CapJaxMathFax--TOS Review

 

I don't know about you but at times the word "MATH" has been enough to set my children into whine mode.  I'm beginning to think this is a common phenomenon for all school-aged children and I know without a shadow of a doubt math was not my favorite subject in school either.   I was a bit skeptical about this review and how to "sell" this to my children.  After all, I wanted them to give it a fair shot but I just knew telling them it was math practice just wouldn't cut the cake. I thought if I added the word "game" that might just help...

They were willing to give it a shot, skeptical and a tad apprehensive but willing.  I knew the others would be watching the reaction of the first child so I put my oldest to the task of sailing the waters first.  CapJaxMathFax is a computer program designed to provide practice and drills on math facts.  Each student begins at the easiest level which not only initiates success but also establishes keyboard skills that is useful at the higher levels.  

Included in the facts practice is addition, subtraction, multiplication & division.  This program helps children develop stronger math skills and confidence.  My kiddos do pretty well at grade level but sometimes it's confidence that gets in the way when practicing those multiplication/division facts.  This program was a hit for all 4 of my kiddos because they could each work at their own level and because it was presented as a game (a huge bonus over boring flash cards).  CapJaxMathFax also provides feedback about each session with a graphical bar chart, a running summary of session results, and a personalized session progress report. You can bet the feedback for each child turned into a competition before long!

Installing the CapJaxMathFax program was a breeze, you can either download it or get the CD.  The program can be customized by the type of facts included in each practice session and the difficulty of the facts.  Teachers / parents can even set a ‘super seconds’ target (usually 3 seconds) to challenge students to recall facts quickly.  With CapJaxMathFax, the student becomes the calculator.  They learn to have the immediate recall of basic math facts (which is some times lacking in most traditional math curricula).

 

I really liked using CapJaxMathFax because it freed me from having to make up math drills/practice sessions and having to endure the flash cards along with my (bored) kiddos.   *This is honesty at its best!*  All of the quizzes and drills in this program are automatically generated by the program and recorded, students get immediate feedback.  

 

 Students progress through different levels as their skills increase and as they go through the different levels they are able to earn different merit badges.  My boys really enjoyed the idea of merit badges because it paralleled receiving badges through scouts.  Boys and their badges...who knew.  :)

CapJaxMathFax is available on the website beginning at $29.95 for the downloadable product.  A CD version is also available, with a small additional charge.  I used the downloadable version through the TOS Crew and it was very simple to install and use.  

To see what my fellow Crew Mates had to say about CapJaxMathFax, visit the Homeschool Crew Blog to read more.

**Disclosure: My review and opinion written in this post is entirely my own. This product was provided to me for free in exchange for my review as a member of the 2011-2012 The Old Schoolhouse Magazine Homeschool Crew.

God's Great Covenant-- TOS Review

 

I was very pleased to have been chosen for this review!   God’s Great Covenant is a new Bible study curriculum produced by Classical Academic Press for children in 4th grade and above (with an emphasis on the fulfillment of Old Testament prophecy).  Children will learn about the four different aspects of Christ; the Son of Man, God’s Servant, the Messiah, and the Son of God.  This course consists of 4 units containing 36 weekly chapters.  Each chapter includes a Memory Page, Story Time, Review Worksheets, and a Quiz.  At the end of each unit is a Memory Passage section, Worksheets, Devotional Guide and final story to be used as a review. This section was one of our favorites because it really tied things together for the kiddos and reinforced everything they learned.

 

 The Student Edition is in a consumable workbook format with large print for easy reading.  The Teacher’s Edition (below) is identical to the Student Edition but includes answer keys, notes to help with comprehension and teaching and also space to include your own notes. I found the curriculum very easy to understand and straight-forward to use.  My kiddos enjoyed all the questions and discussion that was encouraged through the student worksheet pages. We made a binder for each child so they could keep their work organized and in chronological order. Being able to go back and see their work also reinforced the things we learned at the very beginning. For our first-grader we simply wrote out the scripture reference and let her draw a picture reminding her of the story. I reinforced what she learned by asking some of the questions off the student worksheet. She also participated in memorizing the scripture (on a more simple scale).

 

An audio download is available for the course which contains a recording of the Story Time section for each chapter read by Christopher Perrin.  The 3 hour audio file is in an mp3 format and can also be burned to a disk so you can listen anywhere. We put this on our iPod and used it not only at home but in the car. I didn't let the kids listen ahead on the lessons but we did go back and re-listen to the previous Story Times. After listening again, my kiddos really enjoyed discussing the things they'd previously learned.  They also challenged each other to try and remember the previous memory passages.

Example of Student Book pages:

 

 

 Classical Academic Press has also published God’s Great Covenant Old Testament 1 and 2 and God’s Great Covenant Old Testament Timeline and Map Set to help you teach the Bible to your children.  With the Old & New Testament curriculum combined, your kiddos will be on their way to being bible scholars!  

 To see what my fellow Crew Mates had to say about God's Great Covenant, visit the Homeschool Crew Blog to read more.

**Disclosure: My review and opinion written in this post is entirely my own. This product was provided to me for free in exchange for my review as a member of the 2011-2012 The Old Schoolhouse Magazine Homeschool Crew.

Amazing Animals by Design-- TOS Review

 

We've got a group of extreme animal lovers over here...so this review was right up our alley! Amazing Animals by Design is a book that fills in the gap of teaching about Creation and Intelligent design (that's typically geared towards older children). Amazing Animals takes those concepts and shares the scientific reasons but at an elementary level.

Why is a giraffe’s neck so tall? Why do zebras have stripes? Did all of these things happen by accident? When John and Sarah visit the zoo, they ask these questions and many more. Their parents and the zookeepers keep using the word design, but what does that mean?

 

The book is designed for children in the elementary age range (preK-3rd grade). The book (24 pages)can currently be purchased as an ebook (pdf file) for $7.99 or a paperback for $8.99. The book will officially be released on April 1st at which time it will be available at other retailers.

 

Because this book is written in story-form and not just presented as 'facts,' my kiddos were all the more intrigued.  Even the older ones sat down to listen as I read this book.  I'm planning on printing this out to slip into sheet protectors for my little ones to be able to flip through again and again.  We also really enjoyed the illustrations, my 3 year old was captivated (she already has a love for animals).

To see what my fellow Crew Mates had to say about Amazing Animals by Design, visit the Homeschool Crew Blog to read more.

**Disclosure: My review and opinion written in this post is entirely my own. This product was provided to me for free in exchange for my review as a member of the 2011-2012 The Old Schoolhouse Magazine Homeschool Crew.

Action Alert-TOS Review

This review was something I was really looking forward to!  I've needed/wanted an internet safety program since the beginning of the school year since my kiddos have been spending more time on the internet. 
Action Alert is a company that provides internet safety in many forms, they make the internet safer for all of us and tackle many internet dangers. Their downloadable software offers 8 internet safety tools.

 

One of my favorite features is the ability to get “alerts” to your computer or cell phone via email that lets you know someone is trying to access a questionable site.  You can then choose to disable to computer right from there. Action Alert comes “preloaded” with websites known to host damaging spyware or other unwanted content. You can add others that you don’t allow in your house also. You can even just choose to use just the allowed sites only mode, where you choose the only sites they can visit. There is also a safe search option which filters the search results to family friendly.

The Activity Video Recording, Keystroke Logging & Chat and Email Logging feature records screen shots every couple of seconds, so you can see exactly what your family is doing on the computer online and off.
The Time Allowance feature sets time limits or daily times when the computer can be used. 

 

Action Alert has been featured on television and won awards.  They are the only internet safety solution endorsed by The Child Safety Network.

There are two versions of Action Alert.  

The Free Version  

• Offers everything you need to set up a kid safe computer in seconds.

The Maximum Protection Version ($29.99)

• fully customizable
• offers multiple user protection
• full social network monitoring. 

To see what my fellow Crew Mates had to say about Action Alert, visit the Homeschool Crew Blog to read more.

**Disclosure: My review and opinion written in this post is entirely my own. This product was provided to me for free in exchange for my review as a member of the 2011-2012 The Old Schoolhouse Magazine Homeschool Crew.

Progeny Press-TOS Review

Progeny Press is a family-owned company that produces literature study guides, they have been in business since 1992.  There are 100 literature guides for your family to choose from such as The Bronze Bow and Pride and Prejudice(my personal favorite!) just to name a few.

Progeny Press Study Guides are designed to help your kiddos to better understand (and enjoy) classical literature by helping them"understand the process of writing, as well as teaching them the process of literary analysis and its terminology." It's not as scary as it may sound...these guides are awesome (in my opinion of course!). Students are shown how to thoughtfully consider the ideas and themes presented in each story from a Christian perspective, and encouraged to put their own thoughts and ideas about the stories into writing. Every guide takes care to draw the student back to the Bible by examining how the stories connect to Biblical principles, and by pointing out parallels with Bible events and pertinent verses that clarify these ideas.  Another bonus!

These study guides come in four levels: Lower Elementary, Upper Elementary, Middle School, and High School. Each guide includes a variety of elements, depending on the level of the study. You can see a sample of the types of questions and information contained in the guides at their website. The literature guides are also categorized by both genre and grade-level, making it easy for teachers and parents to choose a book that is appropriate for their personalized course of study. I love user-friendly curriculum! :)

 
There are many options for the study guides, they are very user-friendly and are currently available as a print version, on CD in .pdf format, and via email as a .pdf attachment. Parents and schools can print multiple copies of pages for use with all of their students (perfect for a large homeschooling family!). All of the study guides are now available in a new interactive format which allows the student to type in the answers directly on their computer screen! Progeny Press Guides cost from $10.99 to $27.99. You can check out their online catalog for more information and individual pricing. 

To see what my fellow Crew Mates had to say about Progeny Press literature study guides, visit the Homeschool Crew Blog to read more.

**Disclosure: My review and opinion written in this post is entirely my own. This product was provided to me for free in exchange for my review as a member of the 2011-2012 The Old Schoolhouse Magazine Homeschool Crew.

K5 Learning

“Unlock Your Child’s Potential”

K5 Learning is a personalized online learning program for Math and Reading enrichment.  Just as the name indicates, it is structured to meet the needs of those in grades K thru 5.

It it 4 programs in one and works on the areas of Reading, Spelling (and Vocabulary), Math, and Math Facts.  

This is a breakdown of what you can expect in each area:

 Reading helps kids become strong readers and develop a love of reading. This award-winning program covers phonemic awareness, phonics, sight words, vocabulary and reading comprehension.

 Spelling is an advanced vocabulary program which improves language skills one word at a time. We feature adaptive instruction, automatic word generation, an optimized visual interface, and a 150,000+ word database.

 Math is an award-winning program which builds self confidence and a deep understanding of math concepts. K5 Math covers numbers and operations, geometry, measurement (including time and money), algebraic thinking and data analysis.

 Math Facts uses adaptive technology to help kids develop instant recall of basic addition, subtraction, multiplication and division facts. Progress on each and every math fact is monitored until mastery is obtained.

This is what a 'results' screen would look like:

 

Lessons are assessment based; not generated only by academic grade level.  If a child struggles in an area, K5 will adjust the curriculum to meet the child’s needs. I also found it helpful that the speed could be adjusted for the math facts screen- not too fast and not too slow. It is 100% web-based and available to work in 24/7.

 

The company offers a 14 day Free Trial.
- no obligation
- no credit card needed
- free math and reading assessments
- 14 days of free lessons

Regular subscription pricing is available in Monthly or Annual installments. Please visit www.k5learning.com for more details. To learn more about K5 Learning, check out their website.  And to see what my fellow Crew members have to say about K5 Learning, look here to read more.

**Disclosure: My review and opinion written in this post is entirely my own. This product was provided to me for free in exchange for my review as a member of the 2011-2012 The Old Schoolhouse Magazine Homeschool Crew.**

Reading Eggs

I am so excited to bring you this review- I just adore the age range when my kiddos are learning to read.  I have lots and lots of games and curriculum for K & 1st grade, mostly because I want learning to read to be fun, fun, fun!  This program is NO exception- we've had so much fun with it! Actually its my 6 year old that has had a blast! Ok, on to the goodies:

Reading Eggs is an online program that introduces children to the world of reading through interactive stories and games with fun characters.  With activities for ages 3-7, Reading Eggs helps to spark a love for reading with everything from alphabet recognition to phonics to early reader stories.  Puzzles, games, and songs are used to capture a child’s attention and make the reading experience multi-sensory.  Reading Eggspress (another part of the Reading Eggs World) is geared for older children (7-13) to encourage fluent reading.

This is an example of what you will see on this online reading program:

This is an example of a reading comprehension test might look like:

And this is what another 'test screen' might look like:

Reading Eggspress offers reporting so that parents can keep track of what the children are learning and how well they’re doing.  Lessons cover Year 2 to Year 6 reading curriculum in an engaging online world that children enjoy.  Stories cover both fact and fiction for a broad range of reading material.  A map aids in navigation throughout Reading Eggs World.  After the completion of each map, there is a quiz.  The results are sent to parents in an email.  Children can earn online game rewards by completing lessons.

Below is a 'map' that is used- our 6 year old daughter loved this program.  The map especially made her giggle (not to mention feel like a big girl because this program was JUST FOR HER!).  

 

Reading Eggs also offers companion books and writing workbooks to go along with the program.  These are optional, but reinforce each online lesson.
There is a 14-day free trial available, so there is no risk with Reading Eggs.  Subscriptions are available in the following options:

• 12 months for $75 (add a second or third child at 50% off)
• 6 months for $49.95 (add a second or third child at 50% off)
• Monthly for $9.95

To learn more about Reading Eggs, check out their website.  And to see what my fellow Crew members have to say about Reading Eggs, look here to read more.

**Disclosure: My review and opinion written in this post is entirely my own. This product was provided to me for free in exchange for my review as a member of the 2011-2012 The Old Schoolhouse Magazine Homeschool Crew.**