Bright Ideas Press - a review

I hate to admit it but Science is the last thing to get done around here. As a result, it often times just doesn't get done at all. The kids get plenty of nature studies and they even take a class at our local zoo once each month, but Science with an actual curriculum just doesn't happen much around here. When given the opportunity to review a Science curriculum I was excited that Science would actually get done for atleast a few weeks, since review items always get done.



Bright Ideas Press publishes the "Christian Kids Explore" series and we were given a choice of which one we wanted to review. "Earth and Space" seemed like the one that would work best for us.


"Christian Kids Explore Earth and Space" is divided into 6 units.
Unit 1: Getting Started
Unit 2: The Lithosphere
Unit 3: The Hydrosphere
Unit 4: The Atmosphere
Unit 5: Earth's Weather
Unit 6: Beyond Earth



Each of the units is divided in to lessons for a total of 24 lessons and 6 "unit wrap-ups" in the book. At the beginning of each unit you are given the vocabulary for the unit as well as a list of all materials needed. Preparing for the entire unit by getting all the materials gathered made for very little daily prep, which is great for us!

You can check out a complete Table of Contents as well as a sample unit to see what you think about this curriculum.


The Appendices in the book include:
Appendix A: Reproducible Maps, Forms, and Illustrations
Appendix B: Memorization Lists ( a different list for each unit)
Appendix C: Scripture Memory (several scriptures for each unit)
Appendix D: Coloring Pages (a different page for each unit)
Appendix E: Recipes and Supplemental Activities.
Appendix F: How to Make a Folder-book
Appendix G: Book and Resource List
Appendix H: Answer Key

As you can see the appendices are full of useful information and activities. My little ones loved the coloring pages that were full of detail and took lots of time to color. The activities you will need for each unit are listed in the "materials needed" list at the beginning of each unit. To make printing/copying these things easier you can purchase a pdf download for only $7.95. This definitely made it more convenient to have all the papers ready as I needed them.

Since we have a hard time getting Science done and I knew this curriculum had to be used I scheduled into the beginning part of our day. I try to keep all three kids together for Science so I decided to have Science right after Bible first thing in the morning. This worked so well, especially with this curriculum. There is so much scripture intertwined in this curriculum that it seemed like just an extension of our Bible studies. The conversational tone of the book also helped with keeping all three kids involved. It was easy enough for the two little ones to understand the basics but there was also enough "meat" for Paul to really dig into it and learn a great deal.

Molly drew this picture after our very first lesson. It's God creating the earth! Notice that there are seven continents! She can name all 7 of them, as well as the oceans.



The kids truly enjoyed learning about the layers of the earth and had a blast making the earth's layers out of play-doh.




They had entirely too much fun destroying the earth as well:


They then dove right into learning about caves in Unit 2 and we pulled out several other books on caves as well as looked back at many of the pics we had taken of the caves we visited in Virginia a few months ago.


You can purchase the "Christian Kids Explore Earth and Space" through the Bright Ideas Press website for only $34.95.

The "Christian Kids Explore" series also offers Chemistry, Physics, and Biology. Bright Ideas Press offers so much more than Science you have to go check out all the curriculum choices they offer on their website.

Also make sure and go to the TOS Homeschool Crew Blog to see more reviews for the "Christian Kids Explore" series.

Disclosure: I was given a free copy of "Christian Kids Explore Earth and Space" as well as the pdf download of all the activities at no charge in exchange for an honest review. All opinions stated are my own, and there was no other compensation given for this review.

Write With World - a review

Paul has always loved writing. He was writing stories well in the first grade. Before he could print his letters he would dictate stories to me and I would write them and he would draw pictures. I knew he needed to take his writing to the next level and was debating which program to use to move to a "middle-school level" of writing. We have used some that are super intense and though he liked them at first they quickly became too much for him as well as for me. I knew there was an easier way to get him writing at the next level.


Write with World is a writing program designed for middle-schoolers. The creators of "God's World News" and "WORLD" Magazine have published this writing curriculum to help students become stronger writers, and not just produce the typical 5-paragraph essay. The creators of this curriculum want to teach students "to think and make choices, not just follow a formula. We don't want to tell students always to combine sentences [or] start a new paragraph after five sentences."

"The underlying message is that writing is hard work but it should also bring pleasure: 'Let students compose sentences that are funny.'"

The program is broken down in to Units, Lessons, and then Capsules. There are 4 Units with 4 lessons in each Unit and 4-6 capsules within each lesson. You can do as little as one capsule each day, which is what we do, or you can work through it more quickly if you would like. You can take a look at the complete table of contents on their website.

The capsules are fairly short and don't take a great deal of time but they are full of great information and really teach the child about writing. They also have grammar lessons within the lessons. They are not your typical grammar lessons with 20 sentences that you have to pick out the noun in. Instead the student uses his/her own writings to learn about grammar. Since this is a middle school level program it is assumed that the student has some basic knowledge of grammar. At the end of each capsule there are assignments for the student. Some days the assignment is as simple as writing a list of adjectives to describe a given picture. Other days the assignments are a bit longer and may involve writing a paragraph and eventually move toward writing several paragraphs or an essay.


Paul has enjoyed this program, especially the fact that the lessons are short. The goal is for the children to actually ENJOY writing. And Paul is doing that. Though that is of no shock because Paul has always enjoyed writing. I do think it would be a great program for reluctant writers as well, since the lessons are short, and intended to be a little more fun. Students are encouraged to have fun with what they write. The philosophy of the creators of this program is that typically if we enjoy reading something it's probably true that the writer actually enjoyed writing it. Writing should not be forced, it should be enjoyable.

We reviewed the first year of a two-year program. The program is designed to be used with middle school (6th-8th) students. However, Paul is a 5th grader and it has worked well for him. I think you could even use it with a 4th grader.

"Write With World" is brand-new! In fact we reviewed the pilot materials. The final production version with be printed and available to ship this summer. You can purchase the first year of the program which includes the student book as well as the teacher book for $95. If you would like to purchase both the first and second year books together for $165. When purchasing the curriculum you will also receive access to a website coming in September for users of the curriculum. The site will provide a place for students to publish their work as well as provide parents/teachers with additional writing topics.

Take a look at what other Crew Members have to say on the Homeschool Crew Blog

Disclosure: I received a free copy of this curriculum in exchange for my review. All opinions are my own honest opinion. No other compensation was given for this review.
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

TruthQuest History - a review

It's very important to my husband and I that our kids learn History from a Christian perspective. We want them to see God's hand in everything. We want them to understand History in a different way then we understood History as students. We want them to love History and to know that it is important to our world today.

It is not as important to us that our kids be able to recite dates and names as it is for them to understand why things happen, and what life was like in any given time period.



TruthQuest History does this. It teaches the child to enjoy history, not just memorize it for the sake of a test.

We were given the opportunity to review TruthQuest History's Guide to "American History forYoung Students III (1865-2000). TruthQuest offers 3 different American History guides for grades 1-6. They also offer 8 World History Guides that will take a student all the way through high school.

TruthQuest is a guide to how to teach your kids history. It's not just a list of books or a list of assignments to teach dates and people. The Guide we reviewed (America History III) starts with Reconstruction and Westward expansion. It is divided into 36 different units. Each unit begins with a synopsis of that portion of history. The synopsis is written in a very conversational tone. It is easy to read and follow. After the summary there are a list of books that are appropriate for that topic. There are many, many books listed for most of the topics. Another great aspect is that for each book listed there is a grade level listed as well. This makes it very easy to teach multiple ages at the same time.

OUR THOUGHTS
I love the topic summaries that are given. They give a definite Christian perspective to American History. Paul has really enjoyed the summaries and learned a great deal. I, however, need more guidance in what to do each day. I want something laid out with a daily schedule as to what pages he should read from what books each day. In my opinion Truth Quest is a great supplement to an entire curriculum. It has added to our current curriculum, and given us more to discuss. For those parents out there who want to piece the curriculum together themselves then TruthQuest is perfect for that. There are so many phenomenal books listed and we love the undeniably Christian perspective of the author. Paul did get a little bit upset with the many instances of "you'll learn more about this when you are older" that is in many of the summaries. He is not the type of kid that wants to hear that. He wants to know it NOW. It has lead to many great conversations and research initiated by him.


The guides are available for only $29.95 (plus shipping and handling) for a hard copy and only $24.95 for the pdf ebook. You can take a look at samples and Table of Contents to see if this is the curriculum for your child.

The Homeschool Crew was given the opportunity to review many of the different guides and you can see all the reviews on the Homeschool Crew Blog.

Disclosure: I was given a free copy of this product in exchange for an honest review. There was no other compensation given for this review and all opinions given are my own honest opinion.


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Amazing Animals by Design - a review

I have two animal lovers in my house. My two little ones love anything to do with animals. Especially my Zachary. He has a ton of books about animals and he pours over them. We were driving down the road the other day and he said "Mom, I would love to see a peregrine falcon one day." He then proceeded to tell me all about the peregrine falcon and how it was different from other falcons. Remember, he is only 6! He wants to learn all he can about animals. He also asks lots of questions about animals and how God made them. He is very intrigued by the different attributes of various animals. It is difficult, however, to find books for him that discuss these attributes with an emphasis on Creation and Intelligent Design. I want him to know that God created all these animals for a unique purpose. I want him to understand that God is the designer of these animals, and of all things in nature.


Debra Haagen saw this need for a children's book that would teach children exactly that. She created "Amazing Animals by Design". This is a 24 page book with beautiful illustrations that teaches young children all about Intelligent Design 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?

Zach and Molly loved the book. They loved the artwork as well as the story itself. They love the zoo and have asked many of the questions that the children in the book ask when we visit the zoo. I would tell them that God designed the animals all for His Glory but that's where my knowledge of animals ends. This book takes it further and explains why zebras have stripes, why elephants have trunks, and so much more.


The book is written for young elementary students, approximately pre-k through 3rd grade. It can be purchased directly from the publisher as an e-book ($7.99) or as a paperback ($8.99).

Debra Haagen, the author, is a first year member of the TOS Homeschool Crew. She is also a military wife and homeschooling mother of four children.

Disclosure: I received a pdf copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. All of the opinions expressed here are my own, honest opinion. There was no other compensation given for this review.


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Action Alert - a review

I am married to a self-admitted technology junkie. He has always loved technology and has been involved with computers since he was a teenager (and that was a LONG time ago). He had and worked on home PC's before many people knew what they did. I remember thinking he was "so cool" because he had a home computer. All I had was a typewriter, and later a really big word-processor for college. Our parents didn't have to worry about internet dangers or even know what the internet was! We, on the other hand, have 4 desktop computers, 1 laptop computer and an iPad, as well as an iPhone and a Blackberry. All of these devices can give our children access to the internet.

Having all these devices does not mean that our children have unlimited access to technology, because they most definitely do NOT. However, I know there will be a time when they have more access and we will need to be more careful.


Action Alert is a downloadable program that helps you set up a "kid-safe" computer in just a matter of minutes. It is fully customizable to the amount of security you want/need for your particular situation.

There are 2 versions of Action Alert. The completely FREE version shows you how dedicated Action Alert is to the safety of our children.


The Free Version allows you access to all of the above safety tools. The paid Full Version, which is very reasonably priced at $29.99 allows you to set up multiple-user profiles on one PC as well as complete social network monitoring.

I really like the idea of ACCESS CONTROL. Being able to shut-down the PC remotely from your phone is a wonderful feature. I can see this being very useful as my children get older and are left home alone.

The ACTIVITY NOTIFICATION ALERTS will alert you via text or email that your child has typed in an inappropriate word. I think this is a good idea and can be used as an accountability tool for your older teens. However, for us, we have young kids who might accidentally type in a word that pulls up inappropriate content. I don't want them to see any of that at all! This is a great tool for accountability, as is the ACTIVITY VIDEO RECORDING. But, in my opinion, it's not what I need to protect my young, naive children from some of the internet dangers that are out there.

The TIME ALLOWANCE is another great feature that would work well for older tweens or teens who are given more freedom on the computer. My kids are typically given a set program to play for a set amount of time, or a set number of lessons/activities. I can see this being a great tool when the kids are older and possibly left home alone a little more often. This would be a great program to use if you have older kids out of school during the summer.

The SITE BLOCKING blocks sites that you list, or allows sites that you list. I didn't have any specific sites that they could not go to, so this was a little trickier for us to use. At first I had it set up to go to the sites I know they use. But, when Paul does research I don't know what site he might need to go to. This is when the CONTENT FILTERING would come in handy. However, you have to search from their search engine. It is easily maneuvered around by going to any other search engine. Of course, you have the accountability which I discussed above. It's just not quite as secure as I want for my kids at their young ages. Again, it would be great for older kids.

Action Alert has won several awards. They have also been featured on the Today Show.


I can definitely see the benefits of Action Alert. Plus, most of the features are free, so you can see how you like it. And if you need multiple user protection the $29.99 fee is extremely reasonable to protect your kids and give them accountability for what they are doing online.

You can see what other TOS Crew Members thought at the TOS Crew Blog.

Disclosure: I was given the Full Version of this product for free in exchange for my review. There was no other compensation given for this review. All opinions stated here are my own, honest opinions.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad