to articles, games, videos, etc. that have been researched to be valid and child friendly sites to find the information needed to answer all the questions. The worksheet pages are in color, and leave plenty of room for writing. In other words, very pleasing to the eye. I used this product with four tutoring students 3-5 days a week. This meant we were usually able to finish one sub-section a week and sometimes start on a second. I would say that three out of the four enjoy using this product. Surfing the Net: Science is the perfect product to teach students how to find information on the Internet. I really love that I can copy the worksheets and use them with multiple students.

 

Yesterday the kids where researching images of an animal cell which they needed to draw and label for a question in the packet.

 



My students used smart phones, pads, kindles, and computers for this workbook.

  

 

We were blessed to review another product from The Critical Thinking Co. last year and we have never been disappointed with the quality of their materials. Literally you can find over 150 books and other educational materials on the website to purchase. I would recommend this company to any type of homeschooler. The materials they produce can be worked in to any type of educating method. This product could be used as a complete science curriculum. All you would need to do is use all the topics as jumping off points, kind of like Unit Studies, then add and build as much as you wanted from other areas. Please go to The Critical Thinking Co. and check out all the wonderful products they have to offer. Also take time to read some of the other reviews from the TOS Review Crew.

 

 

Social Media:

 

https://www.facebook.com/TheCriticalThinkingCo

https://plus.google.com/114500823774999703181
https://twitter.com/criticalthinks
https://www.pinterest.com/source/criticalthinking.com/

 



 

 

 

   

TOS Review - Ann McCallum Books - Eat Your U.S. History Homework

  It is always a fun school day when you can find a way to work in a hands on activity or experience. I truly believe these type of activities help children remember concepts better. Also it doesn't hurt when those experiences involve food. My tutoring kids range in age from 11 - 13, all with large appetites, especially for sweets. We were offered the opportunity to use and review, Eat Your U.S. History Homework from Ann McCallum Books, which definitely came under the category of yummy eating in the form of education.       The author of Eat Your U.S. History Homework, Ann McCallum, has a Masters Degree in Education and has lived in very interesting places around the world. She has written other books as well, including; Beanstalk: The Measure of a Giant, Rabbits, Rabbits Everywhere: A Fibonacci Tale, Eat Your Math Homework, and Eat Your Science Homework.   Eat Your U.S. History Homework is 47 pages long and retails for $15.95. We received a hard cover book to review. The book is filled with adorable, colorful illustrations. Eat Your U.S. History includes and Introduction, Kitchen Tips, six recipes with accompanying historical information, History Review, Glossary, and Index. The six recipes include:   Thanksgiving Succotash Colonial Cherry-Berry Grunt Lost Bread Southern Plantation Hoe Cakes Revolutionary Honey-Jumble Cookies Independence Ice Cream   Each recipe comes with a historical page of information for that time in history that the dish was served. The recipe is on a two-page spread including ingredients and instructions (both in written and picture form). The two pages following the recipe contain more information about history and a "side dish", which highlights a person or event from the specified time period.  

 

I have included information about the three recipes the kids enjoyed the most. First up is Revolutionary Honey-Jumble Cookies. Basically what we now know as a Snickerdoodle. It was incredibly interesting to read in this section about how Americans are more fond of Coffee than the English of their Tea. I won't spoil it so that you can go out and get the book. The cookies were gone in a blink of an eye.

 

Independence Ice Cream was a hoot to create. Very creamy and delicious. The kids absolutely loved this activity. Very few ingredients but lots of elbow grease to make it work.

 

The Colonial Cherry - Berry Grunt was also delicious. I originally made this for my kids to try, but some of them are a bit picky. I took most of it over to a family dinner instead and saved just a small portion for the kids the next day. My family devoured their portion and as I thought only one of the students really liked it. I had never heard of creating a cobbler like dish in a skillet, so this was very interesting to create.

 

 

This book could be used in a few different way. In our case many of the history time periods matched up to what we are currently studying, especially Squanto, the first Thanksgiving, and the Pilgrims and Puritans coming over to America from England. My daughter Grace helped me cook the Cherry-Berry dish and I am counting it as part of her Home Ec. credit. With the tutoring students we read all the historical information, discussed the differences in cooking then and now, and of course tasted all the great food. I would really like to check out the Eat Your Math Homework because all my kids hate math and would actually like to eat their math homework sometimes.

 

Cute books! Great recipes! Easy ingredients! Be sure to go check out what all the other reviewers from the Crew thought about their books.

 

 

 

     

TOS Review - Apologia Educational Ministries - The Ultimate Homeschool Planner

 

Hello, my name is Diane and I'm addicted to planners, calendars, and homeschool planning. Not just any type of planner, but to be specific - paper planners. Give me something I can write on any day over online stuff. Very old school in that arena. Everyone in my family kids me about the fact that my spiritual gift is organizing and planning. I was pleased as punch to be chosen to review The Ultimate Homeschool Planner from Apologia Educational Ministries.

 

Apologia is very well known for their science and Bible curriculum. We currently use both in our home, but not many people are aware of their product, The Ultimate Homeschool Planner by Debra Bell. This planner is for the homeschool moms, although similar versions are also available for the teen students in the household. The Ultimate Homeschool Planner is 279 pages and retails for $29.00. There are three versions available in blue, orange, and yellow (I got yellow) - all constructed well, durable, and very pleasing to the eye.

This planner has all the options for planning in the modes of daily, weekly, monthly, yearly, or all of the above. Quite frankly a planner's paradise at your fingertips. It accommodates up to six students (perfect for me with Grace and 5 tutoring students). Forty - eight weeks are available for all the weekly planning needed to make a home and homeschool run smoothly.

The first two pages equals eight years of calendars at a glance. This is has been very helpful in the recent days as I have used it numerous times to help plan our spring Cooperative schedule.

  

The planner begins with a letter from the author and then immediately goes into the user's guide which includes: how to use the product, yearly planning retreat, monthly planning sessions, weekly planning breaks, Monday morning tutorials and Friday afternoon reviews. The morning tutorials and Friday reviews are actually found in the student planners, but the Ultimate Planner shows the moms how to incorporate it into your their routines.

Between the users information and the monthly calendars you will find two page layouts for one year planning grids, student character and academic goals for the year, list areas for family priorities, and resource/curriculum lists for each student.

  

The next section includes all the monthly calendars. They are blank templates where you can write in any month and dates. Following this is all the weekly planning sheets. They include areas to write down all your information for the weekly Bible and Battle Plan, who to pray for, and who you might need to help in the areas of hospitality and outreach as well as the accomplishments the family has made during the week and all the academic plans. This is actually the bulk of the planner.

The end of the planner has a small section devoted to recording student's grades, multiples pages for reading and field trip lists, information about motivating learners of different learning styles, thinking skills, planning for the high school years, and year end review pages.

The parts I have used the most is the monthly calendars, gleaning information about motivating learners, pages related to setting academic and behavior goals for the year, recording scores, and adding to reading lists. It has been hard for me to remember to utilize the weekly planning sheets as often as I would like and figure out a way to make them best work for me. For my unbelievably crazy schedule I do need more space in the squares of the monthly calendars than what is provided. I do love the two sturdy pocket areas in the front and back of the book. They come in very handy for holding school calendars, appointment pages from doctor's offices, and other miscellaneous items that are needed to plan all our lives. Unlike a lot of moms I carry a really big purse. When I go to buy a new purse I always make sure it is large enough to accommodate my planner. Luckily my current purse is big enough for this planner and it stays with me at all times. My days and weeks are so busy I would be lost without a planner. The Ultimate Homeschool Planner has fit right in with my planning and scheduling. All in all I believe it is a beautifully put together planner that I hope to use throughout this school year and find more ways to make it have a balance of working for my home and tutoring students.

Social Media:Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/apologiaworld/timeline

Twitter: https://twitter.com/apologiaworld
Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/apologia/
Google+: https://plus.google.com/105053356034237782125

Remember to visit this link to the TOS Review Crew and check out how other families used this product in their home.

   

TOS Review - Super Teacher Worksheets - Individual Membership

 

As a homeschooling parent what would you think of a website that could offer you thousands of printable worksheets? All in one convenient location? How about a generator to create your own worksheets? What if the website was extremely economical? That is what I was offered to review through the TOS Review Crew. An Individual Membership to Super Teacher Worksheets. This membership will run you $19.95 a year and most of the worksheets are for ages K - 5th grade. A few resources can be found for 6th, 7th, and 8th grade. The creators of Super Teacher Worksheets is currently working on adding even more resources for the higher grades.

 

 

   

Subjects included on this website are:

 

Puzzles and Brain Teasers

Holidays

Social Studies

Science

Spelling

Grammar

Handwriting

Phonics

Reading and Writing

Math

And so much more!!

 

I currently tutor three 6th graders, one 5th grader, and one 8th grader. All of the students were able to utilize the worksheets in one way or another. We jumped all over the place using worksheets from many different categories. Even though technically three of my students are somewhat out of the age range - they used many of the worksheets for review or reintroducing topics they had forgotten. The kids loved most working with the Puzzles and Brain Teasers section. My favorites were the math and map skill sections. All children end up with gap in their education. Topics that were touched on, but not in depth, while others on the parents part are simply forgotten to be taught or you run out of time. Super Teacher Worksheets seems to be an easy, affordable way to address some of those gaps. This was truly perfect for me to use in so many different ways. Sending home for homework worked out wonderfully as the worksheets instructions were easy for my students to follow at home on their own. Usually once all other work was completed for the day these were also easy to hand out as extra work. I found the navigation of the website to be incredibly easy and the placement of all the resources easy to find.

 

 

 

 

 

 

We were able to accomplish 1-2 worksheets Monday - Wednesday then I would send home two worksheets as homework. We worked on the following concepts:

 

 

Latitude and Longitude

Map Scales

Basic Map Skills

Measurement

Graphing (Mystery Graph Pictures)

Symmetry

Reading and Comprehension

Synonyms and Antonyms

Editing and Proofreading

Halloween Related

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

What I plan on using in the future:

 

Multiple Choices and Fill in the Blank Generators for Tests in History and Science

Flashcards for Vocabulary Words

Many of the Other Generator Options

 

This website also has some other very interesting aspects:

 

Both for Homeschoolers and Teachers

Over 10,000 Available Resources

More Than Just Worksheets Available

A Filing Cabinet online to Store Favorites

Generators for Quizzes, Crosswords, Etc.

Very Affordable at Just $19.95 a Year

Spanish Translations Available

Very Easy to Navigate Website

 

This is one of those products that there are no downsides - you just can't go wrong with purchasing an Individual Membership from Super Teacher Worksheets. Check out what other Reviewers from the Crew though of this product.

 

 



Social Media:https://www.facebook.com/superteacherworksheets

https://twitter.com/superteacherwks
https://instagram.com/superteacherworksheets/
https://www.pinterest.com/superteacherwks

 

 

 

 



 

   

TOS Review - Classical Conversations - The Conversation

In the homeschooling world there are many different methods used for educating your child. Sometimes it can be overwhelming and confusing, simply because of the plethora of methods currently available. In our home we have tried many including Charlotte Mason, Textbook, Literature Based, and some Classical. Over the years it has evolved into a more eclectic feel including all of the above. Early on in our homeschool adventure we even attended a Classical Private School for a couple of classes. More and more of my homeschooling friends have joined Classical Conversations groups in our area and rave about its benefits with their children. Recently I was given the opportunity to read and review The Conversation from Classical Conversations. I felt a little background information may be helpful to my readers in how I formed my opinion of the book.

 

 

 

Let's begin with "What is a classical education"? Classical education is explained and referred to by three main stages; Grammar, Dialectic, and Rhetoric. The Grammar Stage is basically memorizing all the rules for each subject. For example sounds of the words, capitals for cities, grammar rules, muscle groups, and so much more through songs and chants as well as good old fashioned memorizing and reciting. The Dialectic Stage takes learning a step further by having the student take the information that was learned and start comparing and sorting it. The third stage is call Rhetoric and by this point the student utilizes all the information they have learned to give speeches, debate subjects with teachers and classmates, participate in great discussions, and create presentations.

 

The Conversation by Leigh A. Bortins is a book dealing mainly with how to teach high schoolers in the Rhetoric Stage. The Conversation is the third installment completing a set of books geared toward teaching your child classically.

 

Leigh Bortins is not only the author of this book, but also the CEO and founder of Classical Conversations. She has a degree in Aerospace Engineering, completed a Doctoral program in Global Education, speaks on her own radio show, writes on a personal blog, and still has time to raise and educate her own family. This is one busy woman.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Conversation is a 254 page book written to help guide parents through the process of educating a high school age student through a classical education. The book is divided into three main parts: High School at Home, The Rhetorical Arts, and Appendices. Part Two with Rhetorical Arts is the bulk and meat of the book. The section includes chapters on every subject; Reading, Speech and Debate, Writing, Science, Math, Government and Economics, History, Latin and Foreign Languages, and Fine Arts. Each subject/chapter describes how to teach it classically to a high school student in the rhetoric stage and shows plenty of examples of how the discussions and presentations would take place. The appendices contains conversation games to use with the student, common literary/rhetorical devices, with terms and definitions, resources, and a small section of parent responses about a classical education.

 

After reading the book in my opinion it is definitely geared toward families and parents that educate classically, but I was able to glimmer some nuggets of information that could be used in our homeschooling endeavors. I love learning new things and The Conversation definitely taught information and terms that were new to me. I have many friends that have chosen the route of teaching classically and have joined Classical Conversations. I plan on gifting this book to one of the families that has or will have a high school student soon as well as tell all the other families that there is a great book available to help them negotiate the classical high school path. The Conversation is a must read for all parents teaching classically to high school students.

 

The Conversation can be found at Classical Conversations. Be sure to see what other Crew Members thought after reading The Conversation.

 

 

 

Social Media:

 Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/classicalconversations
Twitter: https://twitter.com/classicalconv
Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/classicalconv/
Google+: https://plus.google.com/117616164250444350670/posts
Instagram: *not currently in use*
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/ClassicalConv

 



 

   

TOS Review - SmartKidz Media - SmartKidz Media Library for Homeschoolers

 

Homeschoolers use a variety of tools to help educate their children. Students learn best in so many different ways. Two of our most important avenues of learning happen to be visual and audio. Over the years we have used so many video or streaming based products. This year alone we used a video based product for History and also supplemental materials for Biology in the same format. We have also listened to classical music (composer study), audio dramas (enhancing books we have read or dramas based on historical events), and books on tape (while drawing, etc.) many, many times during our nine years of homeschooling. When the opportunity to review SmartKidz Media Library for Homeschoolers from SmartKidz Media cam about it seemed like a win - win situation. Through the TOS Review Crew and SmartKidz Media we were blessed with the opportunity to review this new product with a full year's subscription.

 

  

SmartKidz Media has made available over 1,000 media related items to homeschoolers to implement into your educational adventure. The types of media that are available, but not limited to, include; videos, music, ebooks, interactive study guides, games, and more in an online streaming format. Currently they offer 2 different payment plans - a monthly membership for $10.00 and a yearly membership for $99.00 as well as a free 14 day trial. SmartKidz Media is adding new media materials to their already large catalogue often. With a membership your family can utilize all the materials anytime, anywhere, and on any type of device. Current compatible devices include: PC, MAC, IPHONE, Tablets, Mobile Phone, and Roku Boxes. Below you will find the different categories now available in the SmartKidz Media catalogue:

 

World of Discovery (animal wildlife, culture, history, science, travel, exercise, and more)

Music and Fine Arts (music playlists from famous composers, jazz, relaxation, etc.)

Mighty ebook Collection

Baby Signs Program

My Animal Family

Quickfind Study Guides

Learning Special Needs (interactive books, supplementary materials in PDF format)

Living Skills Program

Ready Set Sing

Fun Zone (games)

 

 

 

 

 

This educational site could be used in so many different ways. As far as the videos go, they could be used as a supplement to many different studies pertaining to science, history, and geography. You could easily pick one or two videos that contain common topics and build a study around them. There are opportunities to include videos for exercise (P.E.), life skills (cooking lessons), and travel (geography).

 

The Quick-Find Study Guides is overflowing with rules and definitions for language arts, math, science, and social studies. Coming soon this section will also include study guides for Spanish and Accounting. The Fun Zone is an area many younger students will enjoy through games, jokes, riddles, and puzzles. Families with babies and very young children will enjoy the Baby Signs Programs that teaches sign language through video. So far I haven't even covered half of what is available. Truly, SmartKidz Media has something for every member of your family.

 

In our home my younger students concentrated on the animal and wildlife videos. This year in science we studied birds and insects that fly so we gravitated toward videos that supplemented the learning in those areas. In August we will be studying oceans and swimming creatures. I have already seen many videos we can use for that area of study as well. My favorite sections were the music playlist. Listening to famous composers while performing chores around the house made the chores much more pleasant than usual. Recently my husband and daughter have become fascinated with sushi (not me). I was thrilled to see that the Lifestyles and Cuisine section had a video on how to create all kinds of sushi. I watched the video and it almost made me wish that I enjoyed eating sushi. I was very excited to see the videos on World War II and the Cold War added to the catalogue and I am eager to share those with my high school student.

 

 

Go check out the 14 day free trial from SmartKidz Media and see if this might be a good fit for you and your family. Also see what other Crew Members thought of this product.

 



Social Media:

 

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/smartkidzhomeschool

Twitter: https://twitter.com/smartkidzmedia



 

   

TOS Review - CTC Math - 12 Month Family Plan

 

My long time readers are already familiar with posts I have written in the past about how much Grace despises math, especially Algebra. In 9th grade she had so much trouble that she barely passed with a C. In light of those struggles we decided to have Personal Finance as her 10th grade math and take a step back from some of the higher math concepts. Fast forward to this summer - Grace has signed up to take Geometry through a hybrid program at a local Christian private school - and she knew she wanted to brush up on reviewing her Algebra 1 concepts. Next thing I know a review pops up from CTC Math with a 12 Month Family Plan. This really could not have come at a better time for us and we feel so blessed to have been chosen to review it.

Until I started reviewing on the Crew I had never even heard of CTC Math. Then every once in a while I would see testimonials from other Crew Members about how much they loved CTC, so I knew when the opportunity to review it came around it might be a good fit for us.

CTC Math is basically an online tutor for all math grades Kindergarten through Calculus and Trigonometry. With the 12 Month Family Plan for 2 or more students you will get unlimited access to all levels for just $118.00 a year. This is an amazing price for homeschoolers that is a 60 percent discount off the normal pricing. Of course if your student needs to only review or brush up on certain math topics then purchase a monthly plan of $11.97 for one student of $15.97 for 2 or more students.

CTC Math is completely online with worksheets you can print if needed. The website is incredibly easy to use and navigate. No learning curve required. The lessons are narrated and animated with a teacher that has a lovely Australian accent. The video lessons are short and to the point. Our algebra lessons that we have viewed so far have not been longer than 4-6 minutes each. All levels combined equal over 1300 video tutorials. Some aspects of the program that I really love as a parent are self-grading worksheets, weekly reports sent to my email, and keeping an overall average of the completed work. I also love that there are solutions to every single problem and that on each worksheet the student will find an answer bank. This lets the student know if they are on the right
track.

We chose to review the Algebra section of this program as Grace is trying to furiously work her way through all the lessons this summer to get ready for her next higher math class in the fall for 11th grade. This means Grace worked on CTC Math so far 3-5 times a week during the review period. She has completed Part 1 and half of Part 2 in the Algebra section. Each Part has 3-6 topics. The Topic sections then have anywhere from 5-13 lessons per topic to complete. Does she still get frustrated? Yes, but she always will because math is really not her strong subject. Did she like CTC Math? Yes. Will she continue to use it? Absolutely. Once we finish the algebra 1 portion of the program, I plan on Grace utilizing the Geometry sections when she has problems or questions from her homework.

A teenager's perspective: Even though I don't like math, I really like this program. I think it is one of the best math programs I have used and we have definitely used many over the years. Great for reviewing topics you didn't learn well the first go around and very easy to use. I would like to see a little more description in the videos with all possibilities of the problems that are presented to solve on the worksheets.

CTC Math is one of the best products I have every reviewed. Definitely in the top five and it is a perfect fit for my family. Be sure to check out the reviews from other Crew Members to get their perspectives on CTC Math.

Social Media:Facebook:
  https://www.facebook.com/ctcmath

   

TOS Review - Dynamic Literacy - WordBuild Elements, Level 1 Set

 

I don't know about you, but around this household we love finding interesting ways to study vocabulary. Even though we haven't studied a true Latin program in our home we have used various products that included some Latin and Greek root word training. Recently I have seen a word used more and more that I have to admit I'd never heard before - MORPHEMES. Maybe I've just been living under a rock!, but morphemes are basically the core parts that build a word. When WordBuild: Elements, Level 1 Set from Dynamic Literacy came up for a review, I knew it was something we needed to investigate.

 

 

 

For this review we received three physical products: teacher's edition, student workbook, and WordBuild the Game, which make up the Elements Level 1 Set. Currently this set is retailing for $99.99 and is recommended for grades 6 - 10. Dynamic Literacy has another level available for younger students grade 2 - 5. The student workbook is consumable, but the game can be used for multiple students.

 

Dynamic Literacy has created a unique and effective way to train and help improve in the areas of language, vocabulary, and reading comprehension. Their program is based on learning how to decipher and build words starting with Greek and Latin root words. Add in the prefixes and suffixes, then one word turns into multiple words. Learn 50 root words, add in the extras and BAM your student has learned enough words to fill up a spiral notebook. That is a pretty awesome feat for a student to accomplish in just 15 minutes a day of study. Oh yeah, did I mention that this program is based on only 15 minutes of work a day, five days a week.

 

 

 

Our review product, Elements Level 1 assumes and recommends that your child already have a basic understanding and mastery of phonics as well as how to use prefixes and suffixes. Once your child finishes with Level 1, you will find a level 2 and 3 for more advanced work.

 

The student workbook is 127 pages long with an appendix in the back that includes bingo games and advance preparation worksheets. In the beginning of the workbook you will find a short article that is an overview about our language which is very informative and enjoyable. I love reading history about the English language. Then each lesson is setup the very same with worksheets teaching a new root word: Root Squares, Magic Squares, Stair Steps, Comprehension Booster, and My Word Wall. Each individual page is to be used 15 minutes a day. Short and Sweet, but packing a powerful punch. It was very easy to hand this off to my high school student for individual work. The worksheets are set up in a sequence that allows the student to become familiar with the root and the different words that come from it on into defining, review, and comprehension.

 

The teacher's edition is just .... wow! Full of all kinds of information to relay to your student: What to teach, activities, discussion, extended learning, demonstrations, answers to each page, and more. Quite frankly there was so much here it seemed a little overwhelming to me. This wasn't just one or two pages for each weekly lesson, but for every day/page(worksheet) equaling five days a week and a check-up at the end. The teacher' edition is a must for this program and should not be skipped.

 

 

 

 

Also included in our review product is WordBuild the Game. The game can be used for the student to review what they have learned and have a little fun in the process. In the game the student chooses a root word and starts building words by adding prefixes, suffixes, and other root words. This can be timed or not and used by multiple students. The game came to us as a CD.

 

 

 

 

 

We used this product 3-5 times a week to round out Grace's 10th grade English credit. She found the program challenging and a little frustrating because in her words, "Her brain doesn't exactly work that way and it was difficult at times to come up with many words in the opening activity". She also thought it was a very useful educational tool that taught her a lot in the short time she used it. To be honest I have to agree with her assessment. The program is challenging, unique, and very educational.

 

Dynamic Literacy has been gracious enough to offer my readers 25 percent off books and 10 percent off WordBuildonline by using the code cabin. Be sure to also check out the reviews from the other TOS Crew Members.

 





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