Homeschooling

Cross Country

December 11, 2022 by NZ Filbruns Leave a Comment

One day last week, a friend of ours organized a cross-country race for the local homeschool children. It was very low-key; no prizes for the winners. It was just a time to have fun together! We held it at the Nelson Creek campground. The littlest children ran a 250-meter course, the older ones could choose to go 2 or 3 km, and the middle-age ones ran 1 km.

This is Mr. Sweetie about 2/3 of the way through his 3 km run. Mr. Imagination was right behind him.

Both my school boys nearing the finish line!

After the races and our picnic lunch, we took Grandma on a walk around the loop through the bush. A friend’s three children wanted to stay and spend more time, so we took them home with us later; their 4-year-old is leading Esther and Miss Joy in this picture.

Product Review–Brilliant

November 10, 2022 by NZ Filbruns Leave a Comment

Disclosure: I received this complimentary product through the Homeschool Review Crew.

Well, this is my very last review for the Homeschool Review Crew. Due to various circumstances, the Crew will be closing. I’m going to miss this! And, surprisingly, my children will, too. When I told the school children that we would no longer be getting things to review for school, they were all unhappy about it, which surprised me because they griped so much about “things to do for review!” When it was no longer an option, they all admitted that they enjoyed the variety.

We were given one year of access to the Premium Subscription to Brilliant, an interactive web- and mobile-based learning platform. Because the courses that were featured were not ones I thought my children could use right now, and because we were at the end of our school year, I opted not have my children actually use this program. Then, I was given access and started using it myself—and regretted that decision! I had a lot of fun with it myself, and could see how it would have benefitted Mr. Sweetie (age 13) and even Mr. Imagination (age 10).

One of the courses I tried out was Geometry Fundamentals. It began with the very simple concept of area, and how to compute and compare areas. Only one tiny concept is presented at a time, in the form of an exercise with a multiple-choice answer. Next is a section about angles. I got started working through it this afternoon to refresh my memory about how the program works, and got distracted, going through a lot more questions than I had planned on! As soon as one question is answered, a “continue” button comes up and you move on to the next question. There is a “hint” button with each problem. If the wrong answer is selected, a button comes up to show the solution, or else you can just choose the “continue” button. A progress bar along the top of the screen shows how far you have progressed through the lesson.

I also tried out the pre-algebra course. This begins with an explanation of variables, has a section on understanding equations and expressions, and then has a review lesson. It looks like there are some games/puzzles next, and then more about equations.These are followed by a number of lessons on factoring, simplification, and problem solving, for a total of 28 interactive lessons. It took me 10-15 minutes to complete each lesson I did, and each one was presented clearly and thoroughly.

There are more than 70 course available on Brilliant. Some look very interesting, like the ones about scientific thinking. There are also computer science courses and a lot of different math courses. These are all arranged in “pathways,” so that you follow a logical progression. For example, as you finish pre-algebra, you are directed to begin Geometry Fundamentals. I am quite impressed with the layout of these programs, and if we weren’t just finishing the school year and wanting to take a break, I would have at least Mr. Sweetie work through some courses.

I worked on the two courses I mentioned already using my laptop. That worked great, but I decided to check out the app for the iPad, as well. It was easy to install, and the login synced with what I had been doing on the laptop instantly. I tried the logic course there, and had a lot of fun playing around with it. I think I’ll make this app available to anyone in the family who wants to use it, and see what happens. This is a “computer game” that I don’t mind them spending time on! If you want something to do online or on an app that will keep your mind sharp and keep you learning, or you have children 10 years old or older who need a fun way to practice math, logic, or science skills, definitely have a look at Brilliant. It may be just the thing for you.

Click the image below to see what other families have to say about Brilliant!

Product Review–TabletClass Math

October 13, 2022 by NZ Filbruns Leave a Comment

Disclosure: I received this complimentary product through the Homeschool Review Crew.

Does it sound daunting to teach your children middle and high school math? I have just had the opportunity to look over what TabletClass Math offers. I was given access to their homeschool Pre-Algebra curriculum, and spent some time checking it out. We did not actually use it, because Mr. Sweetie, the oldest child I have in school right now, was just finishing up his 7^th grade math curriculum, and I didn’t want to try getting him to jump into another course just when he was ready to be done for the year!

This course will work well for students who have completed at least Grade 6. In the Parent Portal I found a page which suggests pacing for various levels of ability. If a younger child (under 12) will be working through this Pre-Algebra course, the suggestion is given to take 11-14 months to complete it; however, most 12-15 year olds should be able to do it in 9 months (one school year). If a student has a basic knowledge of how numbers work, and knows his addition/subtraction/multiplication/division facts, he is ready to use it. The first chapter gives a review of number operations, exponents, and order of operations, and then moves into a quick introduction to algebraic concepts. It is very easy to navigate from one chapter/lesson to another by clicking the titles in the navigation bar to the left of the screen. I was able to go forward and back, anywhere I wanted to check out.

Each lesson begins with a reminder to watch the lesson video, take notes, do the worksheet of practice problems and check them, and then watch the solution videos. The lesson videos seem to be between 10 and 20 minutes long, and the solution videos tend to be about five minutes each. There is a solution video for each type of exercises that are given for practice on the downloadable worksheet, which has the answers at the end. The lessons are taught by John Zimmerman. He scrolls down his screen as he goes from one concept to another, and shows exactly how he works out each type of problem. I found his voice easy to listen to, and one that would not bother any of my children.

Each of the 16 chapters is divided into 4 or 5 lessons. These are followed by an extra practice page, chapter review notes and then a quiz. This multiple-choice quiz can either be downloaded and printed, or filled out online. There is an answer key in another tab. These 16 chapters cover everything needed for a homeschool pre-algebra curriculum:

Introduction to Algebra Terms and Concepts
Real Numbers and Simplifying Variable Expressions
Fractions and Decimals
Solving Equations
Inequalities
Graphing Linear Equations
Writing the Equations of Lines
Introduction to Systems
Absolute Value
Powers and Exponents
Polynomials
Rational Expressions
Area and Volume
Right Triangle Theorems and Formulas
Data, Measurement and Probability

The Parent Portal is a separate purchase from the Pre-Algebra course. It is a one-time purchase, however, and can be used every time you have a child using this Pre-Algebra program. There are many helpful, downloadable resources included here. I already mentioned the pacing guide above, which is very helpful for planning lessons and setting up a schedule. There are also detailed tests for each chapter, with separate keys. The quizzes included in the student lessons are good, but being multiple-choice, they won’t show mastery as well as the tests. There is also a final exam. All downloadable resources are in pdf format.

My conclusion? If I was looking for a homeschool pre-algebra curriculum, I would definitely consider TabletClass Math. This appears to be a course that has been thoroughly thought through and is well designed. For children who do well with video lectures, it will work well. If you are needing something like this, definitely have a look and watch some of the sample videos. Also, click on the image below to read other families’ reviews of this program.

Book Review–Light of Mine + Unit Study

October 6, 2022 by NZ Filbruns Leave a Comment

Disclosure: I received this complimentary product through the Homeschool Review Crew.

For the past three years, I have been reading reviews of Allen Brokken’s Towers of Light series of books. All the reviews I have read have been glowing, with mothers reporting that their children were competing for the books. I never signed up for any review tours because I personally don’t like fantasy very well, but I’ve been realizing lately that several of my children really do like it. So, when I had the chance to sign up for the Light of Mine Unit Study–Premium, I jumped at the chance—especially since Towers of Light Christian Resources LLC was willing to ship us a physical copy! The package we were sent included two copies of Light of Mine, two unit studies, two mp3 players preloaded with the audio book, and a thumb drive with the audio book. I could hardly believe they sent so much. I had decided that Mr. Sweetie and Mr. Imagination would do the unit study, so they each got one each of the three items.

Light of Mine is almost a cross between The Chronicles of Narnia, Pilgrim’s Progress, and The Little House on the Prairie. As the story begins, Lauren, Aidan and Ethan are enjoying life on the farm with their family. Then, father shows them plans he has drawn up for a tower. Soon he tells them it is actually a lighthouse. Why would they need a lighthouse here, though, so far from any water? The next thing they know, after the lighthouse is built and a special lantern is installed, which shines the Light, Father has to go away to help conquer the Darkness that is spreading across the land. Then, when Mother disappears as well, the children must care for each other and take care of the farm.

When they have some strange dreams, the children know they need to go to church and ask advice of the pastor. When they arrive there, however, the pastor is missing and the Bishop has taken his place. He preaches the opposite of what their Pastor preached, and some other strange things happened. The children don’t know what to think, and when the Bishop sends someone to “help“ them, things get even stranger. Can the children keep their light shining and push back the Darkness, or will the Darkness overcome them? And, who can they trust? Many things are not as they seem!

Although I do not enjoy fantasy for the most part, I found myself quite engrossed in this story. After about the halfway point, I did not want to put it down but had to keep going and find out what happened, and whether the children were able to keep their light shining. Would they figure out the truth before it was too late and the darkness overcame everything? Would they see their parents again? Many fun animals with special powers come alongside the children to help them, such as Sparkle Frog and Daddy Duck.

Both Mr. Sweetie and Mr. Imagination absolutely loved this book. They listened to the audiobook as fast as they possibly could. After working through half of the study, both of them told me they wanted to do unit studies of the other four books in the series, too, just so they could get to read those books! With that kind of enthusiasm, I bought the other books, and they are looking forward to reading them when they arrive. Before I read the book, after they had listened to it, they told me they didn’t think it was suitable for their seven-year-old sister. After I read it I had to agree; there are some pretty graphic scenes when the forces of Light and the forces of Darkness battle each other. Some demonic creatures enter into the battle, and a person is killed. The boys seemed to be fine with this story; they are 10 and 13.

The Unit Study, which says on the cover that it is intended for “Grades 3-6+”, is divided into four weeks of five lessons each. Each week begins with a memory verse and then six vocabulary words. These are words used in the book that are not common; for example, Week 1 includes cadre, mercenary, and mute. There is a puzzle to complete on the page with the list of words, and a picture to color. Each lesson begins with instructions to copy the week’s memory verse and then do something with the vocabulary words—write a definition, write synonyms, write antonyms, or draw a picture definition of each word. Next on the page is a passage, several paragraphs long, with a question about that passage. After that are several questions from the chapter. Each lesson also includes a joke. Several times, when the boys were doing their lessons, I got after them for talking when they weren’t supposed to be, only to discover that they were reading the joke of the day aloud! Oops. Day 5 of each week gives instructions for a craft project. We skipped those, because the boys were not interested in most of them. Mr. Imagination was going to build the kaleidoscope, but we didn’t have smooth foil for it. Maybe after we go to town!

There are study questions in the back of the book as well. The questions in the Unit Study were taken from those, but changed some, and there are more in the book than in the study.

Also included in the Premium study package is an mp3 player with the audiobook preloaded (including a charger and a lanyard so the player is easy to carry around but not so easy to lose!). My boys loved getting these mp3 players. Mr. Imagination was disappointed that the battery in his was faulty, but one of the older boys helped him figure out that a regular AA battery would work in it. We found a replacement rechargeable battery online and ordered that. There is a 90-day warranty, but we decided that it would be easier for us, because of where we live, to simply replace the battery ourselves. The players have a built-in speaker, and also a place to plug in ear buds (also included). We were sent the audiobook files on a thumbdrive, as well, with permission to share with friends as long as they don’t keep a copy. It felt like Christmas to receive this package!

I highly recommend Light of Mine to any child who enjoys fantasy. It does not feel “moralistic,” but the point of the book, to let your light shine by doing what God wants us to, is quite clear. I asked the boys if it felt preachy, and both quickly said no, but both had easily picked up the main focus of the book. Fifteen families on the Review Crew have just used this Unit Study; click on the image below to read their opinions about Light of Mine and the other items included in the Premium package.

Product Review–The Adventum

August 30, 2022 by NZ Filbruns Leave a Comment

Disclosure: I received this complimentary product through the Homeschool Review Crew.

My family loves listening to audio books. Many years ago, I found, in a secondhand store, a set of tapes of dramatized Bible stories, and those tapes nearly got worn out from all the listening! So, when we were offered the chance to review The Adventum, Volume 1, I didn’t hesitate to request it. Unfortunately, I haven’t had the chance to listen to all of this yet. I thought we could get through a lot of it while we were traveling about a month ago, but Miss Joy couldn’t handle listening to it, so that didn’t work. I thought we could listen in the afternoons while she’s asleep…but half the time now, she doesn’t sleep, and the other half of the time, we want to get outside in the sunshine! So, that hasn’t worked, but Esther listened to all of it and very kindly wrote this review for me. I had taken some notes as we listened to the first two chapters, and she covered everything I noted, so I’ll just let her tell the tale.

Since I was very young, I have loved stories, and when audio dramas first entered my life, I was amazed and even more addicted to books. I was the girl that went around with one of those 9-inch-long portable cassette tape players, the kind with four AA batteries in it, riding my bike on our driveway for hours just so I could get a little more listening time in. And, with all the different stories I listened to—some that Mom recorded herself, and some that we bought—there were a certain amount of Bible stories I had the chance to hear. Some were gripping; others, not so much. But no matter what, I always enjoyed the chance to hear another story.

Recently, I was reminded of that time when Mom brought out The Adventum for us to listen to. I admit; I was skeptical at first. Most of the dramatized Bible stories I’ve heard in the past typically fall into two camps: Dramatized with too much creative license so it deviates from, or even undermines, the messages from the Bible, or ones that sound like they’re straight out of a children’s Bible story book with a bit of music added in the background. Neither option is particularly appealing to me, and though I’ve learned more about the Word from both, I wasn’t excited about hearing more of the same. But hey…anything is worth a try once, right?

When Mom turned it on, I thought it sounded like the “Bible story book with a bit of music” sort of recording. “Okay…this is going to be boring,” I thought. “No surprise there, I guess.” We progressed through the first days of creation, and part-way through day four or five, I realized it wasn’t just music in the background. I found myself in the Garden of Eden, watching the calm sea suddenly erupt in a chaotic whirl of bubbles and foam, with the snorts and squeals of a myriad of sea animals coming to life all at once. Then the sky was filled with the twittering and warbling of hundreds of birds—a majestic, beautiful scene. Then came the land animals, with the elephant trumpeting nearby and dogs and sheep running on the new green grass. It was…stunning. I’d never seen the creation of the world that way before. And as we followed the progression of the story—the Lord creating Adam, Adam naming the animals (I loved the humor in that scene!), then searching the garden for his special “other”, I found myself drawn into the story more and more. When the eventual fall came, I found myself shocked and grieved by all that transpired—in a way I hadn’t considered the story before.

We weren’t able to listen for very long. Around about the time we heard about the fall of man, my two-year-old sister decided it was too scary to listen to any longer, and we had to turn it off. She’s a sensitive soul and is incredibly adept at immersing herself in stories, even at a young age. But later, when she was out of earshot, I was able to finish listening on my own.

There’s a lot to love about The Adventum. From the beginning, I noticed that they weave New Testament truths into the story. At one place, I think around the time of the fall, it was talking about the grief Adam and Eve experienced, and the narrator quoted part of John 3:16: “For God so loved…,” and suddenly, that verse was enriched by the context. I found this first volume—tracing the Bible story from the creation of the world through to Jacob fleeing to Laban—gripping, entertaining, humorous, and insightful.

But the question remains…how does this story stack up compared to the Bible? There was creative license used here and there. With Adam searching for Eve, for example, it shows him running all over the garden, wearing himself out before he falls asleep and God creates her. That’s not in the Bible, but I felt it’s a good idea of how that may have played out for him. There were a few inconsistencies I found, though. One that sticks out is right before the flood, when it shows Noah out gathering firewood when he knew that the flood was imminent. He finds himself racing back toward the ark as the floodwaters rise around him, and only just manages to get in in time. It’s possible, of course, but I feel like Noah and his family would have stayed in the ark in those last few days, trusting God for the timing of everything, rather than running around trying to get a few more supplies. Another place I noticed was when Abraham sacrificed Isaac. That was a powerful scene, but they never had Abraham tell Isaac what was going to happen—you hear him suggest that Isaac sit on the altar, then lay down, then close his eyes…the Bible doesn’t say either way, but I’ve always read the story as if Isaac was a knowing and willing participant in the scene. Again, it’s possible; I’m just not convinced.

As a whole, though, I came away very impressed by The Adventum. They kept to the Biblical account, didn’t detract from what God was doing (and didn’t change it), and delivered an engaging, fresh look at the stories we all know and love. While younger listeners, like my sister, might find it hard to listen to because they are pulled into the scenes so much, I believe most children above 8 or 10 years old would be fine with it. One thing I appreciated was that this series is very clean—you hear that the people before the flood or in Sodom and Gomorrah are evil, but their sin is not described. And even though several babies are born, those scenes are also carefully crafted and not graphic.

For the child, like me, who can’t get enough of audio stories (even if they don’t have a portable tape player!), I think this would be an exciting addition to their library. I thoroughly enjoyed listening to Volume 1, and I hope I’ll have a chance to hear more of them in the future!

The Adventum is available in two formats, as CDs or as a digital download. We received the digital download, which is very handy, as we can load it onto any device for easy listening. Both cost the same. Right now, both are 50% off through their website, and here is a code for free shipping within the United States: advcrew22. If you have children who enjoy listening to audio drama, don’t hesitate. Order now—you won’t regret it! Click on the image below to read more reviews of this new way to hear the Bible.

Product Review–Super Teacher Worksheets

August 19, 2022 by NZ Filbruns Leave a Comment

Disclosure: I received this complimentary product through the Homeschool Review Crew.

Twenty thousand or more worksheets all ready to use? What a useful resource! I have been exploring Super Teacher Worksheets for a little over a month now, finding useful pages for my children to do. All of these printable PDF files are available for one inexpensive subscription, and cover all subject areas (math, reading, writing, spelling, social studies, science, and more), for grades k-5. Basically, anything a child needs to brush up on can be found on this amazing site filled with all sorts of printables.

My children do well enough in math that they haven’t needed any supplemental help. I looked over the offerings briefly, though, and there are printables for anything children in these grades might need to do. There are even pages with a story problem for each day, or five different math problems to do every day to keep concepts fresh in children’s minds. Of course, there are plenty of pages to practice the main math functions of addition, subtraction, multiplication and division.

There is a large section of reading comprehension helps. These include a short story, followed by comprehension questions, vocabulary words, and a short writing prompt (such as three things that help you sleep, after reading a story about sheep helping a girl go to sleep).

The language section was one I found helpful. I printed some of the “Fix It Sentences” for Little Miss to work on. She enjoyed finding the mistakes and correcting them. I also used one of the writing prompts for her. It was the day our writing group was to meet, and she hadn’t written a story yet. She had no idea what to write about, so I printed this page and she dictated a story to me. The story got quite long—it continues most of the way down the back of the page! We’ll be going to that section of Super Teachers Worksheets again.

The phonics section has many, many printables for every letter of the alphabet, as well as resources for teaching blends and digraphs. There are also games, mini-books, and other tools for practicing word families. The section of the site we went to most was the Early Literacy tab. Miss Joy wants me to print pictures (multiple!) for her every day. She colors some, and cuts out all of them. I normally limit her to one a day, but she is nearly insatiable. We found some nice pictures of farm animals in this section, which are actually intended for writing practice. She isn’t ready for that, of course (she turns three this week), but she just ignores the lined part of the page. Little Miss loved the pages that have a printed crown for each letter of the alphabet, with pictures that start with that letter. She made a couple of them for herself.

There are also printable spelling lists, chapter book literature units, and many science topics. There is a section of social studies resources, such as studies of explorers, or maps, and some studies of various holidays. I didn’t end up looking into these sections.

The favorite section for my boys is the puzzles & brain teasers tab. I found some rebus puzzles there and printed a page, which I left lay on the table for someone to discover. Mr. Sweetie found it, picked it up, and was immediately intrigued. He wanted all the rebus pages printed for him to think about! Those are a good way to think about things in a different, out-of-the-box way.

Super Teacher Worksheets are a great resource for those times when you need quick, easy printables to brush up on a topic and don’t have the time or brain space to come up with your own. Click the image below to read about other families’ opinions about this amazing site.

Product Review–Progeny Press

August 18, 2022 by NZ Filbruns Leave a Comment

Disclosure: I received this complimentary product through the Homeschool Review Crew.

I think the first time I ever heard of Progeny Press was while I was teaching at a small Christian school for two years just before I got married, and a friend loaned me a homeschool supply catalog. Though I had been homeschooled all the way through, I had never even heard of literature studies, other than the two times a book was assigned in the Language Arts curriculum my mother had used, and the idea of a unit study based on a book was very intriguing to me. Of course, I had been quite a bookworm for nearly 20 years by that time, so I loved any excuse to read another book! I never got to actually look at a Progeny Press guide, though, until two years ago when we reviewed the one for A New Coat for Anna. We enjoyed that so much that last year I volunteered to review the one for Wagon Wheels, one of our favorite easy readers. This year, we got to use two guides, The Story About Ping Study Guide (one of our all-time favorite picture books), and Farmer Boy Study Guide. We have always loved the Little House books, so no one minded hearing that one read again.

Both guides begin with a synopsis and some background about the author. Then, there is a page of prereading activities. We didn’t do all of them, but we did find the locations on a map and talk about the cultural background a little. With The Story About Ping, we spent some time learning about ducks. Next, we read the story. Ping is a picture book, so we read it all in one setting—actually, I think we’ve read it three times since we started the study! Farmer Boy is a lot longer, so we’re reading a chapter a day. The activities for this one are divided into sections of about four chapters each, so we don’t work in the study every day, but when we have finished reading a group of chapters, I have the boys answer the questions for that section. Each study ends with a list of related books to go along with the topic, and there is an answer key in a separate file. These study guides come as a PDF file. They are fillable on the computer, but as you can see here, I printed them. Our family does much better with physical products for learning, but if I was to use these study guides for high school literature, I would probably have my children fill them out digitally.

Because Ping is a picture book, it doesn’t take very long to answer the questions about the story. There are a couple of pages of vocabulary work first, and then comprehension questions. After that, we studied the artwork, and then there is a section of Bible study. After that are fun pages. There is a word search, a maze, and some coloring pictures, and then suggested activities if you want to go even farther. These include doing a water safety class, visiting a poultry farm, and a couple of art/craft projects. This guide was created for K-2 students.

Farmer Boy is a fairly long book. We haven’t made it through the entire study yet, but we’ll keep plugging away at it. Each section of chapters has a variety of different types of questions. These include vocabulary word study, questions about the characters, comprehension questions, and several that make the student think hard. There are also suggested activities at the end of each section, such as making stacked pancakes like Almanzo’s mother did, or making a birthday card. The final projects at the end of the study offer several ideas for essays. This study guide is for grades 4-6.

Progeny Press has done a very good job of putting together these guides. They are a great way to practice language skills in the context of an engaging story. I really like them as a supplement to the other things we are doing for Language Arts. Click the image below to read other families’ reviews of these, plus two more book studies.

Ancient Egypt

August 14, 2022 by NZ Filbruns Leave a Comment

A little over a year ago, we started working through a Project Passport study from Home School in the Woods, about Ancient Egypt. We worked on it off and on until about April, when we finally finished it (we were alternating one of these stops with a science lesson, a geography lesson, and a few writing lessons–one “extra” a day). I’ve been intending ever since we finished to share some photos of the final products, and finally got them taken today.

This was one of our biggest projects. We all worked together to build this temple. It was quite interesting to see the different parts of it!

Each of the children made their own model of the step pyramid, and wrote a paragraph about it. Interestingly, there is a theory that Imhotep was actually Joseph! (This was Little Miss’s model.)

After we finished the study, we assembled lap books with all the mini books we had been making through the entire study. These lap books are made from a file folder with card stock taped inside to make more pages. Can you guess whose this book is? Clue: the boys don’t like the color pink!

These are the mini books we put inside–aren’t they creative! I love using the things that Home School in the Woods comes up with.

We also wrote a newspaper. We added a couple of articles or pictures to it with each lesson. This was a good way to review what we had learned.

We also did other projects that didn’t go into the lap book. We stored these in 2- or 3-ring binders.

We didn’t end up doing most of these projects. We just cut out the cards and put them in our books. One was to make a reed boat; someone did get around to doing that, but I forgot to get a picture of it.

We added to a timeline all the way through the study, too. It was quite easy to see where to put the figures, and quite interesting to look at how historical events fit together.

We added a postcard to our rack for each lesson. Some had funny stories–the most memorable was the one about the pharoah being annoyed by the hippos roaring hundreds of miles away!

We also added places to our map as we went. We put glue on the Nile River, and added black pepper to represent the silt that overflowed from the Nile each year during the Inundation.

We thoroughly enjoyed doing this project, so much so that, even though we didn’t get a project from Home School in the Woods for review this year (instead, we got the timel i ne set I reviewed a few weeks ago), the school children wanted to do something and I bought a lap book set about the Wonders of the World. We’re enjoying working through that, and I’ll post pictures when we finish it.

Product Review–WordBuild Online

July 29, 2022 by NZ Filbruns Leave a Comment

Disclosure: I received this complimentary product through the Homeschool Review Crew.

The subject my children have struggled with the most is spelling. Can anyone relate to our struggles? I would guess so! Even the children who have caught on to reading very easily are still spelling their words rather wildly, with little or no heed paid to the rules I have tried to teach them. I don’t know what the problem is, but I do know it is frustrating! Because we have such a struggle with this, I was happy to receive complimentary subscriptions to WordBuild Online from Dynamic Literacy.

There are two basic levels included: Foundations and Elements. Foundations focuses on prefixes and suffixes; Elements goes into the Greek and Latin roots that make up the English language. All three of my school children have started out in Foundations 1, although technically Mr. Sweetie, who is reading at a sixth-grade level, could have gone into Elements 1. I felt like he needed the practice with English prefixes, though.

There are 25 units in Foundations 1. Each focuses on on prefix or suffix. So far (I think they are all at about the same place), they have practiced prefixes such as over-, under-, un-, and re-, among others, and last week they were working with some suffixes, like -er and -est. I’m having each of them spend 10-15 minutes a day on these lessons, just getting through what they can in that time. I’ve been a little surprised at the lack of resistance I’ve encountered! Usually, none of them wants to do anything in the way of spelling or grammar, but all three are cheerful about doing a lesson of WordBuild Online each day.

Foundations 1 is introduced with a 2-minute video. This video presents the concepts of graphemes (the letters we write), phonemes (the sounds of the letters), and morphemes (meanings of parts of words), and teaches the meaning of prefixes and suffixes.

There are five main activities that are supposed to help cement the concept of each prefix/suffix. First, there is a short introductory video explaining what the affix means and how to use it. I’m not sure of the order of the remaining activities; one great thing about this program is that children can use it on their own, without any help from Mom, so I haven’t had to pay much attention! One activity involves matching the affix with root words and then typing in a definition of the new word. Another has them choose a sentence in which the new word is used correctly. Another has them match the words with the proper definitions.

We have been using our laptops and the iPad to do these lessons. The laptops have been the best tool, we’ve found. We have had some trouble, while using the iPad, of being sent back to the login screen when entering an answer. I haven’t been able to troubleshoot this; it could be that Little Miss accidentally hits the wrong button on the touch screen. This has never happened on a laptop.

We have not used Elements yet, of course; there are two or three Foundations levels to work through before reaching that level. A couple of the children were accidentally placed in Elements at the beginning, though, so we watched the introductory video. I found it quite interesting! It explains why English is so hard to read and spell (blame it on the Normans in 1066!). The teacher explains that we need to learn to spell English by meanings, rather than the way a word sounds. I had never thought about it that way before, but it sure makes sense!

So, the big question is always: Does this course work? Will my children know how to spell better after they complete WordBuild Online? I don’t know yet. Mr. Sweetie is convinced it won’t. He claims that there are mistakes that will keep the younger ones from learning; for him, it is too simple. He does admit that the program is “tolerable!” We haven’t used it long enough to know for sure, though. It certainly does offer more reinforcement for what I have been trying to teach them in their workbooks, and is easy enough that I will continue having them do it. This program is a welcome addition to our Language Arts repertoire, something I was needing without knowing it. And, hopefully I’ll be able to tell, in a year’s time, whether or not it helped! Be sure to click the image below to read other families’ reviews of this program.

Product Review–Printable “Essential Timeline Library”

July 20, 2022 by NZ Filbruns Leave a Comment

Disclosure: I received this complimentary product through the Homeschool Review Crew.

I believe this is the fourth or fifth year in a row that we have been able to choose a product to review from Home School in the Woods. We have come to love their projects. For example, last year we got to use the Ancient Egypt study from their Project Passport World History Study series. It took us until a couple of months ago to complete the course, and we didn’t mind taking a break, but my school children were happy to hear that we would get the chance to choose something again this year. Instead of choosing a project like that, though, I decided to request the Printable “Essential Timeline Library”. The children were interested enough in doing the Wonders of the World LapPak, though, that I ended up buying that as well (watch this space for a post about it when we’re finished, in a few months!).

The Essential Timeline Library is amazing! I have actually been using their timeline figures ever since we started homeschooling, back in about 2003 or 2004, when Esther was about 5 years old. We had discovered Sonlight Curriculum, and one of the items included with each core is a set of timeline figures to stick onto a timeline or into a book. We’ve been using them ever since, on various styles of timelines. This year, we’re using the Mystery of History, and I was trying to figure out a way to create timeline figures to put into a timeline book to go along with our studies. Voila! It’s done for me! On the Home School in the Woods website, they actually have a page listing all the timeline figures needed to go along with the volume of MOH that we’re using, organized by lesson! What a find. That makes my life so much simpler! And, I noticed that Home School in the Woods actually sells sets of timeline figures specifically tailored to the 3^rd and 4^th volumes of MOH.

One of the folders included in the Essential Timeline Library is a printable timeline book. It comes in two different formats, horizontal and vertical. There are clear instructions/suggestions for printing and using it. I tend to end up doing things my own way, though, and, because I already had a timeline book printed and we have been using it, I made a wall timeline. I printed the pages for about 50 BC through AD 1000, and glued them together, then punched holes along the top and strung a string through to hang this timeline on the wall in the kitchen. Then, I printed timeline figures to match those years, and every so often, while I’m reading aloud, I have the children color and cut out several to glue onto the timeline.

I have a friend who also uses these figures. They have a long, narrow hallway in their house, so she painted a line down one wall and penciled in a few dates. They colored and cut out the figures, and fastened them to the wall at the appropriate places. I asked her if I could share a picture of it, because I love the idea so much.

The timeline figures themselves are very easy to use. Each set comes with several options for printing. You can choose larger pictures, to put on a wall, or smaller ones, to put into a book. Each of those options comes with two options, as well: with or without descriptive text! The descriptive text is usually two or three sentences. Each figure, of course, has a title and date, as well.

There are seven main folders within the Essential Timeline Library download. The first two are HTTA-CD1 and HTTA-CD2. In the first one, are folders for each collection of timeline figures. These are America, Bonus, Creation to Christ, Napoleon to Now, and Resurrection to Revolution. Another folder in this folder contains links to indexes of the figures—very helpful! I printed all those indexes for quick reference. The second main folder, HTTA-CD2, holds, I believe, all of the timeline figures included in the first folder, but each one is a full-page picture. If one of my children wants a coloring picture to go along with our history read-aloud, I’ll have it! These are organized in alphabetical order, while in the first folder, each sub-folder is organized chronologically.

Next, I found the Record of Time Timeline Notebook. This is the printable notebook I mentioned. Covers are also included. The fourth folder is a Suggested Placement Guide, with photographs of each page of the timeline notebook. The last three folders are Add-On Paks, with more figures from all of history. I was happy to find an index for each!

The Essential Timeline Library is a resource I’ll be using the rest of the time I homeschool! It is very helpful. I love the clear pictures and the ease of using this. All we need is a printer and paper, and we have the figures we need, without needing to draw anything or locate pictures online or in books.

If you want to know what we thought about some of the other products we have used from Home School in the Woods, check out my reviews of a couple of the items from their A La Carte collection, a timeline of the American Revolution, one of the Time Travellers U. S. History Studies, the Knights Lap-Pak, and, of course, the Ancient Egypt study I mentioned at the beginning of this review. Also, be sure to click on the image below and read other families’ reviews.

Homeschooling

Thank you!