TOS Review - Reading Eggs

Teaching Julianna how to read has become my homeschooling Achilles heel. I have tried many different approaches...which could be part of the problem.  Anyway, recently we had the opportunity of to review an online reading program called Reading Eggs.

Some information about the learning process behind the Reading Eggs program from their website:

1. Learn skills: Children complete animated online lessons where they learn essential reading skills. The variety of fun activities within each lesson provides the repetition needed for these skills to become part of the child’s long term memory.

2 Read books:  Children gain confidence by reading books online that only contain words they have already learnt in the program. For further reinforcement, they can also read the real books at home if they have the Reading Eggs book packs.

3. Earn rewards: Children earn golden eggs as rewards for work completed. They can use these eggs to buy reward games.

4. Quiz:  After 10 lessons, children complete a Mastery Quiz. This provides you with a report of what your child is learning. Children can repeat the online lessons as many times as they like. Young children enjoy repetition and it has great benefits too, as it helps them to learn.

It truly is a wonderful experience to watch a child learn a new skill. And when that skill is as important as learning to read, you’ll love being part of that experience. We wish you much enjoyment in the journey you’re about to begin with your child.

My musings:
Reading Eggs is a colorful, fun, educational experience.  It wasn't a big hit in our house, though.  I don't know if it moves a little too slowly through the activities or if maybe I'm throwing too many different things at her (all moving at different levels and using different methods to teach reading).  I think if I had done this program when she was younger, maybe we would have had better success.  For a preschooler, I would definitely recommend Reading Eggs, but it didn't work for Julianna.  They do have a more advanced level called Reading Eggspress, but she's not ready for that yet.

Details:
Reading Eggs offers two programs:  Reading Eggs (3-7 yr, setting the stage for reading and then building on it) and Reading Eggspress (7-13 yr, continue strengthening the skills they have learned.)  They offer a free trial, so if you have an emerging reader or just want to give your older reader some extra practice, check out their program.  After the free trial, subscriptions run monthly to yearly.

** As a member of TOS Homeschool Crew, I received a trial subscription of Reading Eggs in exchange for my honest review.  No other compensation was given. **

TOS Review - KinderBach

Julianna is a budding songstress.  Neither her father nor I are musically inclined, so I'm not sure where her love for creating songs came from.  Recently she got to sing one during the children's church portion of a service.  (I'll have to post about that.  The world needs to sing "Go, go, go, hallelujah and praise your name!" along with the rest of us.) We got her a keyboard for her birthday a couple years ago and have been debating signing her up for piano lessons, so I was excited to review KinderBach.

KinderBach is a preschool  piano curriculum (geared for ages 2-7) that can be used both at home or in a traditional classroom setting.  They use games, songs, fun characters for music instruction. There is also a printable workbook to correspond to the six levels of instruction.

How does KinderBach work? (from their site)

KinderBach breaks down the various tasks and techniques of playing the keyboard and separates them into child portions.  For example:  Before playing a song, rhythm, note identification, note placement, and music patterns are presented as different items through discussion and games.  Learning is gradual and child-paced.  In addition KinderBach uses fun characters to teach ideas, making the process entertaining.

My musings:

I really liked this program.  The video lessons are short and active with songs or fun characters. It moves at a nice pace and covers a lot. The printable pdfs are a definite thumbs up!  Julianna was rather ambivilant to the whole process which is one reason we haven't finished yet.  She tends to march to her own tune, so she's not crazy about sitting down to follow others instructions when she just wants to play independently.  She hasn't quite grasped the concept that you actually have to follow certain rules to make music sound like, well, music.  I'm going to keep going with it through our trial and see if we can complete it (especially now that they offer it for the iPad!) That may determine if we look into formal lessons or not.  

Check KinderBach out if you have youngsters and you are interested in a piano curriculum.  They offer a free online trial. The program is available by online streaming, DVD and now the iPad.  The membership is less than $100 per year, $19.99 monthly or a one day pass for $5.95.  As a special bonus, the nice folks at KinderBach are offering you, my dear friends, a discount.  This coupon code gives 30% off any order - homeschool, classroom, online or DVDs. AND it is good through February 2, 2013! 
Coupon Code:  TOScrew2012

*Disclaimer:  As a member of the TOS Homeschool Crew I was given a free trial membership to KinderBach in exchange for my honest review.  No other compensation was received.**

Comparison

Why is it so easy to get burdened down with comparisons?  I know one thing, it starts early in life.  "I can't take that little pink purse to Kids Zone!  It's not big and fancy like so and so's purse."  You have a small purse and it will hold what you need. I mean what does she really need in her purse?!? What does it matter?

To a six year old girl it does matter.
To a not even closely near to six year old girl it also matters.  More than I she wants to admit it...it's just not about purses...even though, if you have a new Vera Bradley, purses may matter.

New moms are particularly brutal with comparisons.  We tend to choose teams early on and never the twain shall meet:  formula feeding vs breast feeding, regular diapers vs cloth, crib sleeping or co-sleeping, forward facing vs rear facing, vaccinations vs non-vacs, Chuck E. Disease goers vs non-Chuck E. Disease goers (yes, I am raising a Chuck E. deprived child)...it goes on and on.  It doesn't get any better as the kids grow up either. As human beings, we tend to flock to those that share a common bond and shun those who don't.  Is it for solidarity and support or is it a true superiority mindset?  Mixture of both, I'm sure. Misery loves company.  Kidding.  Ties that bind make us feel secure. Why would you try to discuss successes or failures with someone that doesn't understand where you are really coming from? I told a friend once that discussing homeschool related challenges with a non-homeschooling mom is like discussing spiritual things with someone who doesn't even go to church. It doesn't make sense to do so and may put you in an even more confused state when they offer their point of view, which, from the start, is far off base from yours.

My comparisons (and I think it's a common thread for most) stem from insecurities.
Doubt.
Fear.

One of the first things pieces of advice you will receive when you start homeschooling is not to fall into the trap of comparing your child (or your academic choices) to their public school peers.  That's one reason why you are choosing to homeschool...customized education.  What does it matter what the public schools are teaching or at what level? It's also important, for your own sanity, not to compare your homeschooling journey to others' homeschooling journeys.  It can be just as torturous as thinking about the public schools. It is a great, sound recommendation.  It's just hard to put it into practice.
I have an upcoming review for an online reading/math enrichment program and Julianna had to do assessment tests to determine the level for the program to start.  Ugh.  I turned it on for her and let her complete them independently.  She scored higher in some areas/lower in others, but overall came in lower than she "should" be.  Double ugh.  Not what I wanted.  Did she not listen to the directions?  She does have a habit of clicking through quickly without listening to all the instructions.  Does she have learning issues that I'm not facing? All the results do is feed into my distresses.
If I were teaching her the "right" way or the "right" things, she wouldn't have these problems.  
If she were in school she would be doing... 
Another teacher would be able to teach her... 
If I hadn't chosen to homeschool she would be testing at levels of... 
If I would have gone with such and such curriculum...

Insecurities.
Doubt.
Fear.


"What time I am afraid, I will put my trust in thee." Psalms 56:3

This is only our second year homeschooling and for whatever reasons it has been a tough, tough year.  Struggle after struggle. An uphill battle from the beginning.
 
But God.

We attended a conference in Northern Virginia before beginning our homeschool journey and the speaker (Michael Smith, President HSLDA - He was awesome!) did a session on "The Three Be's of Homeschooling":  Be steadfast (consistently, firmly/loyal - committed to homeschooling), Be immovable (do not give up) and Be abounding (filled) in your work.  He used the following scripture:

"It is vain for you to rise up early, to take rest late, to eat the bread of [anxious] toil--for He gives [blessings] to His beloved in sleep." Psalms 127:2, Amplified

His point was do not waste time or lose sleep worrying over things, God
will fill in the gap.  

When the doubts and insecurities creep in,  I will choose to stand on His promises and not compare where we are in our educational pursuits to others. 

I will not let comparison steal my joy. 

The joy of having the front row seat as Julianna learns every day.
The joy of raising her in a protected environment where we can control what she is exposed to.
The joy of listening to her sing praises to Jesus as she is doing her work or playing.
The joy of the privilege to be able to homeschool.

TOS Review - We Choose Virtues

I'm not sure if it is common place in this day and time or it's only common place in my household, but kids are clearly lacking in the area of character development. Are poor character traits a learned behavior?  Are they innate?  Is it just the status quo for our world today?  Regardless of the origin, I'll take any guidance in instilling good morals into Julianna.  One of our helps is coming from We Choose Virtues. 

From their website:

We Choose Virtues (created by Heather McMillan) is not unit study that you use once and then move on from. It is actually a character development tool that you use  every day, every year. You introduce the Virtues, then demonstrate them, memorize the catchphrases, then learn the antonyms, then capture teachable moments when they are being used…or aren’t.

The 12 Virtues in the Early Childhood/Elementary set are:  I am Diligent,  I am Kind, I am Honest, I am Obedient, I am Forgiving, I am Perseverant, I am Gentle, I am Obedient, I am Self-Controlled, I am Content, I am Honest and I am Attentive. (Actually, us adults can benefit from these Virtues too, huh?)

There are six different character kits that are available:  Family (ages 3-18), Homeschool (ages 3-18), Faith-Based School (ages 3-11), Kid's Church/Sunday School (ages 3-11), Community Schools (ages 3-11) and Mentoring (ages 12-18). You can also purchase items (posters, coloring book, Teacher's Handbook, etc.) individually. 

My musings:

We were given a set of the new Virtue Clues cards, as well as, the Teacher's Handbook and coloring book (both downloadable PDFs) as part of our review package. Each character trait you teach has a "Virtue Kid" that goes along with it.  For example, when teaching "Forgiving", you have Feather Heather (her picture is on front of the Teacher's Handbook) to use as a visual reminder.  The characters are so cute!   I am totally in love with the graphics that are used. The website also has several free downloadables you can use to supplement the program, including memory verses and Bible heroes and individual and family assessment forms.The clue cards are basically reminder cards of what the virtue is, what it is not and challenges the child to demonstrate the virtue throughout the day.  I will admit, I was a little lost as to how to implement the cards into our day, even using the Teacher's Handbook. What I ended up doing was, Julianna would choose a card at the start of our day, we would read it, (talk about how cute the character was...well, I would), review the Bible hero story and memory verse that went along with it (from the free download sheet) and then discussed examples of ways we could implement it throughout our day.  I was going to hang it up as a reminder, but wasn't consistent with that part.  My bad. Unfortunately, Julianna isn't a big coloring page type of girl (even though they turn out lovely when she does them), so we didn't end up doing many.  After seeing the materials they have on their site, I think I might invest in the Parent or Teacher Virtue Cards to use in our home.  I love the activity ideas on the teacher cards, but will probably buy the parent cards because, even though they have less information/ideas to use, they are much cheaper...keeping it real.  :-)  

Julianna's musings:

"I have a hard time remembering to do the stuff on the cards.  The pictures are sorta cute." 

Check out the We Choose Virtues line of products if you are interested in implementing character development activities in your homeschool (or you just want to look at the cute characters.)  

**Disclaimer:  As part of the TOS Homeschool Crew, I was given a set of the We Choose Virtue Clue Cards, Teacher Handbook and coloring book in exchange for my honest review.  No other compensation was received.**

TOS Review - Zeezok Publishing - Z-Guide to the movies

If you know my daughter even a tiny bit you will know she is crazy over all things American Girl. Saying she loves them is an understatement.  (As I type this, she is staging her dolls in preparation to make her own AG movie. Budding movie director...amongst a million other things.) So when we were given the opportunity to review the Z-Guide to the Movies for the Kit Kittredge: An American Girl movie, we were all over it. 

What is a Z-Guide? From the Zeezok website:
If your student enjoys watching movies, we just made it easy for you to incorporate them into your curriculum. We have dozens of guides— each of them falling within a specific time in history. All of the guides contain ten educational activities that build upon the movie. The guides are movie specific. We tell you exactly which movie we used, and almost all are available thru Netflix. Most you can probably get through your local library. So you don’t even need to buy the movie to use our guides!

The guides are designed to be used as a supplement to you history curriculum. Each one is laid out as follows:

• Topic overview (period of history and a summary of the movie)
• Activities (review questions, research topics, hands-on activities, worldview activities, etc.)
• Family Discussions questions
• Answer keys

My musings:
Kit's movie is a favorite in our house and being able to add the movie guide to it was fun.  The guide is listed at an Elementary level, but I would say it is upper Elementary, at least 3rd grade and above.  Since Julianna is only in 1st grade, I had to adapt the activities that we did.  For example, the directions for the first activity, answer review questions, asks the student to fill them out while they are watching the movie.  As a beginning reader/writer, I asked her the questions after the movie was over (and she got them almost all correct.)  We did discuss some of what The Great Depression was, but we're not at the point of doing research yet.  The hands on activity suggested doing a Powerpoint presentation of Great Depression fashions.  Instead, I had her draw what a dress she made out of a chicken feed sack would look like (In the movie, out of necessity, Kit and some friends have to have dresses made out of chicken feed sacks. Julianna's dress was a fashionable shade of green.) I can definitely see us using this again in the future when we study The Great Depression era in greater detail.   One of the greatest features? Zero teacher prep! Got to love that.

Julianna's musings:
"I love Kit's movie. I liked answering the questions. Kit is the next doll I want to get."

If you want to incorporate a movie into your history curriculum, check out Zeezok to see if they have a guide available. They have Elementary thru High School guides for a wide range of historical periods. They are affordable too, $12.99.

*Disclaimer: As a member of TOS Homeschool Crew I received a copy of Z-Guide to the Movies: Kit Kittredge: An American Girl in exchange for my honest review. No other compensation was given.*

Happy 2012

Yesterday we took down all our Christmas decorations...this is depressing for me.  I love how festive and homey the decorations make the house feel.  *sigh*  I just hate that Christmas is over. It passed in a blur and next year, I will not let that happen again.

I'm not a fan of New Year's resolutions...mostly because I never keep them, so why set myself up for failure..., but they had the kids write resolutions in Kids Zone the other night, so I thought I would share Julianna's:

1.  Praise more.
2.  Listen to your parents (Let the church shout "Amen!")
3.  Invite more people to church.
4.  Love your neighbors and friends.
5. Love Jesus more.
6.   Praise God more.

Aren't those sweet?  I'm going to steal hers...just don't tell her - she gets feisty.

Happy New Year, everyone!  I pray 2012 is full of nothing but good things for you and your family.  XOXO

TOS Review - "Vintage Remedies for Kids"

I live with one very reluctant person when it comes to trying new foods (Especially when they resemble anything remotely close to a fruit or vegetable or is not chicken nugget shaped.) and it's not my husband.  I blame all the baby books that I followed after having Julianna.  I wish I could go back and do things differently in regards to her eating, but alas I cannot.  Therefore, I have created a selective eater.  One night after finishing a Daniel fast,  my husband and I were discussing adding a vegetarian meal into our weekly menu and Julianna asked what that meant.  After being told the definition she thought for a minute and then said, "Well, I'm a sweetenarian.  I only eat sweets."  That is where we are.   


Vintage Remedies for Kids is a curriculum designed for kids 2-6 years that teaches about healthy living.

Here is a little snippet of what the book is about from their website:

This curriculum helps you teach little ones how to choose healthy foods, how to prepare some fun and delicious snacks, how to establish prevention based habits, and how they can participate in your family's natural lifestyle. The workbook is flexible and can be used for playgroups or as a fun family project. Children at this age learn best with active lessons, so this isn't a sit and read style picture book! It's a guide for parents that is packed with hands on activities that are perfect for little hands, but fun for all ages. 

Each chapter in the book is laid out the same:  overview of the chapter, read aloud section, additional information about the material presented, and a hands on activity/recipe. 

My musings:  

I am not well versed on all things natural - unless it's near the time for our annual Daniel Fast (don't say the phrase out loud and maybe it will not come back around in January).  I would just like to open Julianna's mind to the fact that fruits and vegetables are not of the Devil.  When going through some of the chapters (especially on healthy eating and staying healthy), I would get the "Is that true?" asked from time to time.  I'm not a exemplary role model when it comes to eating healthy (I am typing this as I am popping a pretzel turtle in my mouth.  Have you tried them?  Pretzels, rolos and pecans.  Mercy sakes, that recipe is fab!  Let me know if you want it.), but this book has opened the doors for discussion and hopefully exploration into this new area for our whole family.  


Julianna's musings:
"You should eat fruits and vegetables to stay healthy.  Fruits and vegetables are icky." We still have some work to do.  


Vintage Remedies also offer books for older kids:  Vintage Remedies for Tweens (due out in February 2012), Vintage Remedies for Guys and Vintage Remedies for Girls.  Check em out.  

* Disclaimer:  As a member of TOS Homeschool Crew, I received a copy of Vintage Remedies for Kids in exchange for my honest review.  No other compensation was given.*